What It's Like To Live In Redbird Country
What It's Like To Live In Redbird Country
The Midwest offers more than the well known clichés of country living
Endless Roads Led Us To Our Destination Eventually
When we moved to Bloomington-Normal, IL in the Summer of 2003, we were moving to be closer to family. Sure, there was talk of joining the family business, but that was not our motivation to move from Los Angeles, CA. In Los Angeles, we were holed up in a one-bedroom apartment that was owned by Melanie’s Aunt Joanne and Uncle Michel and while Melanie had a great job at a well-known private school called Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood, I had an accident at Jiffy Lube where I fell into their grate and ripped my leg open, caused serious bruising in my pelvic region and I was lucky to get out of there alive on a stretcher. We needed to get goin’ to a more mellow area like Watsonville, CA where I spent part of my childhood and young adult life.
We packed our stuff and headed out, not knowing what was going to happen, only that we were going to move in with Melanie’s parents who lived in an apartment building that was and still is owned by Class Act Properties, her brother Michael’s business. Eventually, we moved next door into a mirror image of her parents’ place and there was a connecting door, so we could easily move between apartments in the Winter. Talk about convenience! It was really eye-opening to have that sort of arrangement but it worked at the time for us. It was incredibly convenient too when our first daughter Grace was born because Melanie had a support system built in next door while she wasn’t working and taking care of the baby. I was still working for Securitas at the time as a Security Guard for Heartland Community College but I would soon work as an External through Spherion on assignments at State Farm Insurance.
The Twin Cities Became Our Home Base
Bloomington-Normal, IL is set in a large area that is well known for its Agricultural, Educational, and Business Opportunities. My only frame of reference is where I was raised, and I can tell you right now, this area has multiple schools whereas, back home in Santa Cruz County, schools are spread out between many cities and towns. There are 3 major colleges here.
There’s Illinois State University, a popular place to attend for students who come from all over, not just within the Midwest, but the world. Their International Students participate in many sports, however, a fascinating tidbit of information is that the main sport that I see the most diversity in is Women’s and Men’s Tennis. I’m an Uber driver in the area, so I ended up having some of the Women’s team in my car and they were telling me the countries they were from. It’s really incredible they have this opportunity to move here, get their degrees and compete on American teams.
Illinois Wesleyan University is a bit more prestigious and has an older feel but they also have a wide variety of students who come from larger cities like Chicago. The smaller campus, smaller classes, and student body are what attract the students in my opinion. The Titans are a great group of students and from an outsider looking in, I can confidently say they have a fantastic set of Alumni who continue to contribute financial gifts to them so Illinois Wesleyan has the ability to provide quality education for students there.
Heartland Community College is not new to the local Education industry here, yet they are growing fast. When we moved here in 2003, it was much more of a commuter school, where students would drive to school from their parents’ houses closeby to local apartments and housing but now, students have been able to move here so they don’t have to travel as far to attend which likely is less stressful for them. Melanie, my wife, worked at Heartland in their Admissions Office as I worked there within their Security Department for a while. It’s a great school and the teachers I had while I attended some classes were incredible.
Uptown Normal
We live in Normal, and our place is in close proximity to what the Townies call, “Uptown". That brings a smile to my face because when I hear the word Uptown, I think of Billy Joel’s famous song, “Uptown Girl,” which had a video starring his wife at the time, Christie Brinkley. Uptown is well put together. They have many independent shops and restaurants that cater to students and older folks, too. There are a few bars up North Street like Maggie Miley’s, Lunker’s, Brew Ha’s, and Pub II. There’s a new taproom too! They are called Fiala Brothers and they just successfully opened this year. They are across from Maggie Miley’s so it’s nice and close to dash across the street and check out if Maggie’s is dead.
Plenty of food in Uptown as well. You can get anything from Irish bar food at Maggie Miley’s to Mediterranean dishes at The Rock Restaurant, our family’s favorite place to frequent as we know the owners very well. Said (SAH-EED) and Charbel Saliba have operated The Rock since before 2003 but they moved to Uptown to get closer to foot traffic and it’s super convenient for guests who are staying at the Hyatt & Marriott Hotel and Conference Center to grab a quick meal there.
Medici is close by, down the street from The Rock and they have fabulous dishes and a well-stocked bar. I really love the ambiance of the restaurant with the light-colored wood and the old dead but preserved mulberry tree that is inside. It’s unique and the food I’ve tried there is scrumptious to my palate.
The shops are geared toward the younger set like the two independent music stores - Waiting Room Records and North Street Records. I really can’t choose between one or the other. North Street Records was started by “Irish Twins” brothers who are a few years apart in age but they look alike. They’ve been around for years and their stock of cd’s and records is well-curated. They look at the cd when purchasing them from customers to see if there are any nicks or scratches carefully as they don’t want to sell crappy products.
Waiting Room Records is a nice little cd & record shop where you can find a lot of current music. I’ve liked getting new releases there because they usually have them right up on the wall when they are released. I don’t want to be searching for that new cd I’m looking for.
“The Garlic Press reminds me of the little gift shops you would find in say, Downtown Santa Cruz.”
I’ll continue to write about Uptown in future articles, but I did want to say that a great way to discover the shops and eats down there is to just explore and pop into these places. The Garlic Press reminds me of the little gift shops you would find in say, Downtown Santa Cruz. It’s artsy and there are lots of cooking items and supplies around the store. There’s something for everyone there including locally crafted gifts and a good selection of cards, too. While there, check out the place next door as they sell some baked goods, popcorn & other snacks with drinks.
Be sure to go check out Uptown Normal and for more information on Bloomington-Normal in general, check out the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau .