Enjoying Retirement

I am finally to the point in my recovery where I’m better than before I got the new metal knee. Rooster and I can now start enjoying our retirement. We have always loved planning and going on adventures. That’s why Molly Shea’s Henhouse started as an adventure blog. I enjoy writing about the places we go to and the experiences we have along the way. COVID restrictions slowed us down last year.  Recovering from knee surgery put a damper on our travels for a while.

The state of Illinois has always been a place we passed through and never picked as an adventure destination. The truth is it was so much like Indiana we never gave it a second thought. Even Chicago never attracted our attention. We decided exploring our neighboring state would be one of the ways we would spend enjoying our retirement.

Another trip to Illinois while enjoying retirement

We decided to take a three-day trip down to southern Illinois. There is a casino down there on the Ohio River. Rooms are cheap in these gambling establishments during the week. We planned to cross the river into Kentucky and do a little investigating. It sounded like a fun way to spend a few days. Plus, I’m able to walk further without as much pain as when we went to Springfield to experience all things Lincoln.

We got a late start. Most of our traveling occurred after dark. We did see a giant cross in Effingham, Illinois. There were a lot of cornfields and some wooded areas, but nothing worthy of taking a picture. The lights to the casino entrance broke up the darkness. It was so dark we didn’t even know the Ohio River flowed past the casino.

In conclusion

Things are still weird in southern Illinois due to covid. When we got to Harrahs, we almost changed hotels. They still had only one entrance into the building and didn’t provide carts for their customers.  We had a lot of stuff to carry in from the car. We’d have to climb a steep set of stairs to get into the building. Rooster and I decided to put up with the inconvenience and stay. I’m glad we did. We aren’t big gamblers, but a slot machine on the casino floor called our names. Our limit is twenty dollars. (As I said, we aren’t big gamblers.)  We went back to our room for the night, two hundred dollars richer.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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