- What's in a name?

Only one of the most famous US presidents in history.

And before that, there was Lincoln, Illinois, and watermelons, and later, a big covered wagon.

There will also be wine, great chicken.

(woman crunches and laughs) And places to stay with a watery view, All that and more on "Backyard Journeys" with me, Deann.

Why is travel such a hassle?

First, scour the internet, site after site, looking for the best deals, packing enough clothes so as not to use the laundry.

Then there are lines, lines to check in, lines to lose your shoes, and to be scanned.

Then hours squeezed in a metal tube to arrive where the signs are confusing, and the food, who knows what you're ordering?

What if I told you there are places nearby with history, culture, great food, unique stays, and plenty to do?

I'm Deann, and we're going to do all of that in our backyard.

What do you get when you add a railroad plus the attorney for the owners and add a newly platted town?

You get the first municipality in the world to be named in honor of Abraham Lincoln before he was elected president of the United States.

Oh, and there's watermelon involved, too.

Go ahead, take a bite.

In 1853, near where the railroad station stands today, Lincoln, Illinois was first placed on sale.

Over 90 lots were sold that day, with prices ranging from 40 to $150.

Afterwards, Abraham Lincoln was asked to dedicate the town.

The story goes there was a wagon load of watermelons nearby for celebrating the town's founding.

Lincoln halved one, poured the juice on the ground, and reportedly said, "In your presence and hearing, I now christen this town site."

Lincoln became and still is the county seat.

And across the street from the courthouse where a paint store now stands, a plaque marks the spot of an empty lot that the future president bought a few years after the initial sale.

The best place to get an overview of Lincoln-related sites in the area and other attractions as well is inside the railroad station, right next to where the watermelon spillage happened.

This is the home of the Logan County Tourism Bureau.

Lincoln was no stranger to the area, having traveled here many times as a member of the 8th Judicial Circuit.

Just two minutes down the road is a reproduction of the Postville Courthouse, where Lincoln argued cases.

It's open to the public on select days.

Oh, a sidebar, Logan County was named after state Representative John Logan.

His son was the General Logan of Civil-War fame, who is best remembered as helping to recognize Memorial Day as an official holiday.

But the town of Lincoln isn't the only place with a first claim to the name, for in the town of Lincoln is Lincoln College.

It's the only college in the country to be named for the president while he was still living.

And the day chosen for the groundbreaking in 1865, February 12th, the president's birthday.

And at Lincoln College is the Lincoln Heritage Museum, which focuses on his time in Illinois and in 2013 was named by Best College Online as one of the 30 most amazing university museums in the world.

This is the largest item in the collection, an 1860 handmade flag by the women of Middletown to adorn a float used in a Lincoln campaign rally.

Later, the candidate sat on and wore that flag.

It was placed over the seat of a buggy Lincoln road on his way to deliver a speech, the edges draped over his shoulders.

Now, there are two oddities with this flag, both dealing with the stars.

At first, the arrangement seems like maybe the women imbibed a little too much when assembling the flag, but it's okay.

The official placement of the stars wasn't set until 1912 by an executive order from President Taft.

So until then, it was up to the designers on how to arrange the stars.

Next, there are 34 stars despite there being only 33 states in existence at the time.

So either the women miscounted, or like most people at that time, they expected the admission of Kansas within the year.

Also on display is an 1860 campaign banner created by a dentist from Atlanta, Illinois.

It's interesting to note that Lincoln's first running mate, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, did not wish to be nominated.

He said he neither expected or desired it, but as a faithful man to the cause, it left him no alternative but to accept.

Like most museums, not all of the collection is on display.

Director Olivia Partlow has agreed to share with us some special items from the vault.

- I have several pieces of Mary Todd's jewelry, some items from their home, as well as a campaign token to show you today.

We have a brooch and two earrings that Mary Lincoln wore while she lived in Springfield, Illinois.

They're brass.

You'll notice they're not very flashy, and there's no jewels.

And then we'll also look at another piece of Mary Todd's jewelry, but this is a little bit fancier.

This is from after she had moved to Washington DC.

You'll notice that it has Lincoln written in diamonds on the brooch, and then there's two matching earrings.

- [Deann] So this was before the election, and this was after the election.

Was she trying to make a statement?

- She very well could have been.

She was under a lot of pressure from the society in Washington, DC.

She was the first Western first lady.

So she didn't want everyone to think she was just some country bumpkin.

So she spent a lot of money on dresses, jewelry, and renovating the White House.

The dinner bell that I have set out is actually from the Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois.

So this is the sound that the Lincolns would've heard when Mary was finished with their meals, and that would be their cue to head on home for dinner.

- So did Mary just ring the bell, or did she make dinner?

- She did do cooking.

They had some help in their home, but Mary did do a lot of the cooking.

I also have the diary of George Gayle, who was the architect for University Hall at the Lincoln College Campus.

It was the very first building constructed on Lincoln College campus.

And during that time was when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and his funeral train made its way through the state of Illinois down to Springfield.

And George Gayle actually wrote about all of those events in his diary.

- So this is one entry, May 3rd, 1865: "The president's remains to arrive today.

Great many people in town, nobody at work today.

President Lincoln's corpse arrived in Springfield this morning at 9:00 a.m. Wow, that's so sad.

- There's a kind of a funny story with this piece of wood.

So when Abraham Lincoln was trying to get the Republican nomination for president on the 1860 election, some of his supporters and friends brought this piece of wood that supposedly Abraham Lincoln had split in the 1830s.

Now, whether or not he actually split that rail is up for debate, but it was actually given out as a campaign token.

And so the piece that we have was given to one of the founders of the town of Lincoln, Illinois.

- That's really cool.

So there must be hundreds of these squirreled away, people thinking they have like the authentic rail split.

- Well, there weren't hundreds given away, but there are several pieces given away during the Republican Convention in 1860.

- If you're not Lincoln-ed out yet, there's still more Lincoln in this program.

But for now, we are going to leave the town of Lincoln and head to Mackinaw for some red, white, and blush.

- We serve wine made from our own vineyard.

We have 15 acres of grapes, have a tasting room, a gift shop, and we do a lot of fun things like concerts and events.

I am Diane Hahn.

I am the general manager of Mackinaw Valley Vineyard and Winery.

The vineyards have been here about 25 years, and my late husband Paul started putting them in in the late '90s and opened to the public in '03.

We're a farm.

I think some people come out here, and they're surprised it's not just a tasting room.

We have about 24 different types of grapes that we grow.

The grapes grow throughout the summer months.

We grow French American hybrid grapes, and they're developed at Cornell and at University of Minnesota.

And they're different than the hot-weather grapes that are very famous.

So we would grow a grape called a corot noir or a baco noir versus a pinot noir, which is a hot-weather red grape.

And so some of our grapes, you may not know them unless you come to our tasting room and try them.

They're very comparable to their hot-weather cousins.

Although they're not as famous.

And August is the beginning of harvest, and harvest will last till the end of September, sometimes into October if we have a high yield that year.

As we're doing harvest, we're doing the crushing and the pressing.

And we have a machine we put things through that takes off the stems and the leaves, and then creates kind of a slurry.

And the white grapes or blush wines, we put immediately into the press and into tanks and start fermenting them.

The red wines, we put them through that machine, and once the skins are broken up, we soak them back in their half-ton size vats.

We soak them for about eight days to extract color out.

Then if needed, they go through the pressing process.

And then the wine is made throughout the winter months.

When Paul first opened, he entered several wines, about six wines in the state competition, and he won the double gold in the state for Alexander's Conquest, and that one is still on our wine list.

And the other wines, he only had six wines at the time, they all silver medal-ed.

We do wine tasting during business hours.

Any day of the week you come in here during business hours, we can do wine tasting.

We usually have over 20 wines on our list right now.

It's about 26.

We do small batches of some things, so we do run out.

Sometimes people are amazed at the number of wines on our wine list, but it doesn't mean we have a million cases of each one like a giant winery.

We might have one row of something, and we make half a pallet or a pallet in a good year.

And when that runs out, then it's till next year's harvest.

And some of those are favorites for a lot of people.

Edelweiss is one that's a small-batch wine, and people who really like that grape will call us and reserve cases when they know it's coming up and getting bottled.

Some of the other wines that are really popular, Alexander's Conquest, Eric's Red, our Mackinaw Reserve.

The kids, we have six kids, and they all have wines named after them, and our one cellar cat has a wine named after her.

That's a sweet white wine, and a lot of people like that.

So we have dry wine, meaning we add no sugar when we're done making it.

We have off-dry, which is a little bit, and then sweet is to taste.

And we have some wine that are flavored, too, and those are real favorites of a lot of people.

We do three kind of major festivals for us.

We do an opening festival the end of May, and it's international wine and craft beer.

And we sell our wines, but we also bring in some other wines and about 70 craft beers.

And our Lions Club helps with food, and we have music both days, about five to six bands those days.

In September, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, we do a Grape Stomp and Harvest Festival, and I dress up like Lucy, and it's completely stupid fun.

And we put two big vats out, and everybody, kids, families come to that and stomp and check that off on their bucket list.

Then we do concerts every night, June through September, out in the vineyard, and people bring lawn chairs and picnics and enjoy the time watching the bands.

We have a big pavilion building, so we've had corporate events in there, corporate picnics.

But we do a lot of weddings and receptions, and those are really one of my favorites.

I have no stories that are bad about our weddings.

They're a lot of fun.

Some of them are funny stories, but, by and large, we just have a good time, and our wedding families are fun and come back year after year for their anniversaries.

And sometimes they show us their kids, and it's fun.

We do two tour type things, and those are scheduled in advance.

We do something called a tour and tasting.

It's more like a class.

And so it's around an hour long.

We do a little tour of the vineyards and talk about the agriculture involved in growing grapes in the Midwest and teach a little bit about that, show people our workroom where we have our tanks and where we do our bottling and that sort of thing.

And then we do a formal tasting of about six wines where we teach you the five Ss of wine tasting.

And it's a lot of fun.

It's not stuffy or anything, and it's a good time.

And people always tell me they learn a lot doing it.

And then we have a chocolate and wine tasting.

We try to feature other local businesses at our business.

So The Chocolatier in Bloomington is a confection chocolate maker.

So we have a chocolate and wine pairing party that we do with people, and they come out.

It's kind of a sensory pairing, and that's really fun.

- [Deann] From Mackinaw, we travel to East Peoria for the first two homes that could be booked on Vrbo or Airbnb.

- I'm Rebecca Waggoner with "Go Beyond."

I'm the founder and CEO, and standing with me is Chelsea Rawlins, and she's my managing partner.

Wanted to set ourselves apart, not only with the mission of traveling with purpose, but with a unique place to stay so that there would be a draw.

So when we were selecting this property, I wanted it something to be unique and stand alone.

So there's no other houseboats in the Peoria area.

There's many listings, but we stand by ourselves, even just with the property itself.

We've worked to make it an oasis.

We really promote the houseboat as a place to step on and step away from all the worries that are around you.

If you're needing a break, if you're needing to just relax, this is the place for you.

We've tried to show throughout the houseboat the community-mindedness.

As guests walk through the houseboat, they're seeing different businesses and organizations actually represented on board.

And what I mean by that is we have artisan soaps that they can sample, but then they can purchase if they want.

So that funding is going right back into that business.

We have opportunities for them to pre-order bakery items to sort customize their welcome.

And so that funding is going right back into those bakeries.

If they missed out on the opportunity to do in advance, we have a grab-and-go freezer style where they can actually pull something from the freezer, and it's charged on exit, but it's supporting that local bakery.

We have fresh flowers that we try to have every week, a new arrangement, and that's supporting a local florist.

We have selected charities for each of our property.

So the selected charities for this property is Anticipation Acres, which is a community garden in Delavan.

It is approximately 35 minutes southwest of here, and it's rural community that does not have a grocery store.

So they started a community garden so there could be fresh produce available.

It provides a little bit of employment opportunities for the community, but it's mostly to be able to have access to produce, which is very important.

We also have a global destination that is represented here.

We want to support local and globally.

So our global destination that receives funding is called the Life Center.

It's an organization in Albania, and they do community development.

They do after-school projects.

They do tutoring, fitness classes, and just sustainability holistically within that community of providing resources for them to better themselves.

Life is meant to be much bigger than us, and we can all do our little part to make a difference in the community.

- [Deann] Our second home is just north in Chillicothe.

- I'm Jason Brisco.

I am the owner of the property.

Purchased this home about 2 1/2 years ago, was unfamiliar with the area, actually came down before purchasing this one and looked at a couple other properties, was not really familiar with the Peoria and the Northern Peoria area.

And just the minute I saw the view, just fell in love with the view and the river and thought to myself if there's a better view in Illinois, I'm not sure where it's at.

When we originally purchased the house, I don't think the original intent was that we were gonna be basically a full-time Airbnb.

The intention was that we had bought the house and designed and furnished the house really for myself and my family.

I have four boys and a lovely wife, and this was gonna be our kind of a getaway-from-home location.

Obviously, having a second home is a large expense.

So we figured that, and weekends are times that we perhaps could not use it, we would test out Airbnb or Vrbo as a way to perhaps supplement an ability to own and maintain the house in the times that we didn't use it.

Since that time, it's really taken off in popularity, and I would say, unfortunately, we don't get to stay here a lot at this particular home because so many other guests have really found it and just have really enjoyed it, so it stays pretty well booked.

I think the most obvious thing that differentiates our location versus a lot of others is the location is proximity from Peoria with a view.

Quite honestly, it's the view.

It's the recreational aspect.

It's waking up every morning on a nice, beautiful sunny morning and seeing one of the best views.

I think that is probably the biggest distinguishing factor.

The house is roomy.

It is comfortable.

We've taken a lot of time to make sure that it stayed spacious and open but yet comfortable.

When you enter the home, you're gonna know right away that it's comfortable.

I mean, that was the main thing that we were looking for.

We're looking for capturing, obviously, as we've already stated, the beautiful view, but we wanted folks to be comfortable.

It is a home that can be used year round.

It is not just a seasonal or a summertime cabin, per se.

This is a full-time residence.

- [Deann] From Chillicothe, we head to Rip's Tavern in Ladd.

Be sure to bring cash, as they don't accept credit cards.

- You see this batter right here?

We make it fresh every 20 minutes.

We do a product, a certain product, which is chicken, and we do it great.

We take pride in it being fresh always.

My name's Gabe Leonard, and I'm co-owner of Rip's Tavern.

People come from all over- - One more.

- To come here and eat, even through the pandemic.

People were very supportive of us, and instead of having lines outside there in the dining room, we had cars lined up around the block.

- I'm Angie Penizzi, and I'm co-owner of Rip's Tavern.

I've worked here since '02, so I worked here since I've graduated high school.

I was finishing up college in Chicago, and they offered it to me.

And I was very flattered and interested, and things just progressed from there.

There's so much love here just with the food and the people that come in, and everybody knows you, and everybody knows your name.

And you see children being born and people getting married, and you're a part of their lives.

We've been here since 1936, and when you're here this long, you're a part of generations, and it's amazing.

It really is amazing to be a part of that.

- My name is Gina Ramey, and I worked here for 57 years.

I started here when I was 16 years old, and my uncle ran the kitchen, and my dad was in the kitchen at the time.

They were brothers.

The way I heard it, that he ripped the rails at railroad, and I'm sure he didn't like his name anyway.

He never used it.

His name was Silvio.

Rip came up with the batter.

- The chicken was handed down generation to generation, owner to owner, cook to cook.

Yeah, it's the same chicken that has been served here since 1936.

- [Interviewer] Can you tell me what the secret batter is?

- Nope.

- Nope, not giving that away.

- [Interviewer] And that was part of when you got the business, right?

- Yep, yep, and it's been the same.

- [Interviewer] If I was to go to you and go.

- Oh, I don't even, What do you got?

You got nothing in your hand.

I don't see anything there.

I'll throw a little bit of the batter into the fryer, and I'll see how big our crispies are, and that will tell the batter's too thick or too thin.

That's good.

That's good.

That's our crispies right there.

People go crazy over that.

- So the crispies is basically the batter of the chicken.

So we do this thing, it's an appetizer.

It's pickles and crispies.

So you take the pickles, and you dip it in the crispies.

I like to dip my pickle in ranch and then into the crispies so it all sticks together better.

My daughter, that's all she'll eat, is the pickles and the crispies.

She won't eat the chicken, but the pickles and the crispies, gone.

- [Woman] Put them in the crispies.

- [Interviewer] Now, is there a proper way to eat this?

- Yep, with your fingers, Just bust it open and let it cool off, and dig into it.

- If you come here and ask for a fork, the waitresses will give you a hard time, and, inevitably, the people at your table will give you a hard time, too.

Yeah, it's just tradition.

We have a very limited menu, and there was never really a need for forks, but we do have them if you beg.

We still have the paper plates.

The way we carry our chicken, and you'll see, there's no way we could stack glass plates.

You'll see how the girls carry them.

They stack them.

I think I could maybe do 20 or so.

- [Interviewer] So when you have visitors from out of town, is this a stop?

- Oh, heck yes, heck yes.

Everybody's gotta try Rip's.

- It's good.

It's so good that chicken's 100 degrees, you just wanna bite right into it.

- We're so fortunate to just have such a wide, wide fan base.

People move away, and they send their friends here.

They move up to Chicago.

They go down to Bloomington, Southern Illinois.

And, oh, I came here with my friend, and we come back every year.

I had a large family just this summer.

They were sitting on the patio, and they're like, "My friend introduced us to college, and anytime we come around here, if we go over to Starved Rock State Park or driving through to go to Chicago, we have to stop at Rip's.

My sister-in-law, for one, whenever they come home, has to bring home a big thing of crispies every time she comes, and then she just heats it up in the oven, just so she can eat it day after day after day since they can't get anything like this anywhere else.

- And when I would come in on Saturday night, I had three tables every week, the same people sitting there, and you make a connection.

As a matter of fact, I was in the airport in Atlanta, and somebody yelled, "Hey, Gina, I want a light chicken."

And he was way behind me, you know?

And the people just looked.

But, yeah, it's known all over.

(woman crunches and laughs) (people chattering) - Porter light, - Porter light.

Anybody want it?

- [Man] Whoo, porter light.

- [Woman] Light.

- Now that we've had some great chicken, let's return to the beginning for more Lincoln.

That is where Route 66 once came through Lincoln.

And to celebrate its 75th anniversary, David Bentley decided to create a new roadside attraction, something fun that spoke to the history of this area and Illinois, and it's big.

This is the world's largest covered wagon.

We know this because it's on a Guinness World Record Certificate, and in the driver's seat is a giant Lincoln, studying a law book while journeying on the 8th Judicial Circuit.

For those interested in numbers, the wagon is 40-feet long, 12-feet wide, and 25-feet tall.

It's made of good old Illinois oak, and if needed, it could be pulled since the wheels actually work.

Titled "Rail Splitter Covered Wagon," this enormous work was voted the number-one roadside attraction by "Reader's Digest" magazine.

And I can think of no better way to end our trip to Lincoln about Lincoln than with a giant Lincoln.

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