Company Town

One of the tings I do too rarely is celebrate a surprising find around the country. For example, Peoria, IL has some surprisingly beautiful architecture and glorious churches all in a riverside setting with beautiful steel bridges and magnificent sunsets. I drove around town to get a feel for it and as I was exiting I saw a glaring reminder of the recession: an enormous CAT factory.

This is a company town. When I hear about layoffs and losses on CNN, there is no face to what I hear. This town is on the brink of potentially becoming a ghost town... All of those cute little shops and restaurants on the riverfront could close as people lose their jobs and move away. All of the sunny optimism of the weather could be a blank promise of hope.

But the churches are old, older than CAT I would imagine. This town has seen its ups and its downs, and has as good a chance as anywhere to make it. And, regardless of the moral compass or white-breadedness of the town, and notwithstanding the television in the hotel lobby blaring FOX news (which I fear I might rip from it's sockets by the end of the day), I am interested in coming back next year. Plus, there's a great Italian restaurant by my hotel.