Thanksgiving Weekend: Granny's Diner and Lots of High School Championship Football

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26

Web went to a new place that just opened Tuesday in Johnsburg called Granny's Diner.  The owner had come in to Sunnyside and we had a nice talk a couple weeks ago.

This is where the old Epic Deli was until it moved to a bigger place on Route 31 in McHenry.  We didn't expect a lot of people there, since it was new, but they had a crowd even when we got there just before they closed at 2 pm.

We both ordered lunch meals and there were huge and very good.  I think this place will do well.

During the course of the day, I watched a lot of the Illinois High School playoffs in Margaritaville (in our basement).  Wilmington, on Route 66, won in Class 2A, Byron (out by DeKalb, won in 3A and, no big surprise, but Joliet Catholic walked all over Springfield's Sacred Heart-Griffin to win a 4A.  Joliet Catholic beat our local high school, Richmond-Burton, last week.

Enjoyed cocktail at the bar and the Ultimate Juke Box.

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27

I had planned on going to Crystal Lake for the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group and then to Algonquin for Half Price Books and White Castle, but kind of felt like I had a cold coming on, so decided to stay in.  

Today was the Class 5A to Class 6A high school playoffs.  In Class 6A, East St. Louis High School was heavily favored to beat Cary-Grove, in nearby Cary, Illinois, but this has to go down as one of the biggest David vs. Goliath games in the history of high school football as Cary Grove won 37-36n in frigid DeKalb at Huskie Stadium where the championship games were played.

Watched two great movies:  "Christmas Vacation" and  "Joker."

--RoadBall

JSS: Busy Day-- Goodbye To the '03 Malibu

JSS--  Just Some Stuff.

1.  BUSY DAY--  Today, I will be leaving in just a little bit and going to the Fox Lake American Legion for the Tom Grosvenor Marine Corps / Toys for Tots birthday breakfast.  Afterwards I plan on burning leaves and limbs in the yard.

Then, if the weather holds good, there are two Illinois High School Association playoff football games nearby and I plan to go to one.  After that, the Legion is having a band.

2.  GOODBYE TO THE '03 MALIBU--  We were sad yesterday when friends came over to pay for and take title of our '03 Chevy Malibu.  We bought it new and this was the first car where we ever got over 100,000 miles.  The odometer read 145,265 miles.

It is in really good shape, but we figure it is time to buy a new car as the newest one we have is a '11 Chevy Malibu.  (We also still have a 2005 Dodge Dakota and an '85 Firebird.)

We drove the '03 Malibu from Chicago all the way out to Santa Monica, California, from one end to the other of Route 66.

It was a really good car.

We'll Sure Miss It.  --RoadDog

SAYINGS:  "You learn something new every day."  Actually, you learn something old every day.  Just because you've just learned it, doesn't mean it's new.  Other people already knew it.  Columbus is a good example of this.

Washington (Il) High School: Ectasy to Sad in 24-Hours

Yesterday while looking up the results of the IHSA State Playoffs for my Route 66 vs. Lincoln Highway and US-12 vs. US-14 Showdowns, I came across the name of Washington Community High School Panthers who won their third round game and this Saturday are playing their semi-final game. Before Sunday, I wouldn't have paid any attention to the name at all. But then, Sunday was quite a day here in Illinois.

We've been to Washington once as we were playing NTN at various places, but hadn't thought about it until Sunday, and that horrible tornado.

I was looking at results from the IHSA Playoff teams, and there it was, Washington High School. They had a great season and entered the playoffs ranked #2 in the Lower Division (based on school location).

They had beaten their first round opponent, Peoria 31-21. In the second round, they rolled to a 53-12 victory over Mt. Vernon and this past Saturday, won 41-7 over one of the Route 66 teams, Normal-- University. Sadly, less than 24 hours later, the town was leveled by a 4EV tornado (5 being the worst). 

Fortunately, with all that damage, there was only one fatality. But, sadly, going from the euphoria of that great victory to what happened the next day. Just hard to fathom. Many of the football players lost their homes.

They will be playing #1 Springfield-- Sacred Heart-Griffin this Saturday. I sure know who I'll be pulling for.

Go Panthers. --RoadDog