Three ladies just driving through savanna we decided to pop in. It was their first day open since…read morewinter. Amazing service and very friendly staff.

Iron Horse is awesome. Old town bar, motorcycle themed. Big inside, multiple floors. Cool…read moremerchandise.

A cute rail car that has been used as a museum. I wish they had a docent there who was trained in…read morethe history more. You have to just rely on the one page sheet they have and peruse the displays. What is bizarre is the camera set up to show you the railway right behind the car - why? If the windows were open you could see it (but I understand the need to keep sunlight off the displays). The ladies lounge when you walk in is the coolest part of the train.

These folks are clearly doing what they can with limited resources. It was a treat getting to see…read morea preserved rail car. This museum also contains photographs, uniforms, and other memorabilia. The museum is staffed seasonally, weather permitting. We found it open on a Sunday morning in mid-September, but Colleen told us they'd probably be closing for the season a in a couple weeks. This museum was especially great because we were in Carroll County for the weekend to indulge my genealogical hobby. My ancestors on my mom's side came to the Salem Township area of what is now Carroll County in the 1840s from Darmstadt in the Grand Duchy of Hessen (Germany after 1871). My goal was to find resources to help in my research of the lives and times of my ancestors, and of living relatives whom I've never met. (Unlike the TV commercials, genealogical research is a LOT harder than subscribing to Ancestry.com, then downloading movies of your well-dressed, attractive ancestors.) Based on my late mother's comments from many years ago, I believed my grandfather, Charles. W. Schriner, had left the farm and taken work in town with the railroad. I had been able to verify her recollection to the extent that the 1910 and 1920 censuses listed a Charles Schriner with an occupation of Freight Clerk with the railroad. But that's all I had to work with. I still don't know what Grandpa Charles looked like, or how he lived in Carroll County after his wife and daughters left town around the time of WWI. I was hoping against hope to find an old photo at the Train Car Museum identifying Grandpa Charles. And there were quite a few group photos dating from the early 1900s. But while Grandpa Charles may have been in one of these photos, none named him. But I found the next best thing. Lying in a display case was an open Railroad Time Book which included an entry for "Chas Schriner" ("Chas" was a common abbreviation for "Charles," and "Schriner" is how my family spelled it (versus the far more common "Schreiner"). I'd found a first-hand record of Grandpa Charles! Sadly, however, 54-year-old Grandpa Charles wasn't working in September 1922 as a Freight Clerk, much less as something sexy like a Superintendent, Engineer or Fireman. No, Grandpa Charles was working at the age of 54 as a mere Laborer ... and not much at that either. Grandpa Charles apparently only worked one day in the first half of the month ... 8 hours on the 11th of September in 1922 ... and he seems to have been paid only $2.94 for the work. Yikes. What a life. Regardless, this is the way it usually goes in genealogical research ... even at its best. Ancestors found working at anonymous, lackluster jobs is the norm. Few of us actually have relatives who commanded armies, made great fortunes, or moved society. Fewer yet are related very closely to Cleopatra, Napoleon, or George Washington. But then, even my more successful farmer relatives didn't make it into any history books ... even though they came to northwest Illinois when there weren't even towns there yet, and even though the farms they scratched out of the wild prairie were the very foundation of all the wealth eventually generated in Carroll County. Nope. It was the self-promoting bankers, merchants, and politicians who got all the notoriety in the local histories, and whose names are now recorded on historical plaques in front of the grand old houses in places like Mt. Carroll. The ancient names "Schreiner" and "Schriner" are now mainly found inscribed on headstones in the Mt. Carroll, Chadwick, and Lanark cemeteries. Anyhoo ... thanks, Ron, Colleen, and all the other volunteers who devote their time and energy to preserving these little bits of our past. It's a rare devotion, and getting rarer all the time when the almighty buck seems to be all anyone cares much about. You folks are doing important work, and it's very much appreciated!

It's back! And the same friend from last year and I went again yesterday…read more This really is the mother lode of antiques, and many items are priced to move. Our best deals: I found dollhouse miniatures for $1 each (miniatures are usually $$$) and a huge lantern for $3; my friend got a glass domed cake stand for $4. We also found hard to find stuff: she was able to get a Peanuts Belle figure (it's almost impossible to find her!) Plus a bunch of other fun things including a 1930s luggage tag, a jadeite hand for storing rings/jewelry, vintage cooking pamphlets put out by different brands, and more. Again we were there half the day and walked about 4 miles. Accessibility notes: normally I use a cane but this time I used my rollater (rolling walker with seat), which was a good decision because I could sit down when needed, particularly while waiting on long lines at the food trucks. Almost every booth was set up so I could get in/out (only one or two were too crowded), and the bathroom we used was big enough to get into as well. The least accessible space was the dining area in the large white building toward the back of the fairgrounds. The outdoor space is bumpy with dirt, grass and or gravel in various spots so having the rollater instead of just my cane added stability (I saw other people with electric scooters and some with manual wheelchairs, but you might need someone to push you through the gravel, because even pushing the rollater through it was difficult). There are a number of food options; we got cinnamon roasted nuts, maple cinnamon rolls from Hough Maple Lane Farm, and a pulled pork sandwich from Whiskey Hotel BBQ/Beef's BBQ Pit. Tried to eat again at Beef on the Moove like last year, but the line was not moving so I gave up after standing there about 5 minutes; likewise, the girl taking orders at the BBQ truck just did not seem to have a sense of urgency despite the huge line. We did wish that all the arts and crafts people and MLMs were in one area or building, because if you don't have an interest in that stuff you can skip it if you want to. Overall, worth going to if you're into antiques and vintage and looking for deals!

We were in town mainly for genealogical research on my family which came to Carroll County in 1840…read more (Among other things, historians say my Great-great-great-uncle, David B. Emmert Sr., and his wife, Susan Price Emmert, were instrumental in founding the town of Mount Carroll.) So technically, this is the Carroll County Historical Society, and the Owen P. Miles Museum. Both a historic home and history museum, the museum complex is steeped in Carroll County history. The museum is generally open by appointment only. But during the summer it looks like they're open 9:30am to 1:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Call ahead to be sure though. Give yourself at least an hour to tour the museum, and to view the very nice exhibits. In our case, Ronnie gave us almost four hours of her undivided attention that added enormously to what I already knew about my family. Compared with the disorganized local history section at the Mt. Carroll Library, the all-volunteer Carroll County Historical Society is a priceless resource, Thanks, Ronnie and Anne!