8 minute read
A BOUTIQUE AND A BAR
A BOUTIQUE & A BAR
Longtime tourism experts reveal their personal favorites in Starved Rock Country
When Sandy Burns and Donna Nordstrom tell a tourist where to go, they typically get a thank-you in response.
Burns and Nordstrom are the tourism coordinators who have for the past 10 years shared the job of greeting and directing visitors at the Heritage
Corridor Visitor Center in Utica.
Burns has been in the tourism business longer than Nordstrom.
She grew up in Grand Ridge, south of Ottawa, and moved to Ottawa when she got married.
Burns got her start with the Heritage Corridor Convention & Visitors Bureau 27 years ago and staffed the early storefront offices in Ottawa. The first was comprised of a desk and single pamphlet rack in a space she shared with a barbershop.
Nordstrom grew up in the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota, and moved to Ottawa in 1999. She worked part-time at the Ottawa Visitors Center before joining the Heritage Corridor CVB.
“It’s a truly enjoyable job and every day is different,” Nordstrom says. “Most of the people we deal with are on vacation, so they’re really very happy.”
t Donna Nordstrom (left) and Sandy Burns share the job of tourism coordinators at the Heritage Corridor Visitor Center in Utica, providing directions and advice to visitors to Starved Rock Country�
“But there’s always a doggone few who are crabby,” adds Burns.
Both find it a personal challenge to custom match visitors to attractions.
“Even when so often you hear the same question, it’s not always the same answer,” Nordstrom says. n Parents looking for a different kind of place to take the kids on a rainy day? How about the Starved Rock Visitor Center or the Illinois Waterway Visitors Center? They both have kid-friendly educational displays. n Amateur genealogists looking for help finding a tiny country graveyard? The La Salle County Genealogy Guild in Ottawa is likely to know. n A nice route for a long scenic motorcycle drive? How about the Illinois River Road? It’s a 300-mile round trip route down and back along the Illinois River between Ottawa and Havana.
They offer a wide selection of brochures, pamphlets and other publications from which visitors can browse and pick.
But beyond that, over the years both Burns and Nordstrom have developed a vast personal knowledge of the area’s shops and restaurants.
And, impossible as it may seem, each can readily offer up her own personal favorite.
SANDY’S FAVORITE:
WEETA’S BOUTIQUE, OTTAWA
Weeta’s Boutique, a women’s clothing store, is located west of Ottawa and inside the Starved Rock Marina.
The marina’s land was purchased in 1957 and developed by the parents of Weeta’s current owner, Kathy Powers Fox.
Weeta was her mother and the shop’s founder. How she got her name is a story in itself.
“When my grandmother was pregnant, she was reading a novel with a heroine named Weta,” Fox says. Weta became her mother’s name. “But at school the kids would pronounce it Wet-ah. So, when Weta got to college she added another ‘e’ so it would be pronounced Wee-ta.”
From the outside, the shop’s space in a marina building looks small. But inside there is some 3,000 square feet and a scenic view of the river.
“When people come in, they’re amazed how big it is,” Fox says.
Fox, a University of Illinois graduate with a degree in parks and recreation administration, got a job in her field in Oak Park after college. “I loved it, but my mom was kind of getting tired and said, ‘Hey, what would you think about helping me?’ The timing was right so I moved back.”
The shop specializes in contemporary casual styles.
“But I think most of our lines are unique,” says Fox. “I always say that people don’t want to see themselves coming and going. They want something a little unusual, a little unique — as well as something they can get a little wear out of.”
The shop is well stocked.
“We can outfit a customer from top to bottom,” Fox says. “I’ve had gals come in wearing a swimsuit but they want to eat upstairs at the Captain’s Cove (restaurant). I can help them from top to bottom. We pick out the dress, the shoes, the
p Sandy Burns of the Heritage Corridor Visitor Center in Utica does not hesitate to send shoppers to Weeta’s Boutique� Burns is a longtime patron and even occasionally would model there at fashion shows� t Weeta’s Boutique in the Starved Rock Marina west of Ottawa looks small at the entrance but inside expands to 3,000 square feet of fashion�
u John Ebener, the longtime proprietor of Ninth Street Pub in La Salle, serves a signature dish — A Cheeseburger on Paradise — to Donna Nordstrom of the Heritage Corridor Visitor Center in Utica� Nordstrom discovered the pub a decade ago, became a faithful customer and recommends it to area visitors�
purse and the accessories. We clip the tags and they walk out of here in a new outfit.”
Burns says the shop’s success is due to Fox’s relationship with her customers.
“Kathy does incredible one-onone,” Burns says. “She knows her customers very well.
“Sometimes when I take something off the rack she’ll say, ‘You’re not going to like it.’ Other times she’ll call and say ‘I’ve got something that made me think of you.’
“Maybe that’s why the other day I walked out of there with three outfits,” she adds ruefully. “I guess it’s my addiction.”
DONNA’S FAVORITE:
THE NINTH STREET PUB, LA SALLE
While Nordstrom agrees that local taverns serve some of the best area food, she notes frequenting neighborhood bars is not typical of her behavior.
Yet, after a business call brought her to Ninth Street Pub in La Salle 10 years ago, two things keep her coming back: the bar’s Cheeseburger on Paradise and owner John Ebener.
“John’s is a favorite bar to send people to,” she says. “And if you ask me, that cheeseburger is the best.”
Ebener has a logical reason why that’s so.
“Nobody else makes one,” he points out.
Besides the juicy burger itself and the bun, the Paradise burger includes American and Swiss cheese, bacon, grilled onions, tomato, sprouts, mayo and avocado.
Making tasty food has been a career for Ebener, who grew up just a few blocks away, number five in a family of 12.
Now 66, back when he was in his late teens and the legal drinking age was lower, Ebener and his brother Tom used to hang out at the pub — then more of a nightclub than a neighborhood tavern — where they liked to play foosball, a tabletop soccer game.
Ebener, who early on discovered his love of cooking, started his career at Peru’s legendary but now closed Red Door Inn. Future career stops included the Pick-Congress Hotel in Chicago and helping open a Red Door Inn in Rockford.
In 1977 the chance to buy the Ninth Street Pub came up and he and Tom jumped, becoming the new owners that Dec. 12.
For Ebener, preparing bar food was a natural fit.
“I love to cook and I love to make simple stuff,” he says. “I love making homemade soups — I’ve got about 300 soup recipes in my
WEETA’S BOUTIQUE
1134 N. 27th Road, Ottawa 815-434-1587 www.weetasboutiqueat starvedrockmarina.com
The Heritage Corridor Visitor Center in Utica is on the move.
The change was prompted by the plan to construct a traffic roundabout at the intersection of U.S. 6 and Route 178, which will encroach on the visitor center’s longtime home in a white building it shared with Applebee’s Bait Shop.
The new location will be in two classrooms in the former Waltham South School in downtown Utica that was purchased by the village for its municipal offices.
“There will be advantages,” says Bob Navarro, the president and CEO of the Heritage Corridor Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Visitors can expect to find a welcome center with things beyond the traditional brochures, maps and other tourist information.
“It won’t be a full-fledged gift shop, but there will be mugs, T-shirts and other items with a local flavor,” Navarro says.
“We hope to highlight some of our ‘Illinois Made’ partners’ products,” Navarro says. Those items are fashioned by Illinois artisans.
Although the visitor center staff will be helping with the move, information will be available online and at the Heritage Corridor’s Joliet office.
The hours also may change.
“We’re looking at being open later in the morning and staying open later,” Navarro says. “The thought is to be open as late as other places in downtown Utica.”
head. I also make a dynamite Reuben sandwich because we make it out of our own corned beef.”
But there also can be the unexpected, like stuffed peppers and beef stroganoff, that harken back to his days as a chef.
Ebener promotes an easygoing atmosphere at the pub. People stop by where he’s sitting to have a word with him.
A neighbor comes in, all smiles, to say she got a job.
“A J-O-B?” he responds. “That’s great.”
Another person drops off the keys to his truck, which was borrowed for a move.
“You’re welcome to the truck again if you need it,” he says.
Having run the pub for nearly 44 years, Ebener still likes coming to work.
“I’m enjoying it,” he says. “But if the fun ends, then I’ll look at other options.”
CS R
NINTH STREET PUB
253 Ninth St., La Salle 815-223-8960 www.9thstpub.com
Mansion and Gardens
Mansion Tours:
FRIDAY-MONDAY | 11 AM and 1 PM Please call for other arrangements & group tours
One of the most expensive and ornate private homes in the Midwest when completed in 1858, the Mansion was built by businessman, politician, and philanthropist William Reddick. Home to the Reddick family for nearly 30 years, the mansion anchors Washington Square, site of the first Lincoln-Douglas debate.
Join Us
FOR OUR CANDLELIGHT TOURS FRIDAY DEC. 3RD & 10TH
6:00-8:00 P.M.
SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR DETAILS
100 West Lafayette St. | Ottawa, IL 61350 815-433-6100 | reddickmansion.org
