I had a real blast going to last year’s skating rink and ice slide at the PNC Winterfest, but I was a bit of a failure on the ice (scroll down here to see the pathetic pictures of me trying to ice skate!) Well, this year I’m going with two of my friends and they said I could take pictures of them skating up a storm on the professional ice skating rink that will be standing next to the Civic Center until January 15th. And who are these friends? Well, if you’ve read the title of this post, you should know, but let’s pretend like you don’t just to add to the mystery of everything and we’ll start off the night at...
Ulrich’s Rebellion Room! I haven’t been here for quite a while and this is in close proximity of the PNC Winterfest, so it’s a perfect place for a pre-skate dinner! I love how they’ve decorated the front of the bar out here on Main Street! Okay, let’s go inside, it’s freezing out here!
I love the way they’ve got the place lit up for the hollerday sneezin’ in here! And there’s our mystery skating guests over there in the third booth on the right, Amber and Joe! They’re looking great tonight and they’re going to be the featured skaters of the evening! But they need some food for energy first and maybe just a little liquid courage and so...
Here’s our pretty waitress, Melissa, who already has a beer in her hand! Talk about great service! She took our order and I slipped away to take a few photos while our dinner is being prepared in the kitchen.
This is a shot from the back of the bar and there’s tables back here for dining if your party is too big for a booth. There’s also a picture of John F. Kennedy which reminds me of his inspiring historical quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask your waitress for another Guinness...and some chowder for Bobby! And some pants for Teddy!”
As I return to the booth, Melissa’s here with our dinner, perfect timing!
The food here is always delicious! Here’s what we got this evening: Amber got the Grilled Tuna Salad, Joe got the BBQ Chicken Sandwich and I got an order of the chicken wings. Everything was so good and Amber’s Grilled Tuna was something you wouldn’t expect to find on the menu at Ulrich’s, but it was really tasty and cooked to perfection! During dinner I took my patent-pending fuzzy-wuzzy eating a chicken wing while taking a photo shot of Amber and Joe! Okay..I think it’s time to check out this year’s PNC Winterfest, I’m really excited about this!
And baboom, here we are at PNC Winterfest 2016! I love the way it’s all lit up, it really adds a festive dimension to Peoria’s downtown!
You start here at this cozy little winter shed outside of the Winterfest area, right next door to the Civic Center. That’s Hannah and Anna inside and they’re just as cute as their matching names are! Amber and Joe got their skates and we went through the double doors to...
PNC Winterfest 2016! It’s a true winter wonderland out here. It’s all bright and twinkly...and just a little bit cold! We decided to start in the spectator warming tent. Once inside, we met the crew from TCRC in Tremont who were selling baked goods and hot cocoa for charity! Then Amber and Joe got down to putting on their skates. The skates here are kind of new-fangled and took just a little bit of time to get them adjusted, but they finally got them on and now it’s time to check out the skating rink! Luckily, I just have to take photos!
Here we go!
The Zamboni is out on the ice clearing it up, so Amber and Joe made a few more adjustments with their skates and then the doors opened and it’s the moment of truth...time to skate!
Here’s Amber and Joe on the ice and whoosh...off they go! They certainly are a lot better at this than I was last year and they’re really impressive out their on the ice! Beautiful skating by these two!
Here they are doing laps out on the ice and they are both great skaters! And it’s not just me that thinks this, check out the score they got from Sammy the Snowman, he gave them a 10! Great work, Amber and Joe!
Okay, I couldn’t find my gloves or hat, so I’m freezing out here and retreated back to the spectator viewing tent to warm up for a few minutes. I took a few photos from inside the tent. The view is really spectacular here! If you’ve never been here, you definitely should check it out!
When I came back out I was reminded that there’s more to do here than ice skate, there’s also a giganzo ice slide here! As far as I know, it’s the only ice slide in the area and it’s bigger than it was last year! I’m not a big fan of heights, but I decided to give it a try for the blog! I did this last year and it was frightening, but a lot of fun too! Okay I climbed up and met the gentleman who would give me a push down the slide! As you can see, it’s quite a ride down! And look, there’s an arial shot of Amber and Joe down on the ice! Hellooo down there! Okay I sat on my round sled, got a photo of my feet and while I was planning on taking photos on the way down, it goes so fast and furious there was no way that was going to happen! It’s really exciting and it’s nice to have this for the non-skaters to enjoy!
Amber and Joe got off the ice and they gave the slide a try and found out when you double up on a sled it goes twice as fast! Here’s two fuzzy photos of them coming down the slide!
We had an absolute stone-cold blast at the PNC Winterfest! Mark your calendars for December 17th and 18th, because that’s when Lexus of Peoria presents, Breakfast With Santa! This is a real special event and you can find out all about it by clicking right here! Special thanks to Amber and Joe for being the featured skaters of the first annual, MBIP On Ice and not only for joining me for dinner but also for buying the dinner and hanging out for the night! It’s always extra fun when these two join the party! If you haven’t been to the PNC Winterfest, you should come by, it’s a real unique slice of winter fun here in downtown Peoria! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Ulrich’s
631 Main Street
Peoria
309-676-1423
PNC Winterfest
201 SW Jefferson Avenue
Peoria
309-673-8900
Related Post: Thursday Night Funfest @ The Peoria Civic Center.