What’s to Like About Rockford: The Chicago Rockford International Airport

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So I took one of my classes on a field trip last week for a behind the scenes look at the Chicago Rockford International Airport.

I’ve flown out of this airport for family vacations to Florida and an occasional trip to Vegas and I have to tell you there is no simpler way to travel. First, there’s free parking mere steps away from the terminal. Security is efficient, respectful, and dare I say, “nice”. And there’s only one baggage carousel on the way back to choose from. You’re definitely not getting lost at this airport. Did I mention the conveniently close free parking?

But during our tour I learned some fascinating history. Like the airport was once home to Camp Grant used in both WWI and WWII, the latter as a POW camp. This is the same Camp Grant that Colonel Potter refers to in several M*A*S*H* episodes.

When we came back from the field trip, one of my students who couldn’t attend, asked me if our tour guide told us about the “ghosts”?

GHOSTS?

Some say parts of the grounds are haunted. Well the writer in me had to follow up on that little tidbit and apparently over 1,000 soldiers died at Camp Grant during the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918. I guess the spirits like to mess with the guys in the firehouse. Or maybe it’s some spirited guys in the firehouse messing around. In either event, sounds like the BONES of a good story, no?

The Chicago Rockford International Airport: a historical gem in our own backyard. With free parking of course 🙂

Trying Out a New Blog Theme

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Did you know there are 647 two-column Word Press blog themes? My blog service provider switched over to Word Press recently, so I thought I’d take a peek. I tried out 26 of them today.

There are themes with bleeding graphics, flashing graphics, and switching graphics. There are themes with colors that don’t exist in the natural world. There are themes with boxes around boxes and balloons around boxes around balloon animals that squawk when you click on them.

But wouldn’t know it, after narrowing down to twelve, then five, and finally a top three, I settled on the simplest theme . . . the one with the most white space and the ability to put my own picture in a custom header.

Do you like it?

What’s to Like About Rockford: Toad Hall, The Coolest Place You Didn’t Know About

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Toad Hall Frontage

Toad Hall Frontage

Well you might have known about it, but I sure didn’t. Not until one of my students wrote about the place in a report for class, and all the time while I’m reading I’m thinking, “I need to go to to this store. How cool is this!” And so I did. And you know what?

It is UBER COOL.

Love the warm tone of a vinyl record album? They’ve got thousands, from Aerosmith to Mozart to ZZ Top.
Looking for a comic from childhood? Got ’em.
Books in general? Stacked to the ceiling.
Magazines? Those too.
Movie posters. Cassettes and 8 track tapes, 8mm movies, vintage toys, art . . .

Toad Hall Main Floor

Toad Hall Main Floor

And just when you think you’ve seen it all, you round the corner and there’s another nook filled to the brim, another stairwell that leads to another floor with overflowing shelves of Life magazine, TV Guide, true crime books, classical choral and orchestra recordings, Nancy Drew, and Little Golden Books. In this store, John Belushi lives next door to Betty Davis and Louis Armstrong. There is literally and musically, something for everyone.

Toad Hall Main Floor 2

Toad Hall Main Floor Record Bins

So much fun to browse. Plan on spending at least a couple hours. But let’s say you are an out of state friend, or even– out of the continent. That’s okay too, because even though Toad Hall sells a lot of “blast from the past” they are a techno savvy modern day company with an UBER COOL website you can check out here: www.toadhallonline.com.

I went to take a couple pictures and completely lost track of time. I brought my oldest kid, who quickly found the pinball machine. Oh, and you never know who you might run into. Rick Nielsen, from Cheap Trick, likes the place too.

So where to go to find the gem that is Toad Hall? 2106 Broadway Rockford, IL 61104, Hours: Wed-Sun, 12pm-5pm. And, yes, I bought something while visiting for this blog post. Tales from the Crypt, Issues 11-15, Vol 3 Reprint. Couldn’t help myself.

Pictures (C) Karin Blaski 3/30/13