This summer I’m making it a point to get out of town every once in a while and explore the surrounding area. I’ve lived in Champaign-Urbana for enough years after graduating from the University of Illinois that I feel I can consider myself a townie, but I often do not take advantage of everything that is available to me within less than an hour’s driving distance.
Last week, I started with Monticello, a 20-ish minute drive from the west side of Champaign. I taught in Monticello for a few years a million years ago. Since then, I’ve ventured over that way to spend time at Allerton Park quite a bit, often with a stop at Filippo’s to bring pizza home for dinner, but I decided to spend my morning excursion doing other things. First stop: Moon Bean Coffee.
I recently saw a friend post about a new coffee food truck in Monticello, so I decided to scope it out. The truck was parked at the entrance to Forest Preserve Park, right off Market Street — the main artery into town. Look at how cute it is!
The business has been open since October, and in addition to being stationed at the park a few times a week, you can find it at various events. You can find their weekly schedules on their Facebook page.
It was already shaping up to be a toasty day, even at 8:30 in the morning, so some sort of iced caffeinated beverage was in order. The day’s featured flavors were all a version of their sweet cream cold brew — a general coffee shop favorite of mine — so I went with the pralines and cream. All of their drinks have just one size option, and my chosen beverage was $5.50. They have pastries and muffins available for $3.25, and I selected a blueberry muffin.
I sat down on a bench with my breakfast. It was quiet except for a couple of workers maintaining the baseball field, and a mower off in the distance.
I also heard a rooster crow a couple of times, which was unexpected.
My cold brew was delicious, with just the right amount of sweetness and flavoring. I like it when I still know that I’m drinking coffee. The blueberry muffin was decent sized, and was soft and moist. I know that sounds dirty, but you can handle it.
Fully primed with caffeine and sugar, I was ready for a hike. As previously stated, I was there to try things other than Allerton (which is of course wonderful and lovely, just looking for a new experience). I hopped back in the car and drove just a minute or two away from town to Lodge Park. Years ago I saw fireworks there, and I’ve attended a couple of middle school cross country meets there, but I’ve never explored the trails. They aren’t as extensive as what you might find at Allerton, but just enough for what I was looking for that morning. Lodge Park appears to be named after William Franklin Lodge, who was born in Monticello in 1868 and lived there until he died in 1930, but I couldn’t find much more info about why he was important.
According to AllTrails, the paved loop through the park is just over a mile. I started off on the main paved trail, thinking I’d just stick with that. There’s a little fishing pond alongside it, which had these somewhat entertaining signs. The thing about rules, especially very specific ones, is that they are almost always there because something happened that warranted the creation of said rule.
Let’s start with this one. I’ve frequently spent winter weekends in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where it’s common to see actual giant trucks driving out on the ice to set up for ice fishing. It is anxiety-inducing for me to watch. Even three and half hours to the north, the ice cannot be trusted. Obviously someone, or multiple someones, foolishly figured that the ice in Central Illinois could definitely not be trusted.
This one, however, is the best. What sort of hijinks led to this sign?
Shortly into my jaunt along the main trail, my life was immediately in danger. Nope. I do not do snakes.
I managed to delicately tiptoe around the tail end of this monstrous creature, and continue my journey. Soon, I came upon an offshoot trail that went deeper into the woods. Potentially get lost in the Monticello woods? Sure, why not!
It was shady and serene, and though I did find myself fighting off invisible cobwebs strung across the path, it really was a beautiful hike.
Thankfully there were plenty of these lining the trail, to reassure me that I was still where I was supposed to be.
I got a little nervous when I saw these footprints, knowing that Bigfoot had recently been gallivanting about and posing for pictures with people in the area, but no sightings here.
After working up a minor sweat, I headed back into town to wander the square. Monticello’s “downtown” is officially called Courthouse Square, and it is similar to many small town centers with the courthouse as the main feature, then surrounded by various shops and places to eat. You’ll find an old railroad depot, which houses the Monticello Railway Museum. I didn’t get a chance to wander through, as it’s only open on weekends, but apparently you can take train rides on vintage trains, which is fun. Somehow I completely missed out on doing this when my kids were young and in their Thomas the Tank Engine phase.
Of course I found a historical marker related to Abraham Lincoln. Are you even a city or town in Illinois if you don’t have one? It stands on the site of what was once The Tenbrook Hotel, where Lincoln stayed when he was a circuit judge. According to the marker, he made a blown up pig’s bladder explode while lodging there. You can read that story here.
One of my planned downtown stops was Hartfield Book Co. I love an independent bookstore, and man, there is just something about the feel, the smell of new books. I rarely find myself with the time to just wander and read book covers to find what piques my interest, so I luxuriated in this moment. It’s not a very big store, but there were plenty of books to browse through. The shelves are dotted with handwritten cards with staff recommendations. I found I’d actually read a lot of the books they’d recommended, so I felt like I was in the right place.
I noted that there were copies of books by notable authors from the University of Illinois, as well as an entire shelf of books with local ties.
I also noticed that conscious choices were made to not just place on the shelf, but to display books that center historically marginalized people, characters, stories, and authors. This was the case in all sections, adult, kid, young adult. In a mostly white, mostly conservative community such as this one, it’s a big deal. Monticello was once a sundown town, after all, as were many other towns in Illinois.
The store hosts multiple book discussion events, if you’re ever so inclined. You can find the full schedule on their website.
It was important to me to end my morning with a visit to The Brown Bag. As you surely know, teachers are not typically blessed with a long enough lunch period to dine out. But somehow on Fridays, our third grade team managed to zip over to The Brown Bag, get our food, sit down, eat, and zip back in that short period of time.
It’s a great sandwich shop that, besides some new menu signs and a cool new seating area, really has not changed very much. This time, I picked up lunch to take home to the rest of my family, because I’m really that nice. A favorite of mine that is unique to The Brown Bag is Bonnie’s Turkey Salad. I don’t know who Bonnie is, but it’s a delightful twist on chicken salad. According to this article, they roast their own turkeys. The chunks of turkey are mixed with grapes, celery, and walnuts, in a mayonnaise-based sauce that is just enough to bind it all together. It’s fantastic on a croissant.
The Brown Bag is also home to Pies by Inge, and if I didn’t have leftover graduation party desserts at my house I would’ve grabbed some pie. Next time. In the meantime, check out Jess’ assessment of the pies from a trip she made last year.
While I waited for my order, I wandered upstairs to the Ziemer Gallery, which has been there as long as I’ve been going to The Brown Bag. Mrs. Ziemer greeted me, and explained that her late husband Larry Ziemer established the gallery, and all the work was his.
There was even a sort of memorial set up for him in the center of the gallery, which I thought was very sweet.
My food was ready in a flash, and I headed back home to enjoy my Bonnie’s Turkey Salad after this nice morning excursion to Monticello. It was just as good as I remembered.