June 30, 2023
On Saturday (June 24), we rode the motorcycle into Sheffield, Illinois. It is the closest town to us.
We wanted to have breakfast. Google listed a cafe called ZBest Cafe on Main. It got good reviews. When we got there, it turned out it was now a different cafe, called Cafe 129.
We decided to try it anyway. I am so glad we did. I had the loaded hash browns. They were the best hash browns I have ever had. They were grated, crispy on the outside, yet with the melt in your mouth texture of mashed potatoes on the inside. The caramelized onions with peppers and chopped sausage between two grilled hash browns was just excellent. I want to go back and eat more!
The restaurant had a great atmosphere with an open kitchen, old refinished floors, and brick walls.
After breakfast, we walked around Sheffield.
Across Railroad Street aka US 34, was this silo. Maybe it was a very old grain silo? It was very striking; I haven’t seen anything like it before.
We found ourselves back at the motorcycle. We geared up and headed home (back to the RV).
Nox was happy to see us.
Blackberry Homestead 
That appears to be a rounded head house on the top of the slip-form concrete silo. They were fairly prolific in Illinois, Nebraska, and other surrounding states. I have seen those with a rectangular head house with rounded ends, or completely rectangular, but I don’t think I have ever seen one totally round. Our Grandfathers’ Elevators: The men of slip-formed concrete is a great blog dedicated to many of those silos in the area.
There are some beautiful old buildings there, but they get the “Preservation Fail” award for how they dealt with the historic windows and doors. More and more towns are attempting to correct these early inaccurate “renovations” or “modernizations” as they just don’t work with the historic features of the building. Still, I guess it is better than tearing one down IMO.
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I’ll have to check out the blog you mentioned.
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I did not realize you were in Illinois.
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Oh, when we left Nebraska, we stayed one night in Iowa at a winery, then we are in Hickory Grove Campground for a month. In mid-August, we’ll be going to a FROG Rally in Indiana. We might extend our stay here for until the rally. We haven’t decided yet. We were thinking about spending two weeks in Michigan, but camping in Michigan is expensive!
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My parents visited Nova Scotia, Northern California, the Rockies. I have no desire to go anywhere near Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana or Illinois. Best of luck.
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Bruce has family in Michigan and childhood friends there. The smoke has cleared so I am feeling better.
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I am glad you are feeling better. Take care.
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Okay so I now I’m hungry for hash browns after the way you described the ones you ate!
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They were amazing!
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Love the Victorian architecture – and am glad I’m not responsible for paint and repairs!
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Same here!
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