One of our favorite 2-day vacation spots is Starved Rock State Park along the Illinois River. We left early Sunday morning and got off the highway to meander along the southern touristy "west coast" of Lake Michigan. Then back on the road heading for Utica, Illinois about 2 hours SW of Chicago. There's never a problem getting a Sunday night room at the lodge and most of the weekend visitors are beginning to thin out by the time we arrive toward mid afternoon. We have a standard routine every time we go. After check-in, we hike, come back to the room and relax, then eat out on the deck overlooking the river and Starved Rock (named for the legend that a tribe of native Americans that sought refuge there from an enemy tribe and ended up starving to death rather than being tortured). In the evening we hike again, leaving our main hiking to Monday when most of the other hikers have returned to their day jobs. There are many beautiful canyons and caverns along the way, though pictures don't do them justice. We had a wonderfully cool 2 days, thus the blanket around John's shoulders as he's eating.
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| Here's the back of the lodge, our room at the top center with the open windows. |
