If you live in a town long enough, things start to disappear. Not literally, but you see them so often you take them for granted and stop noticing all the different items in the city’s landscape that make it unique and special. That’s why I like doing the kind of blogs I’ve been producing since 2010 when I started my 365 bar tour in and sometimes out of New York City.
When I first moved to New York in 1993, I was like a kid let loose in an all-you-can-eat candy shop. Everything was new and I was running around the city dreaming up things to write about and just soaking it all in like a hyperactive sponge. But in 2010, 17 years later, I had pretty much turned into a jaded New Yorker. I had seen everything you could see in New York, lived through September 11th and kind of stayed in a ten block radius of where I lived because everything I needed could be found in those ten blocks.
Then I started my 365 bar blog and through running around and going to bars, I started noticing the things in the city that I had just been taking for granted for the last decade or so and it really made me appreciate New York again. The same thing happens here in Peoria for me. Doing MBIP forces me to look at things in our environment I pass by so often, it just becomes a blur. One of those places is The Kickapoo Building on Main Street.
The Kickapoo Building was built by the Anheuser-Busch company in 1911 and the top of the building is still adorned with their logo. It’s Peoria’s only triangular flatiron building and it got historically landmarked back in 2014. I’ve taken pictures of it for the MBIP blog, but never at night. And there’s also another Peoria landmark inside the building that we’ll take a look at, so keep on scrolling to take a look at this week’s place in Peoria, The Kickapoo Building on Main Street.
The Kickapoo Building Last Night
Wow, this building is majestic and spectacular in the daytime and I like it even better at night. This is the front of the triangular building. The architectural style is called a flatiron building. One of my favorite buildings in New York is their flatiron building, which was just a few blocks from where I lived on 16th street. Margie’s Cleaners is located in this front section of The Kickapoo Building.
Here’s the other side of the building. This side houses Thirty-Thirty Coffee Co. That’s their awning hanging over the front entrance there on the corner.
This is the back of the building which shows the triangular scope of the structure. It’s really a unique building and a nice sight at 726 W. Main Street in downtown Peoria.
The Kickapoo Building In The Morning, Four Years Ago
Here’s the building in the early morning hours. I took this photo back in 2014 when the building had been landmarked as an historical building here in Peoria.
The Jumer’s Bear
This is the inside of Thirty-Thirty Coffee Co. and another Peoria landmark is located all the way in the back...
The Jumer’s Bear! He used to stand tall near the entrance to the bar in the old Jumer’s Castle Lodge, but when that closed it was put in storage. The Jumer family own this building and Thirty-Thirty Coffee Co. asked if they could put the legendary bear on display and here he is in all his glory! As you can see from the plate below him, he was taken by Jim Jumer on April 6, 1970. He stands 9 feet tall and at the time of his capture he was 1027 pounds!
I think he’s in the right place because he looks like he needs some coffee! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Places In Peoria: The Madison Theater and Murray Place.
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Mexican Spider-Bitten Leg Update!
I’ve had some people ask about my spider-bitten leg on facecrack, so I thought I’d put up an update for those of you keeping score! Here’s the history of the spider bite below, ending with a photo from today.
Here’s where it all started on my vacation in San Pancho, Mexico. This photo was taken on March 25th, the day I woke up to find my leg all swollen from a spider bite in the night. Not a fun way to end a vacation, if you missed seeing this post, you can read about it here.
This is a couple weeks later on April 10th. By now the swollen leg had turned into an infected abscess and the infection had spread through my leg down to my foot which was so swollen I couldn’t put my shoe on. Needless to say, this was a little frightening and I went to my doctor and an appointment was made for the next day to get it drained.
Here it is, after the drainage on April 11th, over a month ago. As you can see, it’s a fairly deep hole and I was told to keep an eye on it for infection. I had to wash it thoroughly twice a day and pack it with wet gauze and a bandage.
This is the wound today. Yesterday I went to the doctor and she said it looks real good and I don’t have to pack it with wet gauze anymore, which is a relief. Now I just have to keep it covered with a band-aid and she said that hopefully in about two weeks it’ll be all healed up. Thanks to everyone for the nice wishes over the last six weeks, hopefully I can put up a fully-healed photo in a couple of weeks and put this whole tale to rest!