Checking In On Keats

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim.  Some of you may remember a little town I showed you last year - it's called Keats and it's got a really cool park to explore and has some gorgeous, old trees that really put on a show in the Fall.  (Please click here and here if you would like to see some of last year's photos.)  Mom and I thought we should take a drive out there yesterday to see if the trees were putting on a show yet!

I had a good look around when we got there!

As you can see, I was thrilled to go exploring!  I even spotted someone I met last time we made the trek out:

"Ha roo, Sea Serpent!"

I didn't want to look him directly in the eye.  That's too dominant.  I'm not into that kind of thing - I just want to be friends.

I decided to go try out some of the equipment the Sea Serpent has in his obstacle course.  I climbed onto this high platform:

I had a good look around, then before Mom realized what I was doing, I did this:

"Ha ROOOOOO!"

That was REALLY cool!  It was all slippery and stuff - almost like ice!  Great fun!

Let's see what else Keats Park has to offer ...

"Wide open spaces!"

It's a beautiful park.  Plush lawn, a little walking path, trees... ooh!  And a historical marker!  Let's check it out!

The inscription reads:  KEATS.  A general store built in 1860 began the village known as Wild Cat ("How cool is THAT!?!?") until 1887 when a Rock Island Railroad official who liked Keats' poetry named the town on their new rail line.  The church was dedicated in 1889, named Lydia Chapel for Mrs. Lydia Edelblute.  The Keats Rural High School opened in 1916, and a brick grade school replaced a stone building after a fire in 1925.  They closed in 1965, when schools were consolidated.

I think they should have left the town's name as "Wild Cat", but no one asked me.

We checked out the gardens a bit:

"Note to our Russian Sage plants:  Mom would like you guys to start looking more like this one!"

... and went to see how our favorite line up of trees looked:

Totally beautiful, but not quite doing the Fall Fling yet.  We'll just have to come back again!

On our way out of town, Mom took a shot of this very old limestone house with her iPhone and did some special effects stuff on it:



If houses could talk, I think this one would have some very interesting stories to tell!

I hope you enjoyed our trip to Keats!  We'll go back again soon!

Play bows,
Zim