If you haven't been to Arcola, Illinois, you're really not missing too much.

I had the pleasure of spending 2 days in Arcola about 25 years ago. I honestly don't remember why I was down there. I went there with my dad and we stayed at an older couple's house because there aren't any hotels in Arcola, I don't think.

Actually, I stand corrected. There is an Arcola Inn that 100% doesn't look like a hotel that you'd be murdered in.

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I'm sure the staff is very nice at the Arcola Inn.

The main thing I remember about Arcola was that there wasn't anything to do in Arcola. My dad had some meetings to go to with the guy we were staying with when we were there so his wife was "in charge" of entertaining me for the day.

I couldn't drive yet, so I was dependent on her to go anywhere. She took me to the most exciting place she could think of in the area and that was the Tuscola Outlet Mall.

Not a mall where teenagers sometimes liked to hang out in the 90s but an outlet mall with 3 fast-food restaurants and none of them were Sbarro's. I spent roughly 4 hours in a "food" court reading a Sports Illustrated I bought from the newsstand. What was I going to do, walk through the Banana Republic store? I was 14.

I also had no phone, obviously, so I just had to wait for her to come back. It was very boring.

Should she have taken me to the Hippie Memorial instead? Honestly, probably not. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing a 14-year-old would be into, especially me.

Now? Let's go! This place looks pretty cool.

Like all things "hippie" there's a deeper meaning to the whole thing that is explained in a plaque that transcribes a speech given by the artist's widow after he passed away.

Is it worth the 3+ hour drive to Arcola to see? Probably not. Will you ever accidentally be in Arcola? Absolutely not. Will this post be the closest you'll ever be to Arcola? Most likely. But at least now you know one more bit of useless trivia when you need an ice breaker at the next party.

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