What to See in Peaceful, Pastoral Washington County, Illinois

Washington County, Illinois, located less than an hour's drive east of the Gateway Arch in St Louis, is a quiet, rural county with a population of just 15,000. The county seat, Nashville, has a population of 3200. The county is largely made up of farmland; it is consistently the largest wheat-producing county in the state of Illinois.

Washington County (pop. 15,000) is a great place for busy people to get away from it all. Among places and events you can schedule your visit around are, in no particular order:

Original Springs Hotel. Mineral springs became a popular draw for Okawville in their day, and the Original Springs Hotel, established in 1885, was the largest spa in the town catering to those who believed in the power of bathing in mineral waters. It still remains, the last of its kind in the town. Now the skylighted indoor swimming pool is filled with fresh water but mineral spring bathing is still offered. Oh, yeah, and the hotel is haunted by a lady in white, possibly the wife of the an early owner. For more about the history of the hotel and its ghost, consult Troy Taylor's account at his Wierd Illinois website at http://www.prairieghosts.com/original.html.

Washington County Fair. The annual July event features a demolition derby, tractor pulls, a kiddie tractor pull, and a rodeo among its main grandstand events. But there is more. There are carnival rides with every night armband night, the display-filled exhibition hall, food vendors, and more.

Nashville Farmers Market. Set up on the sidewalk in front of the Washington County Courthouse, fresh produce is offered bhy local truck farmers, from early summer radishes, lettuce, and starter tomato plants to late summer pumpkins and squash. Starting in May on Thursday mornings until noon through the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving; not open Thanksgiving for obvious reasons. Also Monday evenings in mid-summer. You may also find home-baked items, honey, potted plants, and cut flowers.

Venedy Picnic. With a population under 200, Venedy still puts on a nice annual picnic with a big evening bingo bash, as well as plenty of bands, rides, inflatables for the kids, games, and lots of food and fellowship.

Okawville Wheat Festival. A wheat festival queen pagent leads off the annual celebration at Luechetefeld Gym at Okawville High School. The winner qualifies for state-level county fair pageant competition. But besides the pageant, there's also a parade, bands, food, vendors, exhibitors, plenty on display in the exhibition hall, and more.

Washington County Lake. A great place to fish or hunt complete with campgrounds and picnic areas. Small, low-powered boats are allowed on the 1440-acre lake. Great place for hiking, bicycles, and birders. It's a great peaceful alternative to nearby Carlyle Lake and Rend Lake, both of which are larger and much busier, and is located five minutes down the highway from Nashville. For more information, consult my article at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/732779/washington_county_il_state_lake_for.html?cat=16.

Rainbow Ranch Petting Farm. Located on IL Route 15 at Plum Hill, a hamlet located between Nashville and the Okawville turn-off, this is home to an assortment of child-friendly animals rannging from bunnies and fainting goats to camels and llamas and exotic dawrf cattle. There's also on display - not for petting - a zebra. A number of events are scheduled throughout the year such as a fall corn maze and pumpkin patch. For more check out the story at http://home.midwest.net/~howes/southernillinoisroadtrip/

DuBois Center Fall Festival. The DuBois Center is a center for retreats, conferences, and summer camps for the United Church of Christ. The lovely grounds also host the annual Fall Festival, open to all visitors in early October. There's plenty of musical enteratinment, tons of food including BBQ pork steak dinners, sandwiches, kettle corn, and more. There are boat rides, hayrides, numerous craft vendors offering everything from sewing and crochet creations to string puppets and candles. Admission is free, parking is free, there's a free wagon ride in from the parking area. For photos of the most recent event, go to their website at http://www.duboiscenter.org/?pageid=album&eventid=08FF.

Casimir Pulaski Day. Falls on the first Monday of March. Marked the Sunday before by an annual parade in the Polish-settled eastern end of the county in DuBois.

Okawville Heritage Days. Heritage Days is a great annual June event which centers around the Schlosser Home Complex where you can view a house and neighboring harness shop as it existed in the early 20th Century. A unique set of circumstances led to the situation which you can read about at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1604766/okawville_illinois_heritage_days_2009.html?cat=16. The annual event includes craft vendors, traditional craft demonstrators, traditional homemade foods, carriage rides, kid's games, and musical entertainment ranging from the Venedy Band to bluegrass to cloggers and more. Free admission to the grounds. Tours of the houses of the complex also free.

Nashville Fall Festival. About 100 booths feature a large variety of food and handcrafting vendors. The crafters are hand-picked to avoid simple sales of manufactured items. You'll find sand art, wooden plaques, alpaca wool, and more. Also, a Saturday morning (10am) children's pet parade, a petting zoo, plenty of bands at the main stage, a church service Sunday morning at the main stage, and a lot more. Food stands offering range from pork steaks and fish sandwiches to hot dogs, pizza, kettle corn, and funnel cakes. There's also a Sunday morning 5K run and the event runs in conjuncton with the Nashville Public Library's annual fall book sale (Fri and Sat), located a half block away.

Santa Comes to Town. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Santa enters Nashville on a fire engine and receives young visitors at the Santa House located in front of the Washington County Courthouse. Santa is in residence during posted hours up to Christmas Week.

Here's a website that provides links to different Washington County agencies, schools, and even a map http://www.county.washington.k12.il.us/.

For a list of annual events in Washington County as well as elsewhere in Southern Illinois, check out http://home.midwest.net/~howes/southernillinoisroadtrip/.