Road Trip-- 34th Anniversary Part 4 Floods and Corn

FLOODS and DEKALB CORNFEST

Saturday morning we found out that today's destination had made the national news on The Weather Channel. A reporter was doing a live report from a flooded golf course in DeKalb. All this rain has the Mighty Kish, the Kishwaukee River (usually more of a stream or creek) flooding in a big way around DeKalb. I went on the hotel's internet and found out from my Illinois Lincoln Highway e-mail group that yesterday the city was essentially isolated by flooding. Northern Illinois University had been closed.

We decided to go to DeKalb anyway. We encountered no flooding along the Lincoln Highway (Illinois Highway 38) until we got NIU's lagoon and the bridge over the Kishwaukee. This area was flooded and water was up to the bridge, but it was still passable.

Cornfest was underway and, as usual, finding a parking place was not easy. Lincoln Highway, which serves as the main street through downtown, was blocked off. We got there in time for the FREE corn. From 11 AM to 2, it was all the corn you want for free. It is heated by an antique steam thresher and everything is done in assembly-line fashion. They'll give you two ears at a time, drenched in butter and in a paper container.

Nowhere to sit, and as I was eating one, I evidently tilted the container and got butter all over the front of my shirt, proof that I had been there, but Liz wasn't too pleased.

Walked around and listened to a band on the main stage. The Egyptian Theater, dating to the 1920s was open and had a free showing of "Field of Dreams" so took advantage. I don't remember ever going to this old movie palace with its art deco/Egyptian architecture. It was closed when I was a student, and almost torn down until a group stepped in and saved it. This is a major site along the old Lincoln Highway in Illinois.

Met The Lincoln Highway Association's state director, Kay, by the small park with the DeKalb mural, Veteran's Memorial Clock, and small WWII Sherman tank (which used to be parked by the train tracks across from Andy's and McCabe's for many years). She had planned to go to Rochelle last night, but had canceled due to the flooding. Kay said that next year, Cornfest will be held at a local park because of planned work on Il-38 through town. Whether it will return to the main drag through town the following year is still to be seen. I hope it does.

Watched the Beatles tribute band, American English, do some of the early Beatles songs. At least they were playing this time, not like the no-play that took place at the Kenosha County Fair a few weeks ago.

Still to be Continued.... --RoadDog