Wednesday, March 29, 2017

St. Charles, Illinois

This is a continuation of a series of travel posts of a week I spent in Illinois to visit my children.  To start at the beginning go HERE.  The rest of the posts are HERE, HERE,  and HERE.

The third day of my vacation to Illinois was a very special one because it was the day I accompanied my daughter and her husband to find out the sex of my first grandchild (It is a GIRL for those who may not already know! 😊).   The appointment was only suppose to take an hour but ended up taking most of the morning instead.  Since the majority of our day was taken up at the doctors office, we only had a few hours to spend sight seeing.  We decided to go to St.Charles because it was nearby and my son had previously visited and said it was beautiful.

St. Charles, like Geneva which we had visited a few days before, is located on the beautiful Fox River.   There isn't as much to do there as there is in Geneva (at least I didn't think so based on the short time we were there), but it is very pretty.  I would love to see it at night, because that is when my son visited.  He said the bridge was all lit up and it was just gorgeous.  Maybe someday I'll get back there to see that!

One of St. Charles popular attractions is the old historic hotel:  The Hotel Baker.  It is located right on the Fox River and has amazing architecture both inside and out.


We didn't get to see any rooms, but they let us snoop around the lobby a bit and take a peek at the reception hall.  I love this curved wall and doors.


There was an iron rail balcony above the doors.


How about these elevator doors?  They look like something out of an old movie.


 Every nook and cranny of this beautiful hotel was filled with exquisite detail.  I love the tile walls and stairs and the curved banister.


This is the hotel reception desk.  I love that they still have the old mail slots on the wall.  They could probably film a period movie here since so much is unchanged from when it was first built.


This is the reception hall.  Can you imagine having a wedding here?  Wow!  You wouldn't need to spend much on decorations...they are already here!


My daughter and I are both peacock lovers and we noticed immediately the gorgeous peacock stain glass on the hotel entrance.


Like Geneva, St. Charles had a beautiful bridge over-looking the Fox River.   The stunning building pictured below is the St. Charles Municipal Building and Plaza.  It was constructed in 1940 and is made of White Georgia Marble.  The tower is 84 feet tall.


Similar to Geneva, they also had a river walk and trails, but we didn't go on them.  We definitely need to go back another time to explore this area more in-depth.


And here is my smiling, happy pregnant daughter!



We did walk about a bit on main street to check out the shops and old architecture.  We loved this old movie theater!


And like most historic old towns they are filled with beautiful historic old homes like this one.  I love the stone work!


We found another old hotel on the main street, but it isn't used as a hotel anymore.


A cute candy and antique store.  We didn't go inside, so I can't tell you if the fudge was any good!


I LOVED this old gas station turned into a restaurant.  What a cute idea!  We should have had lunch here.  Instead we went to Culver's because my kids are both gluten-free and they have gluten-free buns there.  Maybe another time.


I snapped this view as I was walking across the street.  Overall, I didn't find as many interesting shops in St. Charles as they had in Geneva.  However, when I look on their website there looks like there is a lot more to do there then what first meets the eye.  I think if I ever get the chance to go back there (and I probably will since my kids live nearby), I will have to do a bit of homework first so I can plan my trip better.


Have any of you ever been to St. Charles, Illinois before?  What would you recommend doing or seeing?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.
SaveSave

7 comments:

  1. Cute town! I can see why my cousin decides to stay there every time she visits. Sadly I have never been there. That old hotel looks gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder if your cousin stays in the Hotel Baker? I think we really missed a lot when we there. When we got there we just walked around and thought "Is this it? What's there to do here?" But now that I'm home and I visited their website there's a lot more to St. Charles than meets the eye.

      Delete
    2. Amy, it looks like you and your daughter had a lovely time in a charming old town. The hotel is beautiful and you're right it would be purrfect for filming a period setting movie. :) Have a fototastic week!

      Delete
    3. Thanks Cathy. Yes, it was a lovely day.

      Delete
  2. I could see a gorgeous wedding taking place there! Your daughter is glowing, congrats to her. :)

    Brooke
    Pumps and Push-Ups

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats on finding out that your daughter is having a baby girl!! She is beautiful! I love that peacock glass, too! So pretty.

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love feedback from my readers. If you have a blog, I always return the love by visiting within a week whoever leaves a comment.