Heritage Acres 38/14 weeks.

There are beautiful nature trails winding around the heritage acres village.  More are under construction.

Since we had a prior engagement for Sunday this week we figured we had better make a hiking plan for Saturday. Fortunately for us Heritage Acres was hosting a Threshing Weekend.  Even though we live and work about 10 minutes from this agri(culture) museum, Saturday marked our first trip to the grounds.
Heritage Acres occupies land adjacent to the Pat Bay highway between Michell's farm stand and Mt. Newton crossroad. It is easy to see the small gauge railroad display from the highway. What you can not see is the track that runs into the park including tunnels and bridgeworks to rival the best rail yards. We should know; we are from Galesburg, Illinois. Our hometown is such a large railroad hub that it has been reputed to have caught the attention of Hitler during the war. His cabinet pondered crippling that portion of the United States by destroying those supply lines.
Perhaps thats why we took such delight in the visit. The trains were running the entire time taking the young and old alike into the interior to experience the loop through the countryside. Heritage Acres was literally swarming with young families so the engineers often blew their whistles at the waving children.

Yes, it does look as if you would feel very silly, but it was a lot of fun.

The designers of the interior loop have gone to great lengths to make the ride feel realistic.

An engineer letting off steam near the diminutive roundhouse.

The number of historical displays, buildings, and collections of antique machinery are astounding. The museum has been set up as a frontier village complete with chapel, store, blacksmith shop, garage and school. It was the school that I was most excited about. I know a local teacher who led youth through its doors for a number of years. The old Mt. Newton school was founded in 1913 and moved here in 1972.  It has been lovingly recreated as a schoolhouse complete with desks, books and cast iron stove.

Structurally I went to a school just like this although I will report that our desks were newer.

This is a young boy's paradise; especially if he can share it with Dad.

I'll have a  coffee with milk, thank you.

The Illinois prairies are still dotted with these so I am always pleased to see them.
They are an iconic reminder of home.

The bridge over this creek is actually one half of an enormous mother log that has been thrown
across and completed with attached railing.

The nature trail is well groomed and growing.

Eye level with me, it must have taken this slug WEEKS to get on this leaf.

You would never know that you are within shouting distance of the highway.

I highly recommend a visit to this local jewel. It is a window into the past that is unique and varied enough to be everyone's. The garage/museum is completely packed with items from the last 10 years all the way back into the 1800's. I finally had to leave the building.  There was so much to see I couldn't even take it all in.
Although I would be lying if I reported that it was much of a hike it is still worth the visit. The agricultural portion of the museum has so many antique farm implements they line the village and dot the nature trail. I look forward to another visit myself. I am anxious to see the continuing effort on the nature trail. It is short and level making it the perfect fit for young and old alike. There are also benches, lawn chairs or plain stumps with boards around almost every corner. So much thought and time have been put into making this an enjoyable experience I'd hate for anyone to miss it.