"U" is for Utica

My husband, Jim, and I traveled this great country of ours for SEVEN years in our RV. We saw many wonderful sights, visited famous and not so famous cities, and wandered through many a National Park. I have blogged through all our travels. I've stumbled upon the "Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013". I decided to jump on board this crazy train and share with all of you places I have seen in my travels.

Day 21 "Blogging from A-Z Challenge"!

is for Utica, IL







This small town of approximately 1,000 was put on the map when a tornado hit on April 20, 2004, killing 9 people.

Main Street has lots of touristy shops and restaurants. The large restaurant on the corner is Duffy's. (This shot is only one side of the street. Stores and restaurants line the other side, too.)

What would bring tourists to a little town like Utica? Well, Starved Rock State Park is just a few miles down the road from here. And many people pass through the town of Utica to get there.

We visited Starved Rock many times because we spent a lot of time camping during the summer in Utica over the years while we were on the road. Utica is not too far from where my daughter and her family live.

I love going to Starved Rock because the scenery always changes. We have been there in the dead of winter, in the coolness of spring, and the heat of the summer.

There are several paths to walk.

One may look like this

You will probably cross a bridge or two along the way.

You may see some of these kind of wildflowers:

or these

or even these.

And plenty others. Depending on which path you wander down, you will stumble across a waterfall,

or two,

or three!

The scenery calms one's nerves......

This is the actual Starved Rock, where legend has it that the Potawatomi Indians chased the Illini tribe to the top of the rock and forced them to stay until they starved to death.

Thanks for stopping by!