Central Illinois Bed and Breakfast the Market Street Inn

Start your evening with hors d’oeuvres and a complimentary glass of wine.

Walk to the One East Market Restaurant and Jazz Club just two blocks away for dinner and live music.

Dance the night away to a great live band that will be playing all your favorites from Rock, Blues and Country.

Return to your King or Queen Suite to soak in a double whirlpool tub to cap off your romantic evening!

Linger over your candlelight breakfast at fireside on New Year’s Day & have late check out after watching the football games  on large screen TV in parlor.

Call your innkeeper today at (217) 824-7220 to take advantage of our two night New Year’s Weekend special at 10% off in a double whirlpool room.

Many years ago it was a tradition to Parade in one’s Easter finery along the Avenue and meet and greet and see and be seen by one and all.  Several inspired young ladies of fashion in Taylorville are recreating this tradition on Saturday, April 23 at 1:30 PM around the National Historic Registry Taylorville Square.  

Come and participate in our Easter Parade (Promenade_)

  Note!!!  This is not only for ladies of fashion but gentlemen as well.  Ladies, wear your Easter Bonnet and your finery and gentleman, wear your chapeau and fine suitings as well.  Don’t have a chapeau or a bonnet?  Go online and Google Easter Bonnet and Easter Parade and create your own.  What we want is participation.

The Taylorville Square is on the National Registry of Historic Places and has buildings dating back to the late 1800″s.  What a great place to meet and greet friends, both old and new.

Here are a couple of young ladies who have been hunting Easter Eggs in their beautiful attire.  Did I mention Easter Egg Hunt?  Yes, there will be an Easter Egg Hunt on the green of  the Courthouse Square sponsored by the Taylorville Kiwanis Club.  Eggs will contain various stuffings for the pleasure of the lucky who find them.  You might even expect a visit from the Easter Bunny.

Beginning at 1:30 PM is the Easter Promenade and remember, “This is not all about the girls!”  Men, come out and show your manhood by dressing up and parading with a finely dressed lady.  Or, perhaps, “Man’s Best Friend.”

 Of course, well behaved dogs are welcome, especially when attired in the finest of fashion.

After the Promenade, beginning at 2:30PM, there will be a wine tasting in the Shumway Room at One East Market Restaurant and Jazz Lounge.  Please come and enjoy.  Make a dinner reservation, go home and change and come back in your dancing  shoes to enjoy the sounds of The Big Shake Daddies.  You will be glad you did.

Easter is the Celebration of the Rebirth of Christ and what a great to do this.  Of course, folks from Miles Around and other well known cities are invited to join in and make this celebration the success it should be.  Happy Easter from the Market Street Inn Bed and Breakfast.

The Williams Family, who traveled from all over the US and from Spain and Scotland to spend an early Christmas with each other at

our Central Illinois Inn. What fun to have 23 fun folks gathering in our commons areas to reacquaint     with one another, tell stories of happenings since seeing each other last, telling the patriarch that he is going to be a grandfather once again and playing with and loving on the little children. Patriarch Williams will be 89 in January 2011 and is sharp and spry as is Matriarch Williams.

As innkeepers, we found it much fun to watch, listen and attempt to anticipate the wants and needs of the various members of all ages.  At breakfast on Saturday, one of the sisters-in-law gave one of our innkeepers a test on the names of everyone at the table.  He passed the test.  

Every Saturday morning, the Clock Keeper of our Courthouse Clock will take anyone who is waiting about 8 AM at the South Door of the Christian County Courthouse up into the clocktower while he winds the 7 Day Clock which faces the 4 points of the compass. The Clock Keeper is also very intimate with the engineering and architecture of the Christian County Courthouse and the changes which have been made in the past couple of years. He tells folks about the restoration of the art glass dome, the false ceiling which was removed to expose it once again to view from below and the removal of the second floor center to provide a view from the first floor all the way up.

Christian County Illinois Courthouse

Restored Art Glass Dome

The Clock Keeper also tells folks about the restored Tern and Bittern fountain on the Southwest Lawn and the 4 year old, bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln and the “pig story” on the Northwest Lawn. The entire Williams Family enjoyed the small town hospitality which happens here in Taylorville in Central Illinois.

Just about all of the Williams Family

 We hope you come back someday, Williams Family.

Who thinks about Persimmons today? Probably not a lot of folks but the Persimmon Fest in Central Illinois at the Christian County Historical Museum sure does draw a crowd from all over the country and then some. Actually the persimmon is a sought after fruit in Asian Countries.

The Lovely and Versitile Persimmon

Persimmons are not ready to eat, at least by local standards, before they have undergone a “killing frost” and we have had one now so the persimmon harvest is coming in, they are being washed, pitted and mashed into a pulp for use in all sorts of tasty dishes including puddings, pies, steamed persimmon pudding, spiced persimmon cake and other baked goods.  Darleen Wilson is making 24 persimmon pecan pies for this event.  Abraham Lincoln would have loved Darleen’s pies.

Persimmon Bundt with Walnuts

Persimmon Bundt with Walnuts Recipe

 October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Myrna, our chief innkeeper, is a survivor of  6 months. Our effort in promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month is to invite you to a stay at the Market Street Inn Bed and Breakfast for the weekend of Friday and Saturday, October 29 and 30 or anytime through November 21, 2010 AND  10%  of your room rate will be donated to Cups for the Cure and/or Breast Cancer Research.  The donation will be in your name.

Some special events in Taylorville, IL   

** One East Market Restaurant invites you to make a $15 donation to attend a tasting of five fabulous wines and a complimentary, hand painted wine glass.  11 am to 5 pm    You may purchase any of the wines either by the bottle or case and all proceeds will go to breast cancer awareness and research in a ten-county area in Central Illinois.

** Lunch on the “Pink Plate Special” for $8.50 and $1.00 of each lunch will go to breast cancer research.

** The drink of the day at One East Market Restaurant will be the Flirtini Special for $7.50. Each Flirtini Special sold makes a $2.50 donation to Breast Cancer Research.

** There will be a 50/50 drawing and Gift Basket Raffles.

** There will be Art Bra’s on display, one by your innkeeper, and you may let your $$ vote for your favorite and, of course, all proceeds go to breast cancer awareness and research.

** There is NO COVER CHARGE for live music by 48 Connection from 5 to 8 PM. This band is known for their roadhouse blues and rock music.

Have fun, donate to a very worthy cause and enjoy Central Illinois finest lodging.  See us at www.marketstreetinn.com/

On Sunday, October 31st, Garlic Fest II will happen at the K of C Hall in Morrisonville, IL  just about 9 miles from the Market Street Inn Bed and Breakfast.  Tickets are $8 at the door and what a good time you will have.  Garlic!!!!  The doors will open at 1 PM and Bagna Cauda will be ready about 1:30 PM.  This gives you time to soak up a bunch of Bagna and beer preparing for the meal which will be at approximately 3:30 PM consisting of Garlic Sausage, Slaw & Mostaccioli.  There will be music by “The Music Men” from 3:30 to 7:30 PM.  Garlic Fest II is a revived area tradition and golly, did we miss it when it was gone.  Thanks for the revival.  You cannot have more down home fun than is available here.      

Bagna Cauda Recipe

Garlic Fest II Where Garlic is King

Well, the big day is finally here! Today is officially Lincoln’s 200th birthday. Wow, it is exciting and amazing to think about how far the country has come in since he was in office…

There were lots of celebrations in the area today for Lincoln’s big birthday party. We are having re-enactments at the Christian County Courthouse today and tomorrow, where Lincoln practiced law as part of his lawyer’s circuit. This is only two blocks, about a five minute walk from our Springfield IL lodging.

Today President Barak Obama came to Springfield to speak at the bicentennial events. Events honoring the 16th president began at the Lincoln Memorial and at Ford’s theater, where Lincoln was assassinated. The National Archives opened a special five-day exhibit where the original Emancipation Proclamation will be on display.

The Lincoln museum in Springfield IL will also be holding a special exhibit and celebration, displaying important documents and memorabilia from his life including the Emancipation Proclamation.We hope that you will come to celebrate this great man in his homes state of Illinois, true Lincolnland.

There will be a historical re-enactment at the Christian County Courthouse on Feb. 12th and 13th. These displays and theatrics will convey Lincoln’s presence in Taylorville. The Christian County Courthouse is only two blocks from our Springfield IL lodging.

Lincoln Hometown Courthouse History

The courthouse of Christian County (originally Dane County) was built in 1840 for $2,350. It was first located in Taylorville’s public square. Court was held on the lower level with county officers sharing the upstairs floor. The circuit court came to town only twice each year, so the courtroom was available the rest of the year for use by County Commissioners for public functions. Until 1853, Christian County was part of the Eighth Judicial Circuit. A judge would travel to all county seats in the circuit twice each year to hear cases. The circuit was almost 450 miles long and took almost three months to complete by horse and buggy. Wow!

Abraham Lincoln was one of the attorneys who traveled the Eighth Circuit and came to Taylorville. He had trials in this courthouse before Judge David Davis, whom he later appointed to the United States Supreme Court. A piece of Linconland history unique to Taylorville: during one trial, Lincoln was interrupted by a loud noise from the hogs underneath the courthouse. In mock earnestness, he asked Judge Davis to issue “writ of quietus” requiring the sheriff to abate the nuisance! This courthouse was replaced with a new one in 1856 and sold for $267. It was moved several times before being placed on the museum grounds in honor.

The hilarious moment with the pigs has been immortalized in Taylorville with a bronze statue in the public square where the Christian County Courthouse was located. Donated by local contractor Monte Siegrist and family, the sculpture was unveiled in May 2005 as the world’s only statue of Lincoln and a pig. Lincoln’s bemused expression is rare in an artwork. The pig has since been named “Liberty” by local schoolchildren.

We can hope that during the re-enactment there will be some pigs at the event! Please make sure to stop by our Illinois bed and breakfast to get in on all the Lincoln Bicentennial excitement!

Look forward to local Lincoln events soon near our Springfield IL lodging.

On February 8th and 9th at the Abraham Lincoln Library & Museum, enjoy a presentation by Columbia University historian Erik Foner, who has recently finished a book project as editor of esteemed essays on Lincoln. The book is called Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World. Foner will be presenting his thoughts on the 16th president during the lecture: “Reflecting on Lincoln”. The event will begin at noon in the library multi-purpose room.

Later in the day there is a panel discussion lead by the owner of the Abraham Lincoln bookshop Dan Weinberg. All the way from Chicago, he is going to be joined by some of the other leading Lincoln collectors in the nation. The panel, entitled “Collecting Lincoln”, will start at 2 p.m. This will be an excellent chance for visitors to learn more about Lincolnland. These events require reservations, so make sure to call the museum at: 217-558-8934

“Mary was quick, gay and in the social world the more brilliant. She loved show and power, and was one of the most ambitious women I ever knew. She used to contend, when a girl, to her friends in Kentucky, that she was destined to marry a President. I have heard her say that myself, and after mingling in society in Springfield, she repeated the seemingly absurd and idle boast.”

The 16th first lady of the United States was no ordinary woman, as you would expect.

She seems to have possessed a fiery nature, one which sometimes got the better of her, ever since childhood. While you stay at our near Springfield, IL lodging, we hope you will have a chance to learn more about the Lincoln family.

It seems to be just this personality, and the quick wit that accompanied it, that attracted Abe Lincoln to Mary.

They met in Springfield, IL where Mary was living with the sister that gave the above quote. It was at a ball that they met for the first time, and the dark-haired and lovely Mary caught Lincoln’s eye.

Mary Todd Lincoln at the time of her marriage to Abe Lincoln

He is quoted as saying to her: “Miss Todd, I should like to dance with you in the worst way.”

Abe was Mary’s suitor for half a year before they became engaged in 1840, However, Abe broke off the engagement in January of 1841. It seems he felt very unsure about the prospect of marriage. Through correspondence with friends, Lincoln historians have gathered that he felt it was wise in judgment to marry, but wondered how he would feel as a married man.

I suppose feeling won out eventually, because in November of 1842, Mary and Abe were married. It was, if you will, a long-delayed spur-the-moment decision. They decided that day, on November 4, that they would be married that night.

Although it seems their marriage was a stormy one, they had a powerful partnership, and Mary fell into a great depression and mourning after her husband’s assassination.

We hope this little history about Mary Todd Lincoln has sparked your interest. There will be many more resources for information on the Lincoln family at Lincoln Bicentennial events.

Lincoln once said, “To this place, and the kindness of its people, I owe everything.” He was speaking to the community of Springfield Illinois, where he made a home for himself and found his wife.

Today, much of what made Springfield a home to Lincoln is still here. His law office, which he ran with his partner William H. Herndon, is now on the registrar of historic places, and one can take a tour of the historic building. In the summertime, there is a costumed guide portraying Lincoln’s clerk.

Market Street Inn is near Springfield IL Lodging. We are approximately 29 miles from Springfield.

There are several other interesting historical Lincoln sites in Springfield. One can visit Lincoln’s home; the

Abe Lincolin's Home in Springfield IL

only home he ever owned, where he lived for 17 years before leaving for Washington D.C.

It was also here in Lincoln Hometown that Abe delivered his “House Divided” speech. It was during the Republican National Convention; only after that speech did the concept of a “divided House” become common terminology.

Lincoln addressed the people of Springfield at the train depot before leaving to take office in the White House. It was here that he spoke the kind words about his community members quoted at the top of this page. You can visit this Great Western Railroad Station, where Lincoln bid farewell to his friends and family to take on the greatest responsibility of his life.

And, of course, Lincoln’s tomb is also here in Springfield. After his assassination, his remains were returned to the town he loved so much, and great speeches to his unparalleled service were spoken. His tomb is a sizable 117-foot tower, and contains the bodies of his wife and three of four sons. The outside of the tomb features sculptures of Lincoln, and inside are many excepts from Lincoln’s speeches and famous words. It is a powerful place, and an essential part of any visit to Lincolnland.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, an extraordinary new facility, opened just a few years ago.   It is open 7 days weekly w/ Wednesday being the late day.   One should allow approximately 4 hours for this tour.   

I hope you will come to visit us, and Lincoln, soon. There is a wreath-laying ceremony at his tomb on February 12. Starting in June and throughout the summer there is a flag lowering ceremony every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the tomb.

A humble man, Lincoln remains alive because what he did with his life affects us all today. Come and visit the home of this American hero.