Annie & I Take Altamont!
The first time I saw the small town of Altamont, Illinois was this past June at the John Deere G reunion.
I was taken with the lovely mansion I saw there. We also loved the fun antique shop the hubby and I stopped at. I saw that they were having a music and wine fair at the Charles Wright House Museum. I thought perfect!
A trip for Annie!
About once a month or so, my friend Annie Jansen and I get together. She is from the hopping berg of Sigel, Illinois while I live on a farm. We love to visit places to shop, tour, and of course eat! If we can find a fun garden, art, and a hike it’s even better!
Shopping
Our first stop was the wonderful Wolf Creek Antique Mall. This fun shop on main street has a wide array of items. Annie found a vase. I got a pottery grease jar, and a locket. Then there was the fun possum recipe sign that I did pass up!
We went on the stop at Kull furniture, which is a three-generation family business. There were nice items here. But my eye was caught by the Cookie Jar Bakery across the street! We both found some homemade Chex mix. It wasn’t filled with sugar so okay for my diabetic diet! I spied Rice Crispy treats for my husband and son. They were working away in the fields.
Lunch!
The owner of Wolf Creek Antiques told us about the local diners. We stopped at the Open Door Diner. Their Facebook page says, “We have home cooked food just like Grandma makes!” It was just a small place. It was very cute with aprons serving as curtains. Annie had a wrap, and I had my first ever Club salad. Delish! I particularly liked the verses in chalk on the wall.
Alwerdt Artworks Sculpture Park
This was a surprise find. We were looking for a shop, and instead found this fun Alwerdt Artworks Sculpture Park. This was located next to the Alwerdt Garden Center. Annie and I enjoyed seeing the fun sculptures and disagreeing over what different ones were. It was fun trying to figure out the artist’s interpretation. Once home, I looked up the website and learned that the garden is the brainchild of artist Nik Alwerdt. He lived and had a studio in Tempe Arizona. Then he moved to Chicago creating large scale paintings.
After moving back home in the 80’s, he started growing flowers and botanicals for drying to be used in wreaths and flower arrangements. He established Alwerdts Gardens was in 1988. Then in 2017 started the sculpture park. The website shares, “It has a half-mile walking path around the lake with, currently, 33 sculptures and it continues to expand. The sculptures here are for your viewing enjoyment, as well as for sale.”
The only other sculpture park I was ever at was the Pyramid Sculpture Park in Ohio! Mason City, Iowa is also filled with art and sculptures along with another Wright home, a Frank Lloyd Wright home! After our walk, w headed to the Charles Wright House Museum. Another place of unusual art is the experimental town of Vedic City is the Maharishi Vedic observatory. Part of the Maharshi International University located in Fairfield, Iowa.
Museum and festival
We attended the 17th annual Dr. Charles M. Wright Beer, Wine & Music Fundraiser. I tried a glass of sparkling Moscato and Annie snagged a sugar cookie. The food was a fund raiser for the Jolene Arend Giving Fund. she was a sufferer of breast cancer, and this was to raise money for cancer.
We listened to the fun vibes of Drew Sheafor before taking our tour of the Dr. Charles M. Wright House Museum. The Wright House was occupied by three generations of the Wright family. The first two were doctors. The third Wright was a lawyer. The house was built in 1897. It is designed in the Second Empire style. The house was designed to be self-sufficient. It was the first house in Altamont to have a gas lighting system. The first with indoor plumbing and a central steam-heating system. Open on Sundays from 2-4, they were also open during the festival. They will also open for appointments. I recommend coming on Saturday or a weekday so you can catch all the fun stops open! For details, call Linda Schmidt at 618-483-6397.
Day is done!
After the tour we headed back to our cars to depart. Annie and I last from 10 to 3! We laugh because that seems to be our play period. Sometimes we start earlier, but usually just last until midafternoon! If you enjoy sculptures and such art, try out the yard art in Salem Illinois.
Where have you found fun in a small town? This one was filled with charm, art, food and overall, Annie and I took on Altamont and loved it!
