Sunday, May 1, 2022

A Cozy, Well Located Airbnb in Casey, Illinois

Field east of Fairview Park, Casey, Illinois
where I imagined the circus setting up in Hezada! I Miss You
(Picture by me, 2022)

During my childhood, travelers to or through Casey, Illinois could stay anywhere else or at the old motel by the golf course, lovingly nicknamed "the roach motel" by locals (now defunct). 

Later, in the '90s, The Comfort Inn sprouted up by the I-70 exit, just behind Hardee's (now Subway). 

Recently, with the tourist boom that has followed the appearance of giant-sized objects along the streets and sidewalks of the town, so too has come additional options for staying the night in my hometown. There's a lovely bed & breakfast by the railroad tracks, and now, several Airbnbs. 

This time when I visited my family, I decided to stay in an Airbnb so that we could have room for stretching out our legs and make a family visit double as a vacation.  

And after staying nearly a full week at a little house just off the park, I think everyone travelling to or through Casey, Illinois ought to know about it. 

๐Ÿก

Picture of house from Airbnb page:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/49321839?source_impression_id=p3_1650927235_HhaG9HpVh0BbhnHz


Five reasons the little white house by the park in Casey, Illinois was perfect for our visit-cation.
  1. It's across the street from the park so my son could quickly leave the house and start riding his bike, and I could walk or jog with him;
  2. It has two bedrooms, which was perfect for both my son and me to have our own space (the second bedroom has two twin beds);
  3. The loveseat in the living area reclines, which son found to be an amazing invention, and I found to be perfect for a cozy movie viewing (bonus: the space heater in the TV console);
  4. The full kitchen (refrigerator, stove/oven, sink, and cabinets) made for easy food preparation, from breakfast to dinner, which was even more convenient and necessary since we are vegetarian/vegan and, thus, have limited food choices when eating out in this area (NOTE:  Casey no longer has a grocery, so you'll have to stock up on groceries either at the Marshall or Charleston Wal-Mart or the Greenup IGA); 
  5. It served well for coffee visits over the kitchen table with my friend Patti, lunches with my mother, rounds of Yahtzee! and Bunko with my brothers, and a final dinner/visit with several family members and friends. (And the extra writing desk and chair served me very well.)

So, if you plan on visiting Casey for a softball tournament, the Labor Day Popcorn Festival, Casey Homecoming, Candy Canes on Main, or to gawk at giant-sized objects that have perhaps fallen from a giant's castle at the top of a soybean stalk hovering over Casey, this place seems a good bet if you plan on staying a few nights and would like to have a place to call home.

View of park from desk window where I found time to write.


View of local bird and park through window

Local bird living in house gutter,
 providing company outside kitchen window

My child enjoying his Saturday morning cartoons in the
cozy living area

More about the house (with better pictures) at its Airbnb site: 

๐Ÿก

P.S. It seems useful to note that I write this because I grew up in Casey, have family in Casey, and building each other up is one part of the community mindset. I'm not getting any kickbacks for saying good things about this place that I just happened to find and book while planning a trip to see my mother, brothers, niece, nephew, and friends. 

P.S.S. I would like you to stay there, though, because I plan on staying here next year.

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (April 24, 2022)

Welcome to the latest session of Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee.

How this works:

1. I read good poems by other people.

2. We all drink coffee (or not).

 

Poems read:

  • Ghosts by Jack Gilbert (from his book The Great Fires)
  • Deliverance by Jericho Brown (from his book The Tradition)
  • The War Works Hard by Dunya Mikhail (from her book The War Works Hard, trans. by Elizabeth Winslow)
  • Between Two Wars by Dunya Mikhail (from her book The War Works Hard, trans. by Elizabeth Winslow)
  • Diehards by Ray McManus (from Poetry, Volume 218, No. 3)
  • Drawl and Hum by Tina Mozelle Braziel (from Poetry, Volune 218, No.3)
  • Poem from Pearl’s House by C.D. Wright (from her book Shallcross)

๐Ÿ•ฎ


๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle 

Sunday, April 17, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (April 17, 2022)

 Here's today's session of Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee, wherein every Sunday I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee.


Poems read: 
  • Consorting with Angels by Anne Sexton (from Live or Die)
  • Swimming by Polly Buckingham (from The River People)
  • Paen for the Body by Ann Tweedy (from The Body’s Alphabet)
  • She Dreams of Being an Artist by Maya Jewell Zeller (from Rust Fish)
  • Sparrow’s Sleep by m.l. smoker (from Another Attempt at Rescue)
  • Metaphors of Mass Destruction by Brooke Matson (from In Accelerated Silence)
  • After the Hysterectomy by Laura Read (from Instructions for My Mother’s Funeral)
๐Ÿ•ฎ


๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle 



Sunday, April 10, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (April 10, 2022)

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee

Every Sunday, I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee.

Welcome.

Here's today's session: 

Poems read:

  • The Gift by Mary Oliver
  • Bags of Bones by Dunya Mikhail (translated by Sadek Mohammed)
  • Tablets VI by Dunya Mikhail
  • In Time of War by Carolyn Forchรฉ 

๐Ÿ•ฎ

๐Ÿ Š More poetry sessions here: http://www.erinpringle.com/p/wake-to-words-and-brew-some-coffee.html

๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle 

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (April 3, 2022)

 

Poems read:

  • Giving Thanks by Angela Jackson (2020)
  • The Valiant by Brigit Peegan Kelly (1984)
  • Black Swan by Brigit Peegan Kelly (2004)
  • Along with Youth by Ernest Hemingway 
  • Chicago by Carl Sandburg (1914)
  • Grass by Carl Sandburg (1918)
๐Ÿ•ฎ


๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle 

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (March 20, 2022)

 

Poems read:

  • Upper Broadway by Adrienne Rich
  • The Jars by George MacKay Brown
  • The Kookaburras by Mary Oliver 
  • We Lived Happily During the War by Ilya Kaminsky
  • XII. by Wendell Berry (from Sabbath Poems 2015)

๐Ÿ•ฎ


๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle 

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (March 13, 2022)

Every Sunday, I read good poems by other people while we all drink coffee. Here's the most recent episode.

 

Poems read:

  • In the Box by Linda L. Beeman (from Wallace, Idaho)
  • I-90 by Linda L. Beeman (from Wallace, Idaho)
  • After Another Country by Jericho Brown (from The Tradition)
  • The Water Lilies by Jericho Brown (from The Tradition)
  • Dream by Mathias Svalina (from Poetry, Vol 219, Number 6)

๐Ÿ•ฎ


๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle 


Sunday, March 6, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (March 6, 2022)

Every Sunday, good poems by other people. You bring the coffee.

 

Poems read:

  • 126 by Osip Mandelstam, translated by Clarence Brown and W.S. Merwin
  • Domination of Black by Wallace Stevens
  • The Munich Mannequins by Sylvia Plath 
๐Ÿ•ฎ


๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle 

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (February 27, 2022)

Every Sunday.

Good poems by other people.

Coffee.

 

Poems read:

  • The Spindle by Hashem Shafeeq, trans. by Sadek Mohammed
  • The Needle by Hashem Shafeeq, trans. by Sadek Mohammed
  • When he exploded by Salam Dawai, trans. by Soheil Najm
  • The Porch Over the River by Wendell Berry
  • As Soldiers March, Alfonso Covers the Boy’s Face by Ilya Kaminsky 
  • Your last day by Laura Kasischke
  • The Arm by Martin Espada
  • Poem in a Trance by c.d. wright 

๐Ÿ•ฎ


๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle 

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Wake to Words and Brew Some Coffee (February 20, 2022)

Good Poems.

By other people.

Every Sunday.

Over coffee.

 

Poems read:

  • Wallace, Idaho by Linda L. Beeman
  • The Mission by Linda L. Beeman
  • Manifest by Cynthia Dewi Oka
  • This Online Shopping Habit is Sympathetic Magick by Caroline Crew
  • VIZ by Julia Drescher

๐Ÿ•ฎ


๐Ÿ Š Catch the live show on Sunday mornings at some time-ish: https://www.facebook.com/erintpringle