Although I generally lived in the smaller towns surrounding it, the primary area where I’m from is in the Decatur, Illinois area. It’s an interesting place, to say the least. A manufacturing town that is, literally, surrounded by corn fields and smaller surrounding towns out in the middle of nowhere. It’s a place where some remember a place called Elam’s drive-in, which was a restaurant where they served some of the best tasting root beer ever, as well as Pork Tenderloin sandwiches that were literally the diameter of a child’s head and dwarfed the bun the were on. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a pork tenderloin sandwich actually is since it’s generally a Midwestern occurrence, here’s a good description:
A pork tenderloin sandwich (also called simply a "tenderloin") is a very thinly sliced piece of pork, usually the larger, tougher loineye (longissimus) muscle, uniquely battered and breaded, which is deep fried and served on a hamburger bun. This is usually served with mustard, ketchup, pickle and onion. This sandwich is generally only sold in the US Midwest.
Although, for mine, I only had it with ketchup. I LOATHE mustard and pickles, by the way.
Anyway, Decatur is a place known for its famous Rooster or chicken car, which is a car with a giant rooster head on the top of it which belongs to the owners of the Krekel’s restaurant chain, which I distinctly remember as a young child because on their ice cream cones they put these almost glitter-like candy sprinkles on them. Decatur is also a little different when it concerns race. Down here in Florida, where you can have a mix of anything and everything pertaining to races, in Decatur it does seem as though whites and blacks are rather separate. It seems like 95% of the black people in Decatur live on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., and at least when I was there, and it was unfortunate, but white people had a distinct fear of black people, and black people had a clear distrust and perhaps even hatred of white people. It’s almost like the backlash from the days before the Civil War are STILL going on there, which is completely contradictory to how it’s like in Florida, where everyone is a huge mix. I have two neighbors down here that are black and are actually the nicest black people I think I’ve met. Whereas in Decatur, I remember getting, literally, GLARES from black people if I even GLANCED their direction up there.
So, although I do miss the better small town morals and family gatherings and how they celebrated the holidays and such up there, I do NOT miss the obvious segregation that is still going on. Now, my more relaxed stance does not mean that I could be INTO black girls. I’m not. I am only attracted to girls with lighter skin for the most part, even if they ARE Caucasian. But, as far as feeling comfortable around black people, I feel MUCH more comfortable down here than I do up there because of the perception differences. I still have NO concept of their culture, music, etc., but at least I feel more comfortable and like if I glanced their direction for a second I wasn’t going to have them try to pick a fight with me for no apparent reason. Up there, it’s another story entirely from what I recall. Maybe times have changed, though, since it was 11 years since I lived up there.
Another interesting thing about Decatur is how, the more North you go, the higher the real estate. The closer you get to a town called Forsyth, the more you have a better chance of selling your house it seems. LOL. Another interesting thing is that there are so many things with the name of Faries. Faries Park, Faries Parkway, Faries road. People in Decatur still, to this day, incorrectly pronounce it Fairies, like a tinkerbell fairy. When, in fact, after careful research, I have found that it was actually pronounced Fahrees, and was named after a guy who started the Faries Manufacturing Plant that was in operation MANY many years ago. I, actually, have a vintage lamp that they made that I use every day that was made back in 1936.
Another interesting thing I remember about Decatur is a place called Del’s Popcorn shop, which has a smell that is the epitome of sweet when you walked by it or inside of it. They make things such as caramel apples, popcorn balls, and tons of different candies and such, and it has been in operation since 1934. When you go inside, at least from what I recall the last time I was there, you can still see a few design elements here and there from days gone by. Which is another thing I liked about Decatur. From a visual standpoint, if you look at some of the older buildings, houses, etc., you can tell that there’s still a lot of architectural history left in that town. That’s one thing I really miss about the Midwest, its more intact history. Florida doesn’t have a whole lot of older houses and buildings left due to our warmer, more humid climate and myriad number of bugs that like to chew on wood (As well as umpteen years of hurricanes), and I definitely miss that.
Two other things I remember about Decatur, is how it always tried to keep the older theaters called The Avon and Lincoln still up and running downtown. Although they have tried anything and everything, from movie playing to plays, and they have managed to salvage some of the past remnants of their former glory, since the new movie theaters went in at Forsyth in the early part of the 1980s, those two things just never could keep up no matter what entertainment venue they have tried. But I have been inside both of them, and they must have been spectacular in their day. I think I even read somewhere that George Burns even performed at one of them during his old Vaudeville days. They’ve been around THAT long.
Overall, there’s a lot of things about Decatur that I remember. Even the smell that I seem to be one of the few who enjoyed as you’re driving over Staley bridge that goes over Staley Manufacturing plant. I remember when I was little and I always tried to roll down the window because I loved that smell. Whereas, to everyone else, they found that smell hideous. Or the cool older houses on the West end. Ah. Memories.
