Geneva, Illinois - No Place like Home
August 29, 2007 by Brad Shorr
Filed under Coffee Break
Many moons ago, Joanna Young at Confident Writing tagged me to write about the place where I live. The original question, posed by Robert, is -
What, in your opinion, is or are the most amazing, unusual, strange or just plain weird things about where you live?
My home town is Geneva, Illinois. I notice that Robert is from Robinson, Illinois, so he knows that contrary to conventional wisdom, the Illinois landscape is quite beautiful. Geneva, nestled in the Fox River Valley, is one of the state’s prettiest spots.
I’m not much of a photographer, so I won’t do it justice, but below is a shot looking North toward the bridge that runs through the heart of downtown -
One of the more unusual and amazing things about Geneva is the incredible flooding we’ve experienced in the last several days. Water levels are finally receding, but parts of downtown were under water just a few days ago. Below is a look at Island Park, which sits adjacent to one of Geneva’s oldest and most well-known restaurants, the Mill Race Inn -
As you can see, the Fox River is still over over its banks, and although the ducks are enjoying themselves, the Mill Race Inn is not - parts of it were under 6 feet of water. The flooding here is the worst I can remember, but since Geneva’s history dates back to the 1830’s, we may well have suffered worse.
Speaking of history, Geneva is the county seat of Kane County. This is the old Court House, which sits in the center of downtown on Third Street -
Geneva has always been known for its quaint downtown shopping. Tourists come from far and wide to stroll through the shops that line Third Street and other sections of downtown. To me, it’s always seemed like a throwback to an earlier, simpler time. Here’s the view of Third Street looking South -
This is one of the many shops you’ll want to wander into as you go -
(Not my car, unfortunately!) Can’t you picture you and your family wandering about, checking out antiques, knick-knacks, and home furnishings on a sunny summer afternoon? Perhaps you’d develop a yen for an old-fashioned ice cream cone. If so, you’d be in luck! Here’s one of my favorite stops, Graham’s, where you can get real ice cream and chocolate they make right in the store -
They’ve got huge Adirondack chairs on their front porch and sidewalk - an excellent spot to hang out and watch the world go by. Geneva is changing, like every town in the Chicago suburbs - strip malls, traffic, endless road construction, and everything else that goes along with a bustling economy. But I’m glad I live in a place that still has the feel and spirit of a small town.
I’ve been operating under a self-imposed “No Tag” rule lately, but if anyone wants to answer Robert’s call, these posts have sure been interesting!
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Hey, Brad, thanks for joining my World Tour! Hopefully enough folks will join us over time that we can make it around the world, touring some of the most interesting places we may never physically go.
By the way, I’m NOT from Robinson; I’m from Houston, Texas. I only worked in Robinson for about a year. However, I’ve passed near you many times recently - I have to visit our client’s plant in Morris several times a year.
Don’t you just love small towns and their timeless atmosphere?
Sorry, Robert - thanks for the correction. I do love small towns, and enjoy driving the back roads through the Midwest and checking them out along the way. Good luck with your World Tour - it’s a fantastic idea! BTW, the best shrimp I ever ate were at the Houston airport.
The best shrimp you’ve ever had was at the Houston Airport? Good gosh, next thing you’re going to say is you came to Houston for the great mountain view!
Definitely weird, Brad; definitely weird! Next time you’re in Houston, go to Pappacita’s Cantina and order the shrimp fajitas! Now that’s shrimp done right!
LOL. I’m not kidding, though. I was hung up in the terminal for hours, and there was an enormous round bar serving unbelievable shrimp and unbelievably cheap (by airport standards) beer. It was the best airport layover ever. Thanks for the Pappacita’s tip! I’ll check it out if I ever get down there.
Hey, I know the spot! You’re right - for an airport, it’s pretty good!
And thanks for dropping by the Zone!
Hi Brad
I’m glad you wrote this - when you were ready (and it wasn’t so many moons ago). Do you know one of the things I’ve enjoyed most about blogging is getting to know people in the US - I feel much closer to you all despite the distance of the Atlantic between us (not to mention those weird linguistic differences!) than I ever have done before.
Part of that is learning more about places where you live - the words and your photos tell me about a place that seems so green and peaceful and yes, timeless, and nothing like my mental (stereotyped) picture of life in the States.
Thanks for sharing, and thanks once again to Robert for a great idea for a writing project.
Joanna
Hi Joanna, the feeling is mutual. Before blogs it never would have occurred to me that I’d be conversing regularly with someone from Scotland. Just learning the word “dab” made my August.
Brad,
Having lived in Cary for seven years, I can attest to the beauty of Geneva. DO take Bob up on his offer of Papacita’s; it’s one of the only things that could drag me back to the 125% humidity of Houston!!
Mike
125% humidity? And I thought we had it bad in Chicago! Sounds like January’s the time for a trip.
Any time from November through mid-April is nice down there, but after that you WILL need to shower after walking from your house to your car!
Brad, I love what you did with this post. And your photos are tremendous! Thanks for your visit and comment.
Thanks, C.B.! All these posts have been so enjoyable.
Great post about Geneva. I’ll be publishing one soon about a bike ride I had last week with my wife down to Third Street.
Would you be interested in contributing any articles to Everything Geneva?
Hi Don, Thanks for the offer. If I can come up with something to write about, absolutely. Nice blog!