{"id":4431,"date":"2015-01-27T17:02:45","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T01:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?p=4431"},"modified":"2015-02-13T14:48:20","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T22:48:20","slug":"peoria-illinois-trip-january-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?p=4431","title":{"rendered":"Peoria, Illinois Trip, January 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Can you believe it&#8230;my first trip for the year and I choose Peoria, Illinois.  We all know Peoria is not a vacation spot or a destination spot, but it still has certain qualities about it to provide a comfortable life for most people.  Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and if you have a view from a riverfront hotel you can see the many barges being pushed by the huge tugboats through-out the day.  I just happen to travel to Peoria a couple of times a year and I usually make the best of it.<\/p>\n<p>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a lot to do in Peoria, but they do have some great restaurants and I typically try to find a new one (if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one) when I am in town.  This trip I discovered a treasure and found the The Edge during my Open Table search when I was up in the air 36,000 feet flying from Seattle utilizing Gogo internet.  The Edge <a href=\"http:\/\/edgeinpeoria.com\">edgeinpeoria<\/a> was opened by Chef Dustin Allen promoting a farm to table experience.  I totally recommend this restaurant and you would be a fool not to make a reservation here.<\/p>\n<p>I had the distinct pleasure to enjoy my lovely dinner with a couple of friends, Jason Hartley from Washington and Douglas Hovel from Illinois.<br \/>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:1,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?p=4431&quot;}' id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-4431 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?attachment_id=4434'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Peoria-Skyline.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4434\" data-attachment-id=\"4434\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?attachment_id=4434\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Peoria-Skyline.jpg?fit=%2C&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"[]\" data-image-title=\"Peoria Skyline\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Picture of Peoria Illinois skyline with downtown city buildings along the Illinois River and the Spirit of Peoria paddlewheel riverboat.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;City of Peoria; My view from my hotel across the Illinois River in East Peoria.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Peoria-Skyline.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4434'>\n\t\t\t\tCity of Peoria; My view from my hotel across the Illinois River in East Peoria.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?attachment_id=4433'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/with-Chef-Allen.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/with-Chef-Allen.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/with-Chef-Allen.jpg?resize=50%2C50&amp;ssl=1 50w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/with-Chef-Allen.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/with-Chef-Allen.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" data-attachment-id=\"4433\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?attachment_id=4433\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/with-Chef-Allen.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3264,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 6 Plus&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1422390373&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.15&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;160&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.25&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"with Chef Allen\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;I had the pleasure to get a picture with Chef Dustin Allen after a fantastic dinner at his restaurant The Edge.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/with-Chef-Allen.jpg?fit=584%2C438&amp;ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4433'>\n\t\t\t\tI had the pleasure to get a picture with Chef Dustin Allen after a fantastic dinner at his restaurant The Edge.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?attachment_id=4432'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Hovel-Freeman-Hartley.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Hovel-Freeman-Hartley.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Hovel-Freeman-Hartley.jpg?resize=50%2C50&amp;ssl=1 50w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Hovel-Freeman-Hartley.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Hovel-Freeman-Hartley.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" data-attachment-id=\"4432\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?attachment_id=4432\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Hovel-Freeman-Hartley.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"3264,2448\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 6 Plus&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1422388928&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.15&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;320&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.25&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Hovel, Freeman &amp;#038; Hartley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Douglas Hovel, Jason Hartley and Rick Freeman having dinner at The Edge in Peoria, Illinois&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Hovel-Freeman-Hartley.jpg?fit=584%2C438&amp;ssl=1\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4432'>\n\t\t\t\tDouglas Hovel, Jason Hartley and Rick Freeman having dinner at The Edge in Peoria, Illinois\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can you believe it&#8230;my first trip for the year and I choose Peoria, Illinois. We all know Peoria is not a vacation spot or a destination spot, but it still has certain qualities about it to provide a comfortable life &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/?p=4431\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[63],"tags":[488,493,492,490,400,489,20,491],"class_list":["post-4431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-usa-trips","tag-chef-dustin-allen","tag-douglas-hovel","tag-edge-restaurant","tag-illinois","tag-jason-hartley","tag-peoria","tag-rick-freeman","tag-the-edge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jXSd-19t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4431"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4439,"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4431\/revisions\/4439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wanderjunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}