Central Illinois Bed and Breakfast the Market Street Inn

Every month is “Love Month” but February is the biggest one of all. To help you celebrate with your favorite Valentine we are offering you a “Valentine Package”. Stay two (2) nights in one of our Queen or King Bedded Whirlpool Rooms and receive a 20% discount, a $20 Gift Certificate toward dinner at One East Market Restaurant and Jazz Lounge and Dipped Strawberries in addition to our high quality service and breakfasts. Pick your room and dates and call to book your reservation because, a deal as good as this is not available via online booking.  This deal is valid all of February 2013 and may not be combined with any other offer.

Fall is a fun time here in the middle of the US and the very middle of Illinois. The leaves turn yellow, gold and red, there is the smell of smoke from the fireplace in the air and that wonderful aromatic soup called “chilli” sounds like a bone and body warmer this time of year. Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14 are the dates for the 27th annual Greater Taylorville Chamber of Commerce “Chillifest” which is held on the Historic Taylorville Square. Compete as a chili or salsa cook, dine on Award Winning Chilli, participate in the events and enjoy the music on the stages. Two days of homey fun and frolic. Visit the Chillifest webpage http://www.chillifest.info/content/?id=2012 and see all of the official activities and then go to http://www.marketstreetinn.com/events.html and check out what else is happening this weekend too.  If you are staying with us this is also the 2nd Saturday of the month and that means that at 2 PM the Market Street Inn Bed and Breakfast BYO Taste and Share Wine Event happens.  Most folks also bring a snack to share with the others who attend.  If you are staying at the inn we supply your wine.  Of course, consumers of other beverages also attend and enjoy.

Flash, one of the founders of this event just won the International Chili Society 1st prize for Green Chili or Chili Verde.

home : news : local Share October 08, 2012 10/8/2012 2:27:00 PM Taylorville’s Hall earns world title, green chili CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) —  Bob Hall of Taylorville has claimed title, once again, to the best green chili in the world. Hall has been named the world champion in the the green chili division at the International Chili Society World’s Chili Championships in Charleston, West Virginia. Hall won the title also in 2009. After winning the ‘09 title, Hall credited friends, Don Marsango, Wally Hiel and the late Bill Gasper, all Taylorville natives, as the inspiration for him to compete in chili cookoffs. In 1986, Hall, along with Marsango and Gasper, started the Chillifest held annually in Taylorville. Hall, and friends, went to the Association of Commerce and Industry, now known as the Greater Taylorville Chamber of Commerce, for assistance with underwriting the event. The trio made chili and sold it to fund the first Chillifest. Chili sales still fund the event 23 years after inception. The Chillifest will be held this Saturday and Sunday on the Taylorville square. The ICS recognizes the Chillifest as the Chillinois Regional, and the winners of all three divisions on Saturday and Sunday qualify to compete in next year’s world championships. Bob Plager of Littleton, Colo., has been crowned the top maker of traditional red chili. Plager was presented a $25,000 check after beating out dozens of others Sunday at the ICS signature event in Charleston. Carrie Lentz Parker of Leesburg, Va., finished second and Plager’s wife, Kathy, was third. Last year’s world champion, John Jepson of Merced, Calif., finished fourth. World champions crowned in other events earlier included Jerry Buma of Northbridge, Mass., in salsa, and Tom Pardikes of Plymouth, Mich., in homestyle chili. Buma also won the red chili world event in 2007. The world championships also were held in Charleston in 2009. The contest heads to Palm Springs, Calif., next year. The championships take place every October and were started by H. Allen Smith, of Decatur, IL.

Come to Taylorville, Illinois and Sangchris Lake for the Annual Heart of Illinois Ultralight Fly-in to be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday August 24, 25 and 26. If you are a fan of Ultralight Aircraft and related things you should come to this event.

Taylorville Main Street hosts a Backyard BBQ every summer and this year it is July 28, 2012 at the Christian County Fairgrounds.  If you like to do BBQ Ribs and Chicken then you should contact the friendly folks at Taylorville Main Street and come out.  There are cash prizes as well as other prizes for those who win and for all who simply participate. There will also be a 5K Walk/Run, music, beer, BBQ, fun for the kids, great cars to view, the “Hog Pit” for motorcycles and many other fun things.  Click on the link and view what fun you can have then come out and cook, compete or just listen and eat.

June 2, all day Saturday there will be a Annual Juried Art Fair with artists from up and down the state and beyond–jewelry, paintings, pottery, wood turnings,and other original art.  This annual event is sponsored by the Taylorville Area Arts Council which will be judged that day with prizes awarded in various categories.    Some of the participating artists have enjoyed national recognition for their work.

June 1, 2 and 3  The Blackhorse Native American Pow Wow will be held at the Christian County Fairgrounds in Taylorville IL   This event attracts artists, performers, traders and vendors from native American tribes across the US.

Come stay at the Market Street Inn for this event filled  weekend.  Call 217.824.7220and ask about our two night special.

Reserve your room, come, stay, attend and enjoy

Please click on Parrot Head

Parrot Head

Parrottheads unite!

Where?:  One East Market Restaurant and Jazz Lounge located at 1oo East Market Street in Taylorville, Illinois

When?:  Saturday, February 18, 2012

Why?:  Because there will be a night of fun, music, prizes, etc. with a Jimmy Buffet theme and mode of dress.  http://breezecourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=76&SubSectionID=618&ArticleID=122403&TM=76100.91

Purpose?:  A fund raiser for Taylorville Lake Shore Golf Course http://breezecourier.com/main.asp?sectionid=76&subsectionid=618&articleid=122376&tm=75643.22

Where to stay?:  The Market Street Inn Bed & Breakfast, but come in on Friday and spend two nights just 2 blocks from the party.

More fun:  Saturday, February 18, 2012 beginning at 2 PM is the Monthly Market Street Inn BYO Wine Share and Taste Event as a warm up to the party at One East this evening.

Note:  Jimmy Buffet ain’t gonna be there but somebody named Jimmy might.  Anyway, a good time will be had by all.  Yes, there is a small cover charge.  Hey, it’s a fund raiser.

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.