Arcola, IL -- Wow

Heard the phrase, "you never know what's around the next corner"? Well, did we experience that thrill today -- unexpectedly -- in the town of Arcola, IL.  Turning off the highway brought us to a terrific town, full of character expressed through murals in the town.

We knew we were somewhere special when we realized the streets were made of bricks, like the one pictured at right.  It felt like driving on cobbles -- very cool!  Although the main street out to the highway was paved, the residential streets around the main street were made of these bricks.  Some even were marked for a patent pending!

Now, on to the art. Keep in mind, we hadn't seen any information on Arcola in the guidebooks.  So imagine our surprise at seeing the first, colorful, illustration mural, for the Broom Corn Festival:

We turned around and there were murals on town heroes, on the town's fame for Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, for local businesses, and celebrating multi-cultural growth.

Terrific image here of the mural for Pat Murphy's Garage.  The detail on the face is great!

Or try the image below, which tells the story of John Barton Gruelle, who was born in 1880 in Arcola.   His daughter, Marcella, found Raggedy Ann in an attic chest while visiting her Grandma.  The doll had no face, so her Dad put the famous black eyes, red triangle nose and separated mouth on the original doll. There's a museum here for Raggedy Ann and Andy, although it was closed on Sunday when we visited.

 

And here's one that made us think of the melting pot: Bienvenidos a Arcola!

We realized when we turned off the highway that Arcola is the largest Amish town in Illinois. Sadly for us, since the day we visited was Sunday, all the Amish shops were closed.  We're hoping on another trip to enjoy visiting the Amish furniture stores! They looked like a lot of fun.

But that didn't mean we didn't get to do some shopping. The Primitive Goose, delightfully decorated, housed a variety of pickers' pleasures -- including a large spinning wheel, adorable old children's books, feed sacks, and all the various antiques one could hope. If we'd had a place to put it, there was an antique door... oh well.  It was a great place to wander through and admire the options, choose some things to cherish, and enjoy a good chat.