Sunday "Dinner" in Grantfork, Illinois!

​A Return Visit  

Sometimes you just have a dream-like memory of a place.

And you're not even sure if you just imagined it.

An Old Photo

​But I knew from this 20-year old photo, that I really did once visit Diamond Mineral Springs. My kids don't remember.  

My dear mom is now gone, but she was the one in 1993 who was giddy about making the drive from St. Louis to Grantfork to show us this place. 

​Fall of 2014
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I've always loved any place that has a porch and screened doors!

So when Don and I were traveling along the Mississippi River last fall, I hoped to find it again. We did and they still served family style meals on Sundays!  The porch and doors looked just like I remembered!
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Past the Pies

​To assure getting a table, we arrived right after they opened their doors. 

On the way to our table, we passed a tasty display of pies!

The window tables looked inviting, since the windows were actually open and letting in a fresh fall breeze, but we couldn't resist a booth!

​Thanks for Not Changing!
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I just wanted to go up and hug someone for not replacing these old wooden booths.  Owners over the years may have been tempted, but someone was good enough to just leave history alone!  

Look carefully and you'll see a hook on the wall trim,  to hold the table up for floor cleaning!  The table was so narrow, the plate setting had to be staggered. And just look at the rounded, pew-like benches... and coat racks.

​Empty For a Moment
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​The peaceful dining room began to fill up with after church crowds fairly quickly. 

Don and I studied the chalkboard above our booth, but ended up asking our young server for suggestions.

Our server suggested his favorite, the walleye. Don went for that and I got the traditional fried chicken. That's already a ridiculous amount of food, since it wasn't even noon! 

​Other Stuff!
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First came the pickled beets and coleslaw. Then my 4 pieces of chicken and Don's 4 fillets of fish served, on slices of white bread! There were green beans with onion and pork and mashed potatoes (with lumps that I like) and white gravy.

There were massive biscuits served with apple butter, which had teeny slivers of apple peel!  We stuffed ourselves while the warm breezes and diners began to fill the room.

​A Little For the Road

We had no room for any of the amazing pies. And we would have needed a bigger carryout container had we been able to take ALL the food we weren't able to finish. 

But we were on a roadtrip. We figured we could at least take a couple biscuits with us.  And when we ate those biscuits later, I grinned and said,  "I'm so glad that place was just how I remembered it!"  Don smiled and said, "I wish we had taken some of that apple butter with us!"
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