(Since there is a little K-State in Everybody)
So what's it like to live in Rockford, Ill?
If you have visited my site before then you are likely familiar with the infamous page that used to be in this location-I have had a change of heart (being determined to be the right man for God has that effect). So here are the things I like about Rockford. As a result this page is 20% as long as the previous.
Compared to cities of similar size [and those much bigger] Rockford has some great local
restaurants:
Of course we have all of the chains: Chilis, Don Pablos, Olive Garden,
Cheddars, Outback, Atlanta Bread Co., Machine Shed, Denny's (don't knock
Denny's), Pizza Hut, all of the buffet places (Ryan's, Old Country, Home
something or another), Ground Round, Red Lobster, Lone Star, Applebees and
Carlos O'Kelley's [Yes they exist outside of Kansas] to name a few. But you can
goto these places just about anywhere with more than 120,000 people.
At one time I
thought we did not have Starbucks. It has been brought to my attention this is
located inside Barnes and Noble.
The best places to eat in Rockford are NOT the
chains. We have great local restaurants because of our love of food and our
diverse cultural integration:
The best fast food? BEEF A ROO. A local chain that has almost without exception always served me a hot greasy double cheeseburger just the way the Lord intended them to be served. The onion rings aren't too bad of a deal either. The riverside location is set in a 50s diner motif. So the Northwoods (N. Alpine) location has deer, elk, moose, fish mounts in a log cabin motif yet. The N. 2nd location has been remodeled with a firehouse motif and contains pictures of past area Fire Chiefs and heroes.
Rockford has large Swedish and Italian populations. In terms of cuisine the two balance each other out. I'm not knocking my heritage but who is going to pick seven day old lutefisk or lingonberry soup over Chicago-style pizza or minestrone?
There is a Swedish pancake house in the old mall at Alpine and Newburg.
Do a you a like a pizza?
Let's put this in
perspective. The county is 300,000 people. Would you believe we have 9 pages of
pizza restuarants under 'pizza' in the yellow pages? 94 pizza places to be exact!
And that doesn't count the places that serve pizza on the menu who didn't xref
their listing! And only 12 of those are chains
(Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, Chuck E Cheese, Dominos) Many of the places are in
the old neighborhoods 'where everybody knows your name.'
What are my favorites? Sal's, Gerry's (you know what I'm talkin' 'bout Ken!),
Sam's, Giordanos. Forget papa john's! We have Papa G's -- a straight up G.
Some
places serve the 'St. Louis' style pizza which is cracker-like crust with thin
sauce, toppings and slices of velveeta on top. YUCK! You'd think St. Louis would
be happy with the gateway arch, huh? Or if they are going to name something
after their community it would be something better than dog food? But this shows
that Rockford is willing to accomodate ALL people and even though they have much
to be proud of, don't go around 'naming' food after their town. We are a proud
but humble community.
Other places to eat
Trattoria Fantini- Probably the nicest place to eat in town. When you want to impress someone, take them here. At the corner of Main and Auburn.
Bacchus - Another very nice place. Italian food even though it doesn't end in a vowel.
Lucerne's - Fondue. Up on Church street across Whitman. If Fondue's your thing then don't pass this up!
Der Rathskellar- Caddy-corner to Fantini. Lots of German food...sausages, brats, 'kraut and lots of Becks. Germans don't do comedy. Germans do beer. Yes they do have fish fry on friday.
Lino's- Will serve a meal Italian family style. Modest prices and nothing too fancy with a pleasant atmosphere that is good for families or if you are just getting to know someone.
JMK Nippon - In the vein of Kabuto or Beni Hana. A friend who lived in Japan said this is a very americanized thing. They moved to a new, HUGE location. It's at the corner of Perryville and Spring Creek, caddy corner to Firstar. A fun place to take a group of people. There is another one called Shogun on Mulford by Giordano's and K's Merchandise.
Giovani's- a nice sit down place. You can happily play 'dress up' and have an upscale meal here. Another place to take someone who needs to be impressed.
Giordano's- great stuffed crust pizza. Never had a bad meal there. And everyone who has ever visited me from out of town has been taken here and liked it too.
Cliffbreaker's- along the rock river on west riverside (Note: people say Rockford is not an east/west town. So why are addresses east of the river referred to as 'east' and those west as 'west'?). They have a protein-fest (meat carvery) on Thursdays and a brunch to die for on Sundays. Beautiful views of the river to boot! No Rock Ness Monster sightings lately.
Box's BarBeQue- The mayor's family restaurant. It's been around for more than a generation. I think.
The presence of the mom and pop diners and neighborhood restaurants is a good thing about Rockford being an old town.
We have the largest grocery stores in Illinois in Loves Park. When Woodman's opens in Rockford it will be the largest with Logli on Alpine coming in second.
Okay, so now that you are done eating you need to get out for some fresh air!
If you are into biking then Rockford could be a slice of heaven for you. We have Rock Cut state park for you off-road types. It has a mix of trails from moderate to aggressive (endo-prone people not encouraged to apply!). And along Perryville there is a 5-7 mile paved bike path separate from the road that runs right into Rock Cut, North of Harlem. Sinnissippi park has great options for biking and walking. The East bank of the Rock river through the northern side of the city has a long, paved bike path. It's easy to park at the YMCA (on Y blvd [stoplight just North of the Whitman bridge] off 251) to get in on that action.
Really, Rockford has to be the per capita bike path capitol of the world!
Peak Fitness on E.
State is simply the best gym I have ever belonged to. They have tons of equipment,
competitive pricing and a no-pressure sales policy. I visited several gyms around town and
except for World Gym (which has far less equipment) this is the newest,
cleanest, brightest facility in town. At 5:30p on a weekday you still have your
pick of machines and weights. Try that at the Y!
A HUGE
array of benches, two crossovers, racks and racks of free weights, two complete
sets of circuit machines on a separate floor, smith machines, hammer strength machines, you name it!
They also have these new machines that let you load wait on the beginning,
middle and end of the curve. If you're weak on the finish of your bench press
just load more weight on the end load. Magnificent! They have a
beautiful aerobics room with wood floors and a disco ball spinning room. Music is pumping in the background. Sometimes they get on a
dance/house mix marathon but going to
the desk and requesting something different has never been a problem. I ended up
with Iron Maiden a couple times. Lots of tv
sets in the aerobic room and a view outside give you plenty of distractions to
keep your mind off of the sweat.
They are at 40,000 square feet if size puts it in perspective.
So you had some great meals and worked up a sweat but so what? Why else would you want to visit Rockford?
In Loves Park you will find Tomorrow Is Yesterday, the best comic and hobby shop I've ever had the pleasure of visiting (I had been buying comics consistently since 7th grade). It beats Dave's Comics in Richmond. The people there are super friendly and even though I dropped all of my subs (stories VERY lame) I drop in time to time looking for Babylon 5 merchandise and they remember my name.
Andersen Gardens (just east of 251 on Spring Creek) is a beautiful formal Japanese garden. Not much to look at for 3/4 of the year so the rest of the time it is quite a good deal then.
Dr. Erikkson the dentist is an Illini alum and he likes talking about whatever. He always asks me about K State football (because Kruger when to U of I after leaving KSU) when he's cleaning my teeth. Reminds me of that Bill Cosby bit...
And Rockford is only one hour from O'hare Field (you can fly non stop to just about anywhere in the world worth mentioning from ORD) and 1.5 hours from Downtown Chicago in most times when people aren't going to or coming from work. Chicago's the third most populated metro area in the country so that means some world-class museums and incredible sight-seeing, shopping and dining options. Maybe even better than Rockford I'm told.
And don't forget to look at the foliage pictures from the fall of 2000.
And try not to visit between November and March unless you like these pictures.
So come visit me in Rockford. Before it's too late. You'll be glad you did! I guarantee it.