Elgin Museum

Yesterday morning Gale (a new apartment mate) and I decided to escape the apartments for a few hours and go explore Elgin, Illinois.  First we hit the supermarket: Meijer... and compared to Canada, groceries are much cheaper.  And then we decided to drive around and check out some of the cool local architecture.

"The Painted Lady"

Driving up US 31, we noticed that Elgin looked like a quaint, old town, so we crossed an old train bridge and headed for the downtown area.  Since we were in no rush, we followed signs to a historical museum and ended up having a blast. 
When we first walked in to the Elgin Historical Museum we weren't even sure it was open, no one was around.  Moments later, a lady named Lucy introduced herself, took our $3 and gave us a brief description of the museum.  While Gale and I were watching a short video another lady came and welcomed us... Marge wanted to make sure we felt at home and she was curious where we were from... Ontario and Pennsylvania are not their typical answers.  We soon became special guests at the museum.

We learned about the famous watches made in Elgin between 1866 and 1966.  There was also a brief section on Hiawatha and Pioneer history.  Gale and I took in the full experience by playing with objects that were accompanied with a red velvet hand... I believe it is part of a scavenger hunt for children who go through the museum.  :)  By the time we left, yet another staff was at the register in the gift shop and she said, "Are you the two who are here from I.T.?"  Wow, word gets around fast.