Sunday nights in Quad Cities (Bettendorf, IA - Davenport, IA - Moline, IL - Rock Island, IL) aren't the most exciting. We wandered around what seemed to be the entertainment district on the water near one of the riverboat casinos, but nothing was open, and nobody was there. Very bizarre. We ended up at Applebee's, with servers who wanted to be there far less than those at Applebee's Dorchester.
It left us wondering what people did in this area. The median home sale in 2005 was for $100,600. It seemed like a nice part of the country. People should have disposable income here, right?
Well, this morning, we attended one of their free entertainment options, which doubled as part of what drives Quad Cities' economic growth. The John Deere Pavilion. Headquarters for the equipment manufacturer are in Moline, IL.
The pavilion was pretty cool, complete with actual farm machines, many valued at over $500,000 each.Of course, I'm never one to pass up a photo op. It's comforting to know that even with the salt air shrinking my pants, I can still fit into a tire rim.
One of Brian's waypoints to keep us on route was Nauvoo, IL, a town we decided would be a good lunch pit stop. Unbeknowest to us, Nauvoo is a Mormon stronghold, and is a semi-Mecca to Mormons. In the mid-1800's, Nauvoo was the 10th largest city in the US. This is a photo of a huge restored Mormon temple, the original, which burned down in 1846, was at one point the 2nd largest building west of Philadelphia.
I believe a portion of our lunch tab is going to Mitt Romney's election efforts. If you're in the school of thought that a Romney Republican nomination is a good way to get the Democrats back in office, I'm happy to support the cause. If you're angry that our $20 went to support the Mormons, my apologies.
Brian has begun to lose it a bit, and is now speaking to Jill (the GPS) with almost as much frequency as I do.
2 comments:
Hehehehe. I used to do work for Deere. There is an entire toy line for Deere equipment. If you go to a Deere dealership....you can get toys. Isn't that what every child wants?
Brian actually bought some of those toys for his two little girls back home! I was amazed at the amount of John Deere merchandise, both related and unrelated to their product line. I mean - a John Deere checkers set?!
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