Back in August of this year, I heard that one of my favorite Peoria places, Castle’s Patio Inn, was starting a local author library, so I took two of my books, a few copies of POP magazine and donated them after having lunch with Michelle, who has just recently become the new owner of Castle’s Patio Inn!
If you haven’t been to Castle’s in a while, stop in and thank Michelle for keeping this classic tavern alive!
I’m going back today, but this time it’s not me making the book donation, it’s a friend of mine and this week’s luncheon special guest star.
Let’s get over to Castle’s Patio Inn and find out who this mystery guest is!
And through the miracle and mystery of these here interwebs, baboon, here we is at Castle’s Patio Inn!
I love that there is an actual patio in front, for decades there wasn’t a patio at the Patio Inn!
Let’s go in and have lunch at The Cheesiest Place in Town!
Now it’s time to look for this week’s mystery luncheon guest…not at the bar…but I turned to my left and…
There she is, this week’s special guest star, my friend, Tricia! After I took this photo, she grabbed her own camera…
For a blazing edition of the patent-pending MBIP, “Dueling Cameras” game!
There’s the local author library and…
Check it out Tricia is handing over one of the first copies of her new book, Running Blind in Traffic to owner Michelle for the local author library!
Michelle placed it front and center at a place of honor in the local library and it was a fantastic moment!
Cheers to Tricia for the publication of her first book! Doesn’t that cover look fabulous?
If you read this blog daily, you may remember I had lunch with Tricia last month and she was just adding some final touches to her proof copy. It’s all complete now and I have an autographed copy that I’ll treasure forever!
The book is the story of Tricia’s life and it’s a one-of-a-kind, roller-coaster ride of a book!
It’s a unique story because because it’s Tricia’s very-own life story that starts out in New York and ends up in Pekin, Illinois.
Just like the name of the book implies, there’s lots of twists and turns in her story, some will make you laugh, some will make you cry and you may identify with some of the sharp turns in her story. There’s also celebrity guest appearances in the book by John Sebastian and Lee Marvin.
The book also has lots of fun photos that help illustrate this unique autobiographical tale of one person’s life.
Tricia a.k.a. P. A. Nimmo has done a fantastic job and wrote a fabulous tome of her life. If you’d like to purchase a copy, all the information is available at the bottom of this post.
Okay, back to the blog!
Here’s a longshot of the bar, the quartet of beers on tap and the Budweiser trolley that spins above the bar.
I always say every classic Peoria bar has a Budweiser trolley hanging from the ceiling.
There’s gaming machines discreetly located in the back of the bar for all of you gamblers out there!
Michelle told me the wooden cooler that houses the cheese was once part of The River Station downtown. I never knew that!
And speaking of cheese…
The kitchen is closed on Tuesday’s for the time being, so our lunch consisted of Castle’s Patio Inn cheese and crackers.
It was a delicious treat and if you’ve never had their one-of-a-kind cheese spread, you need to stop in and try it out!
If you have had it, you know you need to stop back and get a sleeve of Ritz Crackers and a tub of Castle’s Patio Inn Cheese. It’s a Peoria classic snack!
If you’d like to purchase Tricia’s brand new book you can buy it online at Lulu.com, Amazon Books and Barnes and Noble Bookstore.
If you’d like to purchase it locally and support these fine local book stores, you can buy it from Lit. on Fire on West Main Street and I Know You Like A Book on Prospect in Peoria Heights.
It’s a wonderful read and please support this local author by checking out her wonderful new book release!
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802 W. Loucks Avenue
Peoria
309-685-9570
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