Guest Post: Amboy Depot Days

I am pleased to have Evanston mom and writer Susan Bearman back with another guest post. If you are looking for a last minute, end-of-summer get-away, she has a great idea for you.

I love the sophistic

Old-fashioned candy at the Amboy Pharmacy (photo courtesy of Susan Bearman)

ation and urbanity of Chicago and its environs, but sometimes I feel like my family is getting a little jaded -- like maybe we're missing some of life's simpler pleasures. So before summer ends, we are going to take a brief retreat to explore Amboy Depot Days.

Never heard of Amboy, Illinois? Neither had we until some family members moved there a few years ago. Located on the Green River about 100 miles west of Chicago, Amboy (pop. 2570) is a short jaunt from I-88, not far from the Lee County seat of Dixon. Once you leave the Interstate and travel south toward Amboy, the sea of corn speckled with farm outbuildings will tell you that you have left the big city far behind.

Held every August on the weekend before Labor Day Weekend, Amboy Depot Days were established to celebrate the town's rich railroad history. The actual Amboy Central Railroad Depot was decommissioned in the mid-1980s and has since been converted into a museum, complete with a one-room school house, a real engine and caboose, and enough railroad artifacts to thrill your little engineers.

A reflection of Illinois' small-town Midwest heritage, the 31st Annual Depot Days will kick off with Family Night on Thursday, August 27 (6-10 p.m.), with the festivities continuing Friday evening, and all day Saturday and Sunday (7 a.m. - 10 p.m.). You can find a complete schedule of events here, but these are a few of the highlights:

•   A carnival on the museum grounds
•   Saturday and Sunday morning pancake breakfasts
•   Kids Run & 5K Run/Walk
•   Antique Farm Tractor Show
•   19th Annual Depot Days Car, Truck & Motorcycle Show
•   Petting Zoo at Veterans Park
•   Depot Days Parade
•   Pork Chop & Chicken Barbeque at the fire station
•   Telegraphers demonstration at Depot Museum

K.C.'s Beer Garden will also be hosting a bandstand with a variety of musical entertainment throughout the weekend. Of course, there will be the requisite food and craft booths around town, as well as a community-wide garage sale, but you won't want to miss the Amboy Pharmacy. Part museum, part working five and dime, the Amboy Pharmacy boasts a wall of penny candy and an honest-to-goodness ice cream soda fountain -- featuring the "Suicide" milkshake, with 17 flavors of syrup (not for the faint of stomach).

Amboy is more like an overnight than a day trip away, so you'll probably want to spend at least one night. There is plenty of camping available in the area, and here is a list of nearby hotels. Before the hustle and bustle of the school year begins, we are looking forward to slowing down, taking a step back in time and enjoying a little family fun at Amboy Depot Days. Maybe we'll see you there. My husband is planning to show off his '61 Corvette at the Car Show. It's bright red -- you can't miss it.

Susan Bearman is a freelance writer and editor; you can read her at Two Kinds of People and on the Chicago Moms Blog, as well as at The Animal Store. She lives in Evanston with her husband, four children, a dog and a new kitten (don't ask).