- We're glad you're here.

It's our last time together with iconic Peoria.

- We've gone to some fun places and some great landmarks, but there's still more.

You gotta see this.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) Here's our last installment, the last five iconic Peoria places.

- And these are the things that say, this is Peoria.

(upbeat music) - [Julie] Interstate travel can be boring, but we have a local exception.

It's an iconic exception.

It's the I-74 westbound from East Peoria as the Peoria skyline arises before you.

It's almost like drive-through sightseeing.

You don't much notice the view until I-74 winds around the East Peoria bluff.

Just before the roadway gradually dips down the bluff and toward the Murray Baker Bridge, the view explodes, expansive and impressive, along the West Bank of the Illinois River.

It's an interesting juxtaposition, man's modern skyline stretching along nature's agent waterway, forming an iconic Peoria scene.

♪ I'm moving on, I'm moving on, I'm moving on ♪ ♪ I'm moving on, I'm moving on, I'm moving on, I'm moving on ♪ (upbeat music) - So for a long time, late 19th century, early 20th century, Peoria was known for distilleries, and Peoria Heights was known for Pabst Blue Ribbon.

- [Narrator] What'll you have?

♪ Pabst Blue Ribbon - [Narrator] What'll you have?

♪ Pabst Blue Ribbon - And for all that time, there was kind of that really multi-scent that people learned to endure because, well, that was the smell of money.

Lots of people worked here.

Was really good for the village.

- Doesn't smell like money anymore, but there is a piece of Pabst history still here.

This building behind us has some great signage on it.

It also holds The 33 Room, which was the original tasting room for the brewery.

And Peoria Heights, it took a while to bounce back, but this stretch of North Prospect is great.

- Oh yeah.

- It's got a lot of nice stores, boutiques, and still got the Pabst legacy.

- And if you want to go into the old Pabst tasting room, you can still get a Pabst draft.

- [Narrator] Finest beer served anywhere.

What'll you have?

Pabst Blue Ribbon.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - When you think of iconic Peoria, you may not think of Robert G. Ingersoll, but he was a big man with a big reputation.

And that's what landed him this statue here in Glen Oak Park.

Ingersoll was maybe one of the most renowned people in America.

He traveled the country, and he did great speeches on philosophy and history and all kinds of things that drew massive crowds.

But he also called Peoria home.

Obviously, he could strike a pose.

What do you think?

Did I get it?

(upbeat music) (gentle uplifting music) - For more than a century, the Peoria skyline has been anchored by the twin spires at St. Mary's Cathedral.

Since 1889, those spires have stretched upward 230 feet.

The church on Northeast Madison was built to the cost of $110,000.

It was dedicated by the first Roman Catholic bishop of Peoria, John Lancaster Spalding.

He modeled the building after St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, where he had been ordained a bishop.

Now, the spires have seen celebrities pass below.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen grew up in the parish and attended Spalding Academy before attaining fame as the nation's first televangelist.

The famed Von Trapp family.

They sang at the cathedral in one of their first American performances after escaping Austria during World War II.

And Mother Teresa visited the cathedral twice.

(gentle uplifting music) (gentle upbeat music) - In 1890, Pete Weast bought a risque painting that became a Peoria legend, but not for the reasons he'd envisioned.

The tavern keeper shelled out a then whopping $4,000 for what he thought was an original artwork.

Actually, it was a knockoff of "Nymphs and Satyr" by acclaimed French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Though clueless about all that, Weast displayed the forgery inside his Golden Palace Saloon on Jefferson Street.

It's a big, big painting, 8 by 10 feet.

In 1901, anti-alcohol crusader Carrie Nation stormed into Peoria.

She threatened to take her famous ax to the painting, as well as the entire tavern.

But we slipped her a $50 bribe, and she quietly left town.

The painting has popped up at multiple Peoria spots over the years and now resides at WTVP at State and Water Streets.

Come on by and see the painting, but leave your ax at home.

(upbeat music) (somber music) Out of horror comes hope.

There's an organization called Violins of Hope that has collected more than 70 stringed instruments with ties to the Holocaust.

- And one of those traveling exhibits is coming to Peoria.

And we'll give you the first glimpse of why this exhibit means so much to so many people.

(melancholic violin music) - [Phil] Out of horror comes hope.

Dozens of stringed instruments testify to one of the darkest periods of human history.

Mostly violins, these instruments survived the Holocaust, though some of their owners did not.

They now constitute Violins of Hope, their collective song remembering those who perished, while celebrating the resiliency of the Jewish people and spirit.

- The violin played a very important role in Jewish lives during the Holocaust.

For some, the violin was a comforter in mankind's darkest hour.

Having music and having the violin lent a sense of normalcy and allowed them to keep a sense of dignity in the worst times.

- [Phil] The organization has been a 20-year labor of love by Israeli violin makers Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshi Weinstein, who have restored more than 70 violins, violas, and cellos.

10 of the instruments will be coming to the Peoria Riverfront Museum in August.

- What I think is important about the Violins of Hope is that each represents an individual story.

When we think about the Holocaust, if we're thinking about 6 million deaths or 11 million deaths, it's just too much for the human brain to fathom.

But through each story we see one musician, and what he went through with his family, and how he used music to stay alive.

- [Phil] One of those stories centers on Paul Reeser, whose violin will be part of the Peoria exhibit.

The story also involves his daughter, Linda Reeser, whose decades-long yearning to understand her late mysterious father prompted her to donate his instrument to Violins of Hope.

(somber music) (gentle music) Linda Reeser never heard her father play his violin.

(elegant violin music) He learned and loved the instrument as a boy in Germany.

He made sure to take it with as his Jewish family escaped to America ahead of the Holocaust.

But he never again took the violin out of its case, and he never ever discussed his native country or the violin.

- I think there must have been pain associated with it, although he wouldn't say that.

- [Phil] Born in 1921, Paul Reeser spent his childhood with his younger brother and their parents in Hamborn, Germany.

By age 11, he played the violin.

- They owned a dry goods store, and I think they had been in business for a while.

Had employees and lots of merchandise, and I think they had a good reputation in the community.

Made an okay living and stayed in business.

(somber music) (somber music continues) - [Phil] They carried along few belongings, but Paul made sure to pack his violin.

- So I know that it had some at least sentimental value.

(somber music) - [Phil] After the United States entered World War II, Paul Reeser enlisted in the army.

He worked behind enemy lines, helping the army interrogate Nazi soldiers.

- I can't imagine going back to Germany and not having really strong feelings about your neighbors turning against you and the country turning against you.

But I don't think that he acted on it.

- [Phil] After the army, Paul Reeser returned to Ohio and earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati.

(somber music) (somber music continues) - There was always something inside that I didn't understand, may not really understand now, that I'm sure came from that era.

But looking at our lives from the outside, I think they looked regular American Jewish.

- [Phil] Paul Reeser relaxed amid one element: music.

At home, he'd play the guitar, mandolin, or ukulele.

He'd even play the instruments at social events and even gave lessons.

But none of those occasions ever included his violin.

Ever.

- I've sat with him when he played the guitar and learned how to do that from him.

But I just don't remember that violin being played.

(somber music) And there's no doubt in my mind that this was a result of living through that time.

- [Phil] After that, she kept his musical instruments piled in a closet, with the mysterious violin on top.

- And I would go by that closet often and wave.

But I knew that I couldn't sell anything, and I couldn't find anyone in the family who was interested.

So they just stayed there with my wave, collecting dust.

(somber music) (melancholic violin music) - [Phil] After she shared her father's story, Violins of Hope added the instruments to the traveling exhibit.

- It was just like a script that was written by some angelic force.

I don't know.

It just feels right.

- [Phil] She still wonders about her father's attachment to his violin, and why he never talked about it, but she thinks he believed that it's in the right place with Violins of Hope.

- I just feel this sense of gratitude that it meant something to him, and it means something to me, and now young people are perhaps gonna play it, and the beat goes on.

(somber music) (somber music continues) (gentle piano music) (gentle upbeat music) - I can't wait for this next story.

It's about two of my friends.

- Oh, where do your friends live?

- They live on top of a bridge.

Well, not this little bridge, but the McClugage Bridge, in a nest on top of the McClugage Bridge.

- Okay, what kind of friends live on a bridge?

- Feathered friends.

They're a pair of ospreys that have come there every year for five years to have their baby ospreys.

- Oh, well, it does make sense.

You've always been kind of a bird brain that you would have friends that are ospreys.

So let's check it out.

- [Phil] Over the past four years, the McClugage Bridge has been a busy place.

The bridge has been undergoing a $167 million makeover.

The biggest change will be a new eastbound span.

During construction, motorists have witnessed the intense work of crews and cranes crew creating new decks, pillars, and girders.

But the most intriguing activity isn't under or along the bridge, it's up top.

There, you'll find an osprey nest.

(osprey calling) For more than four years, it's been the home to a pair of ospreys, who mate for life.

(gentle upbeat music) Here, one adult is in the nest, along with (osprey calling) a baby osprey.

They might be the most visible birds in Peoria, if you know where to look.

You can best see the nest when headed from Tazewell County into Peoria.

Why build a nest there instead of in a tree?

Well, it's hard to know what goes through a bird's brain.

But ospreys are fish-eating hawks.

So from that perch, they've got a nice menu swimming below.

Plus, there's plenty of room up there.

Ospreys are as big as geese, so they need roomy nests, which can stretch seven feet across and weigh 300 pounds.

Osprey couples live in their nest during mating season, which runs April to August.

Each season, the female lays two to four eggs.

It's impossible to know how many baby ospreys have come from the McClugage nest.

This year, there has been at least one visible to outsiders.

During our drone visit, only one adult was home, probably the female.

During nesting season, a male typically spends much of his time hunting fish for the osprey family.

Here he comes now.

(osprey calling) After baby ospreys leave a nest, so do the adults.

Come winter, they'll migrate to Central America or South America.

But each spring a couple reunites at their same nest.

(gentle upbeat music) Ospreys are classified as an endangered species in Illinois.

But ospreys aren't bird brains.

As the bridge and nest come down, they'll simply fly away.

That's because the Illinois Department of Transportation expects to open the new eastbound span in July of 2024.

Maybe they'll return to the McClugage Bridge, perhaps even build a new nest on the new bridge span.

Why not?

It's been a nice home.

(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music) (upbeat music) - [Julie] Slow and steady wins the race with our next featured creature on the Wild Side!

Let's dive into learning more about the common snapping turtle, specifically Chomper, who is an animal ambassador at Wildlife Prairie Park.

- Now that he has a bigger tank, more space to grow, he could get almost twice this size.

Right now he probably weighs, I think, close to 20 pounds.

15 to 20 pounds.

And he's also about 15 years old.

So we've had him for, since he was just a tiny little guy.

So he's grown a lot already, but he's got a lot more space to grow.

He can get bigger.

I've seen a lot bigger ones out and about at Wildlife Prairie Park.

- [Julie] Chomper is a true gentleman.

He loves interacting with the staff and guests around his tank as they stop by to visit.

- But he will follow us around when we're feeding him and kind of sneak up on people if they're over there.

And so they're just a lot more active than alligator snapping turtles.

- [Julie] Chomper is a kind soul.

Some might even call him sensitive.

- A lot of people don't know turtles, and even box turtles, they have nerve endings all over their shell.

So they can feel everything.

And so it's really funny.

Sometimes we'll give them a shell scrub.

And they'll kind of scratch when you're giving them a shell scrub 'cause they can feel all of that.

Oh, is he breathing?

Look, he's creeping out the top.

You can see how long his neck can get right there.

You see his big claws, though?

They'll dig in the mud and stuff with those.

Yeah, he does look like a dinosaur.

- [Julie] And he has a cool trick when winter rolls around.

- A really cool adaptation for them is aquatic turtles can breathe through their butts.

And so (laughs) they have that going for them.

So like, basically, they'll slow their metabolism down, and they get enough oxygen like, through the water to not have to go up for air.

And then they breathe in through their butts.

Yeah.

- [Julie] The number one fact to remember about common snapping turtles is that their bite is something to look out for.

- If you're trying to move one, and their neck reaches further than you think, you could probably snap off one of your fingers.

I don't know the exact numbers, but it's a very powerful bite.

And yeah, they use that not only to protect themselves, but to hunt and grab whatever they find.

They eat a lot of different things.

- [Julie] So if you see a snapping turtle, on your walk or in a nearby pond, take the long way around and avoid the snap of one of Chomper's cousins.

(teeth gnashing) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Cheer up, stand up, stand up for... Oh, hi.

Welcome to sweetly scented Worth Township, Illinois and my garage for another episode of 8-Track Time Machine, where we look back on the sounds and the songs of the finest of pop music, the 8-track era.

And today, we're gonna go back to 1973 and Bob Marley and The Whalers.

And for their most recent album then, "Burnin'," they could have not come up with a more apt title, although Irony might have worked too.

50 years later, the album is regarded as a masterwork.

And the lead-off song, "Get Up, Stand Up," that is one of the finest protest songs of all time, one that Rolling Stone Ranks as Bob Marley's greatest work.

But another hit song on that album, "I Shot the Sheriff," almost didn't make it because of a cannabis-related snafu during the recording process.

So the band was totally happy with the recording sessions.

In fact, when it went to engineering the sound in the studio, they were partying, they were smoking.

They were having a great time.

And in the engineer studio, family man Barrett, the bassist, he started rolling these big joints.

In fact, they were calling them baseball bats.

And so things are going along in the way that you might imagine a Marley recording might.

But engineer Phil Brown, he got a little too enthused and started smoking some of these baseball bats, and all of a sudden one of them just collapsed.

Now, I don't know how that happens, but Bob Marley, right?

It collapses and falls right on the tape.

Remember, this is the time of reel-to-reel tape, and they had just the one.

And it started smoldering, and Phil Brown's like, "Oh no.

What has happened here?"

Brown was mortified.

Was "I Shot the Sheriff" the song destroyed?

And was the sheriff not only killed, but the song as well?

So he worked like crazy to salvage what he could.

He cut and spliced and glued and did all the things, all of his magic, and it worked.

He put it back together.

The song was alive.

The sheriff might be dead, but the song was alive.

A half century later, it's still going and burning strong.

(upbeat music) - In Middle Eastern culture, grilling meats and vegetables is a tradition that blends classic flavors together over a flame.

My grilled sweet potatoes with pomegranate molasses and pistachios is a colorful taste of the Mediterranean.

I've already microwaved these sweet potatoes for a couple of minutes.

This makes it so the interior is cooked, but that you're able to caramelize the sugars when they hit the grill.

I'm cutting these sweet potatoes into one-inch spears.

It's important to coat the sweet potatoes with some good extra virgin olive oil before they go on the grill.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

(upbeat music) Give them a good toss, and they're ready to go.

I've got my grill set at 400 degrees.

I'm searing both sides of the potato because this locks in all of the flavors.

Turn these potatoes often because you wanna get a good char on them, but you don't want them blackened.

This should take about 10 to 12 minutes.

Oh, these are looking good.

What puts this side dish over the top is the Mediterranean flavor of pomegranate molasses.

If you haven't tried it, it's wonderful.

Drizzle that all over the top.

Its sweetness really complements the sweet potatoes.

Now I'm adding some chopped, shelled, unsalted pistachios for a little crunch and color.

And for extra flavor and flair, let's add some chopped fresh mint and garnish with some pomegranate arils.

This side dish is not only beautiful, but the flavors are amazing.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - That was really an inspiring episode.

- Oh, I can't wait to get to the museum to see Violins of Hope.

- Oh, and I know those little birds, those little ospreys, they mate for life.

- Oh, they're my buddies, and they just go to show, it doesn't matter if you're on land or way up there.

- You gotta see this.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues)