- Hey Narrator, what's your favorite Peoria landmark?

- There's a lot of great ones.

We're gonna show you some spots that scream, "This is Peoria."

- And you've gotta see this.

(bright upbeat music playing) - Perhaps you've seen the PBS series, "Iconic America."

- Oh yeah, it's a great show.

- It is a great show.

It shows off some of the most vital and significant landmarks across the country.

There's the Golden Gate Bridge, there's the Statue of Liberty, Fenway Park.

Lots of places we're familiar with, but it takes a deeper dive into all of those spots.

- Well, you know, that's what got us thinking, well, what's iconic in Peoria?

What makes you see it and say, "You know what, that's definitely a Peoria icon."

- And we've had a great time visiting 15 spots that we think are the most significant and vital in this area.

- Come along and join us as we explore the first five places that are "Iconic Peoria."

(lively music playing) We're standing outside of Plaza Tire, where our iconic Peorian, Vanna Whitewall lives.

She has been here since 1968.

- That's right.

450 pounds, 17 and a half feet tall.

She is fiberglass.

Miss Uniroyal is what she was called back in the sixties.

She is one of the original muffler men statues that you can see all over the country.

- Well, you know, she's not just pretty.

She's also tough.

In 2005, someone crashed right into her and did some damage, but she looks pretty good.

- Absolutely.

She needs an orange safety vest.

- She does.

But how really?

How could you miss her?

It's Vanna Whitewall.

- That's right, and the folks here at Plaza Tire say, "You can't miss us.

Just look for the really tall woman outside."

(music continues) - We are high atop Peoria's West Bluff and High Street.

And make no mistake, this is no mere stretch of pavement, but a road to Peoria's past.

And it goes back pretty far 'cause in the 19th century, Peoria became a major player in the distillery trade.

And that's because all the ingredients were here to make for a great liquor industry.

There was Midwestern grain, there was perfect well water, and there was plenty of low cost coal.

Put all that together and pop, pop, pop, pop.

You've got distilleries going up along the river for miles and miles, and Peoria became the whiskey capital of the world.

Now that's all great if you're trying to make a lot of money.

And indeed, for Peoria it was good 'cause there was a lot of people who worked at the distilleries, but it was pretty messy down there.

There were a lot of fires.

There was the smell of the distilling and there were also a lot of injuries.

It was a place that you didn't wanna be there if you didn't have to.

And you know who didn't wanna be there?

The whiskey barons.

So where did they set up their homes?

Here.

Way up top on the bluff, where it was really, really nice and a great view to look across the skyline, such as it was back then.

But you could look over the river banks and everything on the river.

It was a great view.

And up here you could build mansion after mansion after mansion.

And so it became the nice area in town.

Back then, it was known as High Wine Avenue, high wine being the euphemism for distilled spirits.

Now it's just known as High Street and it's still got plenty of those mansions from way back when.

And so almost all the distilleries are gone, but you've still got High Street.

(music continues) - When you're talking about sightseeing in Peoria, there is one place you cannot miss, especially if you have people in from out of town.

Right here, Grandview Drive, as we overlook the beautiful Illinois River and this wonderful valley.

The great thing about this area is the view is fantastic any time of year, especially in the fall, in my opinion.

Now, Grandview Drive is also known as the world's most beautiful drive.

It was given that slogan by President Teddy Roosevelt, who was in town in 1910 to give a speech.

And Grandview Drive itself was not a fantastic road during that time, so the driver driving the president apologized for how bad the road was.

And Roosevelt famously said, "What difference does it make?

I've traveled all over the world and this is the world's most beautiful drive."

It is two and a half miles long.

It is curvy.

It is an incline, proving Illinois is not totally flat and is a must for people that wanna see some great scenery here in central Illinois.

(music continues playing) - Welcome to the only "Roosterant" around.

We're here in East Peoria at Carl's Bakery and Cafe.

They're known for their tenderloins, their pastries, and their giant rooster.

About 50 years ago, the owner saw this tall guy with this great looking hat, and they decided to bring him to central Illinois.

It got a lot of looks as they put him on a flatbed and drove him down here, but it does answer the age old question of, "Why did the rooster cross the road?"

To get to East Peoria.

- Here we are on the West Bluff in the 1500 block of Moss Avenue and the Francis Little home.

What makes this famous, this spot, is not Francis Little, but Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the place.

Frank Lloyd Wright came to Chicago in the late 19th century to study how to make skyscrapers with Louis Sullivan.

Very famous, and he was doing a great job, and then he's like, "Nah, I don't wanna do that anymore.

I want to do my own style."

And his style was the prairie school of architecture, very low slung, horizontal, blending in with nature.

And you can see that here in the Little House.

This was built in 1905.

Francis Little commissioned Wright to come and design it.

And you can see it sort of blends in the colors and the style with nature.

In fact, with this house, Wright designed a lot of the things that were inside, furniture and whatnot.

Now a lot of that stuff over the years got sold off to private collectors, but obviously the house is still here.

Though Francis Little owned this place for only a year, he gave Peoria quite the gift, and that is the only Wright house designed in Peoria.

- That was a lot of fun, but we have a lot more places to explore.

- So make sure you join us over the next few weeks as we show you the rest of "Iconic Peoria."

- [Narrator] Back in 1858, Princeton, Illinois was a bustling young town with one thing really going for it- a train depot bringing in travelers.

In response to this influx of visitors, William Knox opened a brand new hotel.

- It opened a few years after the train station first came to Princeton.

There was, the train was a mile north of the rest of where Princeton was and trains didn't travel at night, so people needed a place to stay.

And so a man named William Knox built the hotel here.

From what we can tell, it was added on to several times, but all through the 1970s, it was a hotel.

Changed names a few times and I think it just kind of got lost in all the new utilities and air conditioning and everything that people expect in modern hotels.

With an old building with plaster walls, it's hard to install all of those things.

So I think it lost enough, started losing business and the hotel portion closed.

- [Narrator] That is until 2015, when the hotel received a much needed facelift on the outside of the building.

Also, at that time it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2021, Kelsey and Dane Steer entered the picture as the newest owners of the Knox Historic Hotel.

- Well, welcome to the Knox Hotel.

Let's take a look inside.

- Okay, so this is the honeymoon suite.

This is probably my favorite room.

- [Narrator] Dane and Kelsey both work full-time jobs outside the hotel and have two small children, but they've decided to take on this massive three-story hotel as a renovation project.

- A lot of the upstairs have been gutted, so there was no furniture, no fixtures, and the plaster mostly had been removed.

So what we were looking at was the wood strips of lath on the walls and ceiling everywhere.

So it was just room after room like that.

But it was kind of the original layout that we were walking through, the original baseboards and trim around the doors and everything.

All the original doors were still here.

So, we saw the character and- - [Kelsey] The spiral staircase.

It was beautiful.

- [Dane] Yeah, and just kind of the potential of all of the space and all of the rooms that were already here.

- This stairwell is what really sparked my interest when we first walked through the hotel.

It's absolutely stunning, and I personally envisioned some bride standing up there one day and getting some pictures taken.

It's just the woodwork is gorgeous.

- [Narrator] With their two sons, one and three years old, they embarked on a journey that not everyone was sure was going to work out.

- I think some people thought we were crazy, that's for sure.

But I think our family, like my family living out of town, they knew that, you know, Princeton needs another hotel.

This would be a great opportunity.

So they were all supportive.

I mean, both of our families have helped.

I mean, we wouldn't have been able to do it without, they will watch the boys or my dad comes and helps refinish floors.

So, you know, it is a team effort.

Takes a village.

- [Narrator] Their village extends far beyond just their family and friends.

It took investors and the town of Princeton.

The community has welcomed the renovations on the Knox Hotel with open arms.

- [Kelsey] People have donated furniture locally.

- [Dane] We've had people donate just to get a tour of the building.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So they're very supportive and- - A lot of collaborations with other businesses.

- Yeah.

- Sending, you know, sending our guests to other restaurants in the area so that they're getting business from it.

And in fact, one of our rooms is sponsored, a couple of our rooms are sponsored by local businesses who wanna be able to kind of decorate and showcase some of their stuff that they sell and leave an impression on the buildings.

- [Narrator] This almost 170 year old building could tell some stories.

The strong structure has withstood at least five fires that the Steers know of.

- But we found a newspaper clipping about a guest who fell asleep, or passed out rather drunk in bed with a cigarette and caught the bed on fire.

And luckily survived, but we found a newspaper clipping for that.

And then one of the rooms also has a little - A plaque, yeah.

- sticker, faded sticker on the wall that says, "Please no smoking in bed.

Help prevent fires."

So I think that was from the twenties, but this is a room that we, there had been a fire here at one point.

We originally found that downstairs when we took the lath down.

And then as we've taken out more, we've uncovered even more charring on the walls.

- [Narrator] Right now, you can stay at the Knox for an average of $180 in one of the three completely refurbished rooms, but you'll have to wait a few years for the remodel of the third floor and the addition of 10 more guest rooms and a ballroom.

- The dream is to have the canopy come over and even have a pull up so that guests can drop off if it's raining under the canopy, and then come on up to the hotel to check in.

- [Narrator] One thing the Steers do know how to do is dream big, and they're hoping to be completed with their dream in a few years with a financial investment of over $700,000.

- And we didn't do it for ourselves to get money.

We're doing it for the community to preserve the building.

- [Narrator] A beautiful day at Peoria's Dozer Park, as the Chiefs play in front of thousands of school kids.

And these kids may not know it, but they're witnessing history.

(kids shouting excitedly) Christina Whitlock is the very first uniformed female coach in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Today, she's a first base coach for the Chiefs.

Just before first pitch, she's a friendly ambassador for the team.

And before that, she uses her experience to make the players better.

- Once I found out we had Coach Whitlock with us for the year, I was excited to work with her.

She's a great energy to bring to the outfield group, very communicative, easy to talk to, and definitely helps us get better every day.

- [Narrator] Outfielder Tyler Reichenborn says Whitlock has helped him with footwork movement, taking clean routes to get balls, and more.

Number 29 is getting advice from someone who has lived and breathed softball and baseball for longer than he's been alive, and she's excited to help.

- I'm trusting that as my journey unfolds it's gonna be a very good place to be.

- [Narrator] Whitlock started playing young, became a two-time all-American at the University of South Carolina, played professional softball, and was an instructor.

She says being a woman in a male dominated sport has not been an issue.

In fact, building relationships and trust has been pretty easy.

- You know, I think that we're still in the stage of just you know, building those relationships and building that trust, and I think that they know that if they ever needed anything like advice wise, or just to, you know, confide in, that I am here.

There are times, I know last year I had a player tell me, he's like, "You sound just like my mother."

I said, "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

Right?

I think it's good to have that perspective.

- [Narrator] Whitlock has a lot of perspectives on life.

Her journey to this point has not been easy.

You've had so much adversity in your life, you know, between your cancer scare and your husband passing away while you were pregnant.

- Yes, that is true.

- [Narrator] How did you overcome those obstacles?

- You know, I've had numerous friends throughout the years ask that and you know, I just have to remind them that I'm a person of faith.

There's nothing else that I can rely on.

And God just, you know, reminded me he's gonna put people in my life that love me, that know how to persevere with me.

- [Narrator] This mother of two wants to be a bench coach or manager someday.

Whitlock's expertise and sometimes softer approach could help a team during the dog days of summer.

- Maybe softer, you know, and I think that's sometimes you need that because this game can be pretty brutal, and so sometimes you need just that extra encouragement.

- I love to read, especially on a Sunday afternoon.

I get really involved in a story, especially if it has a local spin to it.

- And we're gonna talk to a local author who writes about the area, but it's kind of a little twisted and strange.

What's that all about?

Check it out.

When Audrey Cho leaves the big city to visit her childhood hometown in central Illinois, she sees a lot of familiar Peoria area landmarks.

Well sort of.

There's Eastwood's Community Church, which each December hosts what she describes as a big Eastwood's Christmas show.

That sounds much like Northwood's Community Church, which annually puts out a slam bang Yuletide extravaganza.

And there's Sullivan's, the familiar and comfy Roadhouse just outside town.

Seems a lot like Last Chance in Alta.

And there are high school athletic teams known as the Chiefs, represented with a dalmatian wearing a firefighters hat.

That's like the logo for the Peoria Chief's minor league baseball team.

This all might sound like greater Peoria in the Twilight Zone.

Vaguely familiar, but somewhat out of whack.

And that's exactly the case, as Audrey Cho comes from the world of imagination.

She's the fictional version of Delia Cai, a 2011 Dunlap High School grad.

Her novel "Central Places" is according to the book jacket, set in the tiny central Illinois town where she grew up, but it's not Cai's Dunlap, but the fictional Hickory Grove.

That name actually adorns a Dunlap school and a subdivision, but near a municipality in Illinois.

And in real life there are no Hickory Grove Chiefs, but you can root for the Dunlap High Eagles.

Those similarities might get a smile from Peoria area readers of the novel, as will references to the Murray Baker Bridge, Illinois Route 91 and Legion Hall Road.

- The town that she grew up in is very much modeled on Dunlap.

I think like I put some of the same road names in there, just as like a special treat for just Peorians.

- [Narrator] That kind of fiction, non-fiction mix pervades "Central Places," which mirrors much of Cai's childhood in Dunlap.

- The book is very, it's very emotionally true.

- [Narrator] On one level, it's like a Hallmark Christmas movie.

Audrey leaves a small town for a fast-paced job and life in New York City.

When she comes home to visit her parents at Christmas time though, she has to deal with mixed feelings and old friends.

And at a deeper level, Audrey deals with complex themes such as parental relationships and Asian-American racism.

- I think for a long time, like you know, I grew up in Peoria and Dunlap, just sort of wishing that I lived somewhere else.

- [Narrator] She blames her youthful impatience not on her school, community, or home, rather, she points to an intense concentration on academics.

- I was so focused on school itself that I think making friends, like making memories, like having fun, felt really secondary in a way.

Like it felt like that was a thing that was sort of in the way sometimes.

- [Narrator] After graduating as a Dunlap High Valedictorian, she earned a degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism before heading to New York City to write.

Her pieces have appeared in multiple magazines and she is now a senior correspondent at Vanity Fair.

Meantime, ideas percolated for "Central Places."

For the Christmas visit back home, Audrey takes along her new fiance, a very white fiance, to meet her Chinese immigrant parents.

Culture clashes ensue.

- The sort of details of like, her relationship with her parents, her relationships with her friends from high school, those are all modeled on relationships that I've had.

But the where the departure is, is that I've never had to bring someone home from the holidays.

Yeah, I've never introduced someone to Dunlap or Peoria.

And so in some ways this book was kind of written as like a, like a hypothetical exercise in terms of like, what if I had to do this sometime soon?

- [Narrator] The novel, though often breezy, takes a look at how certain factors, like occasional racism and a stern household, made Cai feel like a misfit.

- I'm fascinated with the idea of isolation and kind of both like the self-inflicted parts of it, as well as just kind of the nature of like if you grow up in a kind of insular place and your family's not like other families, how does that feel?

- [Narrator] That kind of honest discussion meant Cai had to delve into what sometimes was a tense home life during childhood.

Before the book went to print, Cai sent a copy to her parents who still live in Dunlap.

In a way, the book has fostered new understandings on both ends.

- It started up some conversations that I think we had already started having.

- [Narrator] The novel has won rave reviews from the New York press.

Further, back in Dunlap, her former teachers have expressed glee with her work.

- It's been such a pleasure to share the novel with especially my English teachers who just made a huge impact on my life.

- [Narrator] She has received positive comments elsewhere in the Dunlap area, but not from all corners.

- I've heard from a few like former classmates who've said that they've really enjoyed the book.

I have not heard from the people that I would say like, certain characters are very recognizably based on, which I think was to be expected 'cause I was not in touch with those people before.

- [Narrator] Cai hopes the novel will be in paperback form by Autumn.

If so, she'd like to do some book signings in the Peoria area and maybe stop by Sullivan's or Last Chance.

- I'm a bit scared, right?

Like I feel a bit like a coward.

Like I just wrote all this stuff about my hometown and I haven't actually gone back yet.

(gentle music playing) - [Narrator] "You Gotta See This!"

crew ventures out today to visit the North American River Otter at Wildlife Prairie Park.

Oakley, the father of the small but incredibly cute family, and Winnie, his five-year-old daughter, love hanging out together.

- So otters out in the wild actually do form like family units, and so you'll see groups of them living together, hunting together, and all of that.

- [Narrator] Otters enjoy lots of activities including water and swimming.

In fact, they can hold their breath for up to eight minutes and these furry friends don't care what temperature that water is.

- Their fur is so thick that they'll swim in ice water and chew through ice and get in there and the water actually never touches their skin.

So that's how thick their fur is.

So it does not bother them when they go swimming and stuff.

I've seen them chase butterflies in here.

They'll move rocks around and put 'em in their pond.

They'll dig a little bit, but they have their own den that we provide for them.

But out in the wild they'll dig like kind of a burrow.

But yeah, they like to get messy and they do like to eat a lot though.

(music continues) (otter noises) - [Narrator] They aren't very picky about what they eat, and who can blame them?

They often enjoy donated fish and fancy things from Dixon's.

- They've gotten like, lobster and shrimp and tuna steaks before, so they eat pretty good.

- [Narrator] They're fancy.

- Yeah!

So they are really not picky, but out in the wild, that's how they are too.

They will just eat about anything.

- [Narrator] There are a few things I otter tell you about these adorable cousins of a weasel.

Otters always wash after a meal.

They keep tidy so their whiskers are clean and ready to help them find their next meal underwater.

Clean and cute is a great combination, but they still are curious predators.

- So they have a very strong bite.

So as tempting as it is to like, you know, pet an otter, it's not a good idea.

So even if they're used to people, I mean they have a very strong bite.

They do have some pretty good claws, but they don't really use those very much.

- [Narrator] He just showed us the teeth.

- Yes.

Yeah.

(laughing) - [Narrator] We're talking about how good a bite you have.

Look at you.

Oh, and your belly.

Oh goodness.

- They do you like to show off.

- [Narrator] One way or the other, you will be entertained by these playful, energetic friends the next time you visit Wildlife Prairie Park.

(music continues) - Barbecue ribs in an hour and a half?

Yep.

They're tender, flavorful, and so juicy.

This is how I do it.

It's all about the dry rub and cooking the ribs on very high heat.

Let's put our dry rub together.

I'm combining Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and some kosher salt.

Give it a good mix.

So over here, I have the rib racks.

I have two of them.

Each wing, approximately two pounds and I've already cut them in half.

Let's put that dry rub to work.

Just make sure that you evenly press that dry rub right into the meat.

I've precut heavy duty aluminum foil into eight pieces.

Each piece span about 18 to 24 inches.

I will place one piece of the foil horizontally and a second piece vertically over the top.

Then I'll be putting my rib rack right into the center of the foil and I'm gonna create some packets.

Things are about to get hot, so I'm bringing my recipe right here to the grill.

I've got the grill set at 450 degrees.

These are gonna cook for an hour and 15 minutes.

Don't forget to flip them every 15 minutes.

While the ribs are on the grill, I'm gonna whip up my bourbon barbecue sauce.

All the ingredients go right into the pot.

I'm adding the ketchup, the bourbon, that's the most important part, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, a little bit of apple cider vinegar.

Now let's add some dried mustard.

Let's get our brown sugar, this is gonna give it a nice sweetness, and a little bit of cayenne pepper, but you can also use some crushed red pepper if you need to.

We're gonna let this go up to a boil, then we're gonna reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to cover the back of a spoon.

What's wonderful about this sauce is you can store it in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

Now for the final touch.

I've removed the ribs from the foil.

I've got my basting brush, and I'm gonna slather that barbecue sauce all over those ribs.

Grill for another 15 minutes.

Make sure to turn them and baste them often so you get a nice char.

Mmm.

I promise you this is so good, and yes, it's super easy to make.

- That really was an interesting show.

We packed a lot in of people, places, interesting things.

- Especially "Iconic Peoria," but we got a lot more of them.

So make sure you come back next time, - On "You Gotta See This!"

(lively music playing)