Just Hanging Around: Donovans, Saylor Mick's, Mother Road Cruisin'? Pizza and Sad Sox

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26

Went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for drinks and live trivia with Uncle Jeffie.  Then to Saylor Mick's in Spring Grove, Illinois, for 75 cent wings and $1 Hamm's pints.

THURSDAU, APRIL 27

Considering going on the Illinois Route 66 Motor Tour this year from June 9 to 11.  It's time to get back on the Mother Road.  Haven't been since before you-know-what.

Cut the grass for thye first time.  Should have done it sooner.  I still have to clear up the tree limbs that came down in the ice storm.  Met Kevin and Kelly at Half-Times in Johnsburg for half-price pizza.  I got Liz and my old special pizza:  sausage, black olives and pineapple.

The White Sox have sunken to new depths this year (and I thought they couldn't possibly go any lower after the pathetic team of last year.  I sure was wrong.).

--SadSoxDog

Loaded With Oldies: 'Judy in Disguise (With What?)'

SATURDAY, APRIL22

That 4-album set "72 Top Original Hits by the Original Artists" obviously has a lot of oldies.

Some of them:  

TURN DOWN DAY--  Cyrkle

COME A LITTLE BIT CLOSER--  Jay & the Americans

EXPRESSWAY TO YOUR HEART--  Soul Survivors

CHERRY CHERRY--  Neil Diamond

JUDY IN DISGUISE--  John Fred

GOOD LOVIN'--  Rascals

WOOLY BULLY--  Sam the Sham

I GOT YOU BABE--  Sonny & Cher

BUT IT'S ALRIGHT--  J.J. Jackson

RESCUE ME--  Fontella Bass

LAND OF 1000 DANCES--  Wilson Pickett

BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY--  Ad Libs

And, there are 72 of them.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Uno Dos, One Two Tres Quatro."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Wooly Bully"

And, Of Course, What Would Record Store Day Be Without Records?

SATURDAY, APRIL 22

As in LPs.  I did go through many of the Vinyl Frontier's albums.  There is just somehing about flipping through then that brings back memories of the good old record store days.

And, did I just hear that sales of albums have surpassed sales of CDs?

I ended up buying four albums (two of them multiple sets).  And, I sure like the prices for the used ones better than the prices for the new ones.
I bought:

Easy As Pie--  Billy "Crash" Craddock

Shake Off the Demon--  Brewer and Shipley

Bobby Goldsboro's 10th Anniversary Album  (two albums)

72 Top Original Hits by the Original Artists  (4 albums)

--RoadRecords

Doing That Record Store Thing

SATURDAY, APRIL 22

Okay, no NIU Spring Football game because of weather, but I did get to do other things.  

And, besides that, today is Record Store Day.  As such, I went over to my favorite Mom and Pop record store in McHenry, Illinois.  It is called the Vinyl Frontier which is a great name for a record store in my books.

Even though I don't need to be buying any CDS or LPs, hey, you gotta on this day.

I bought five CDs:

Kinks  (their first one)

Kinks Greatest Hits 1970-1986  (two CDs and a DVD)

Lola Versus  Powerman and Moneygoround--  Kinks

Drinks After Work--  Toby Keith   (including that great "Call a Marine")

Proof:  The Very Best of the Knack

You might say I got Kinkasized.

--RoadKinks

A Cappuccino, Nathan's and a Record Store

SATURDAY, APRIL 22

After sufficiently freezing, I was glad to get back in the car and drove to Thornton's on US-12 and bought a large cappucinno for $1.79, a lot better deal than you'd get at Five Bucks.  Then drove over to McHenry for Record Store Day.

I stopped along the way at Jewel which now has a Saturday special with quarter pound Nathan's hot dogs.  I loves those Nathan's and at that price.  Gosh!!  Bought three, two for later.

I went to my favorite record store, The Vinyl Frontier.  Nothing like a Mom and Pop Record Store, especially on a day honoring them.  

Sadly, I have lost several of my favorites over the years:

Record Revolution in DeKalb, Illinois

Full Cyrkle Records on Crystal Lake, Illinois

The Record Rack in Goldsboro, North Carolina

--RoadRecords

Dedicating the Dollar Lake Marker-- Part 2

SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2023

Look up Lakeland Plaza Fox Lake idecpltraining for pictures of it and the early shopping center businesses.

Some of the former occupants were:

Sears, Roebuck & Co. (where the Fox Lake Theatre is)

Jewel Food Store (by the Sears)

F.W. Woolworth Co.

Frank's Shoes

Globe Department Store (since torn down.  It was between the current Val's and the Dollar General.)

National Food Store  (where Val's is today)

--RoadWorth

New Plans: Dedicating the Dollar Lake Historical Marker in Fox Lake on a Cold and Blustery Day

SATURDAY, APRIL 22

So, here we are out shivering and watching cars speed along Grand Avenue in Fox Lake, Illinois (and hoping we didn't get hit).  What a wonderful day to dedicate a new historical marker.  Our host and mc was none other than Michael Lescher, local real estate agent, musician and community pusher.

The marker was a joint effort by the Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society and the Village of Fox Lake. It had been covered with plastic and really, really taped on.  Michael had had the idea that he would be able to pull a cord and a massive cloth would fall off to reveal the new sign.  That didn't happen.  After some unsuccessful pulling at the taped plastic, he took a pocket knife out and soon had the plastic off.

It is an impressive sign.  Michael said a few words and read what it said.  

Dollar Lake had been at this site where Grand Avenue and Rollins Road come together.  It was a shallow, muddy lake that had been drained for the construction of the Lakeland Shopping Plaza which opened in 1963.

--RoadNoMoreLake