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Ding, ding, ding! There goes that donation bell again! Amanda Tyler sent in a generous donation of five dollars and I appreciate her sending those funds to the 365 bar crawl! Thanks, so much, Amanda, that was nice of you to do and it helps to keep this adventure crawling along!
If you’d like to donate to help with the costs of beer and taking the occasional Uber, just click here and scroll down to the donation button!
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Tonight is the first bar we’re going to in a neighboring town and this one is Castaways in Chillicothe, Illinois. There’s not 365 bars in Peoria, so we’ll be traveling to other towns around Peoria in the course of this 365 bar crawl.
Castaways was one of the very first Saturday night blogs I did on MBIP. Way back in December of 2012, I posted this blog from there! I’ve done other blogs from there through the years and it’ll be fun to add another one to the 365 list of bars!
Plus we have a special guest star tonight that I share an anniversary with and without this guest star, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog because I doubt without meeting this guest star that I would’ve ever started writing! Keep on scrolling to find out who this mysterious guest star is and why this person is responsible for my writing career, for better or for worse!
Okay, let’s hit the road to Chillicothe, Illinois!
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Bar Number Eleven: Castaways (Chillicothe) - Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Here we are at Castaways bar in Chilllicothe, just a short fifteen minute drive from Peoria.
Okay, it’s freezing out here, let’s get inside and see what’s happening in there tonight!
There’s a nice crowd at the bar and I think I see our mystery guest down there at the end of the bar…
There he is, the mystery guest and my friend, Greg Owens! Great to see Greg, as always!
As I mentioned earlier, you wouldn’t be reading this blog if I never met and became friends with Greg. Let me explain: In the early ‘90’s, Greg and I both worked in the art department at Fleming Potter here in Peoria. We became friends and used to trade cartoons at work. One day during the height of the game, Trivial Pursuit, I drew a cartoon titled, “Trivial Trivia—The Idiot Edition.” The cartoon had a guy asking moronic trivia questions such as: “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb? How many members were in the original Jackson 5?” I gave the cartoon to Greg, we both shared a laugh and I thought that was the end of that. It wasn’t.
About a half an hour later, Greg approached me and asked if I could write more idiotic questions like the ones on the cartoon. He told me that we could turn the cartoon into a game with cards and a box and if I could write the questions, he’d design a logo and a design for the game. And so that’s what we did and to make a long story short, the idea exploded and we ended up in newspapers all over the country and the highlight of this moment in time back in 1986 was being flown to New York City to appear on the Today Show and be interviewed by Jane Pauley! It was a nutty moment in time and it wouldn’t have happened if Greg hadn’t had the idea to turn my goofy cartoon into a game! We were on the show on Martin Luther King Jr. Day back in January of 1986, so last Monday was the 40th anniversary of that crazy day of national attention!
That moment in time was the thing that started me on a path that led to my writing career. It wouln’t have happened if I woudn’t have met and became friends with Greg! So I thank him for helping to steer my liffe on a path that led me to New York City for 19 years and then back to Peoria where I’ve been writing and producing this blog for the last 13 years!
In 2003, Greg decided to leave the corporate world and start his own graphics business in Chillicothe and he founded the Owens Design Group. This graphics and design company has become an anchor business in Chillicothe and they provide local and national graphics, design, marketing, printing and branding services to businesses in Central Illinois and beyond. Greg is the founder and CEO of the business and he has rounded up a talented staff and you can read all about them by clicking here.
I want to thank Greg for setting me off on a path, I never dreamed about till it happened! Thanks to Greg, great to see him and now let’s continue with our 11th bar on our 365 journey at Castaways in Chillicothe.
Our friendly and pretty bartender is Kelly and here she is serving me up a bottle of Budweiser with a gorgeous smile!
Here’s a shot from the back of the bar.
They have a quartet of beers on tap and a nice inventory of booze behind the bar. Check out all the different bottles of beer to choose from on the top shelf!
I love the surf board that hangs over the bar and the sign with the cool Castaways logo on it. It’s such a fun atmosphere in here!
There’s a colorful hula dancer statue and they have Castaways t-shirts for sale in here.
Here’s a private gaming room in the back for all of you gamblers out there.
There’s tables and chairs opposite the bar in this area over here.
There’s the Tuesday food specials and the weekly drink specials in here. Every day is a special day at Castaways! Woo and hoo!
There’s a nice spacious dining area in the room opposite the bar area.
There’s the daily dinner specials and the upcoming events happening at Castaways in January of 2026.
Thanks to Kelly for the great service and thanks to Greg for joining me this evening! I appreciate your friendship through the years and helping to put me on a path in life I never expected to be on!
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Drinks
I had a bottle of Budweiser and two cans of Budweiser Zero on this night out on the town at Castaways in Chillicothe, Illinois. They also offer a full food menu for lunch and dinner here! It’s just a short drive from Peoria, so you should check this friendly establishment out!
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1707 N. 4th Street
Chillicothe, Illinois
309-274-3484
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