Valentine’s Day 2022 -Local!

Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day, or however you want to celebrate the holiday, can be fun. This year, the hubby, and my fam decided to stay local!

Petersburg!

On Friday morning, my mom and I met up with my sister and we headed to historic Petersburg for a girl’s day! The first item on our list was shopping. There are several shops to stop and enjoy. One fun shop is adjacent to the Salem on Seventh Theatre. The shop owner let us stand on stage and took our picture. she shared that on April 9th, downtown will be the Spring Fling Shop Hop.

We stopped in Proud Souls, and the new 1st and 3rd Boutique and Wine Bar. This cool shop and wine bar offers entertainment in the late afternoon and evening. This is a place to return to. Other fun shops were open, then we headed for lunch at the stunning Broadgauge. This wonderful former store was built in 1872 and described on their website as, “central Illinois’ original “mega store”, containing under one roof; Hardware, Grocery, and Dry Goods stores. “

The restaurant has restored the former store to its architectural glory and it is now a beautiful Restaurant, Bar, Coffee Shop, and Event Center. We enjoyed lunch. For dinner or Sunday brunch you must have reservations. The food was excellent and service as well.

Best of all was a day with my mom and sister! Valentine’s day weekend kicked off for the girls!

Dinner at Anchors Away!

Keith and I enjoyed Anchor’s Away when we stumbled into this seafood restaurant during our walk downtown at Christmas. At this former Norb Andy’s location, the food is good and different. I had to have the shrimp plate again! You can get a low country boil as well. They are also one of the black owned businesses in town and family friendly if you have kids along! We went with friends Mark and Kelli and enjoyed being downtown, and the great vibe.

Romance seafood style on a Friday night!

Dining with the Grandkids!

Saturday afternoon was grandson’s basketball game, then, that night, for Keith and I was the perfect stay at home dinner and a movie with the grandkids. Since they are getting older (11 and 12) it is getting harder and harder to get hold of them. We begged to have them over and planned a night at home. We cooked and baked and watched our first Marvel movie.

Perfect!

Ice Festival in Argenta, Illinois

I had heard about an ice festival in Argenta, Illinois. The Argenta Ice Fest was held on Saturday, but Sunday we headed out to see some of the 25 plus sculptures. They were quite lovely. Most according to their brochure were carved by the Olympic Gold Medalist Ice Carver, Aaric Kendall and other talented
artists. It was a brisk day and flurries filled the air making it appropriate for an ice sculpture walk!

We had traveled a couple weeks before to Richmond, Indiana to view an ice festival. It was wonderful to find one in my own backyard! Next year I would love to attend and see the carving first hand and check out the chili cookoff!

While I love traveling and seeing sights and sounds far and wide, I admit this Valentine’s Day weekend was all about love of the family and home. That is what is near and dear to the heart, and what is more important than that?