Before We Begin This Post, A Special Announcement...
Yesterday, I said there would be a special announcement today and here it is: I’m taking a break from the MBIP blog until April, starting tomorrow. I have two books I want to work on and I’m working on a print magazine that will debut this summer, so stay tuned for all of that! MBIP will be back with daily posts on Monday, April 4th. Tomorrow I’ll put up a special countdown post that will have a new Peoria picture updated every day, so there will be something new to look at here on a daily basis until I return in April. And now, back to our Last Supper post, already in progress...
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Live, from Peoria, Illinois It’s Saturday Night starring this week’s host, Castle’s Patio Inn with special guest stars, Alex, Ali, Kevin, Ashley and Rob and featuring The Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. And now please welcome this week’s host over on Louck’s Avenue just off Sheridan Road, Castle’s Patio Inn!
Here we are at Castle’s Patio Inn. This place has been standing here as long as I can remember. Which may or may not be a big deal because I can’t even remember last night!
I love the neon in the front window and over there next to the front door. Okay, let’s go in and start our final post until April 4th!
Plenty of seats at the bar, let’s grab one and get settled in for the evening.
And like clockwork, here’s Alex, Castle’s veteran bartender serving up the first beer of the evening! Always great to see Alex and catch up with him!
Castle’s pretty hostess and waitress, Ali was taking a break down at the end of the bar. I love her smile!
And of course the one thing you have to start the evening off with at Castle’s Patio Inn is...
Their famous homemade cheese! They’ve been making this for decades and people make special trips to Peoria just to get crocks of it! And speaking of crocks...
Here’s Kevin with a ceramic crock from back in the day when this place was Ray’s Patio Inn! He also brought a vintage Olympia beer platter from back in the day! Now I’m ready to party like it’s 1977!
After that cheesy appetizer, it’s time to get the main course going for this Final Supper! I told Kevin he could pick whatever he wanted to make for this final MBIP feast and he told me he decided to make up a special pizza for the evening. The pizza is a chicken, bacon, cheddar ranch pizza. This isn’t on the menu, but it’s a special treat Kevin whips up for Alex and Ali now and again, Ali told me it’s her favorite pizza of all time! Well, I can’t wait to try this pizza pie!
While it was cooking, I stepped out into the back alley and took a shot of Peoria’s most infamous bicycle gang, The Sons Of Apathy! From left: Kevin, Rob and Alex. They formed this bike gang years ago and they are the toughest and most feared trio of two-wheelers in town. And they really don’t care. They’re so apathetic!
Meanwhile, back at the bar...
Ali was joined by her friend Ashley! Two of the prettiest women in Peoria for sure! It’s times like these I’m grateful for the MBIP camera!
Here’s a shot from the end of the bar.
There’s the tables in the dining room behind the bar.
And here’s some shots while roaming around Castle’s Patio Inn, I love all the knick-knacks hanging around in here!
I think this is Peoria’s oldest land-line! Not even a dial on it and I checked and there is a dial tone when you pick it up!
Alex’s dad, Ken made this piece of art. It’s one of the seven dwarfs, but I’m not sure which one. Ken inscribed that it was owner, Chuck Castle without his makeup! Ken is a veteran employee of Caterpillar and was a clown at the Caterpillar Power Parade back in the ‘70’s. These days he’s a tour guide at The Caterpillar Visitor’s Center and I’ve heard it’s worth the price of admission to hear his wonderful stories about Cat from back in the day! You should go and ask for him!
Okay, it looks like it’s about time for our Last Supper to be served...where’s Pontius Pilate when you need him?
Here’s Kevin with the special chicken, bacon, cheddar ranch pizza. I let ti cool a bit and then tried it out and this is one of the best pizza pies on earth! Instead of pizza sauce, Kevin uses ranch dressing and it gives it a tangy taste that mixes nice with the creamy and rich melted cheese and the spiced chicken. The crust is crispy and fresh and this was a wonderful last meal! Thanks to Kevin for cooking it up! As I said, it’s not on the menu, but he said if you come in and ask for it, he’ll cook one up for you! I suggest you try it out!
And now, in honor of this last post for two months, Alex said he’d pour a “parting shot,” of Maker’s Mark Whiskey.
I tried to take a selfie of the three of us drinking the shot, but I kept cutting Kevin out of the picture...
So Kevin took the camera and got the shot. Cheers! Thanks to Alex, Ali and Kevin for another wonderful night at Castle’s Patio Inn! And thanks to all of you for reading MBIP, I appreciate it and love you all for doing so! As I said, tomorrow I’ll be putting up a special countdown page with a daily updated MBIP Peoria photo, so check back for that and we’ll be back on April 4th! Mark your calendars and we’ll see you then!
Castle’s Patio Inn
802 W. Loucks
Peoria
309-685-9570
Related Posts: Saturday Night @ Castle’s Patio Inn + MBIP Stickman Theatre! and A Pause For The Cause.