Look out for the old-fashioned (non-working) gas station pumps and you will have arrived at Mike Yeager’s “My Garage” museum, also known as Mid-America Motorworks. It houses all sorts of cars, including Volkswagens and Corvettes. Both informational and vintage signs accompany each car. Don't miss the Cross at the Crossroads. It is 198 feet tall and 113 feet wide and built using 180 tons of steel.
The Tuscan Hills Winery will give you an Italian vineyard feeling. You can sample a few wines and keep the glass. All of the wines are blends with names like “Tuscan Day,” “Starry Night,” “Sweet and Wild” and “Sweet Sicilian.” The winery hosts a number of events, including a catered mystery dinner theater, music and comedy shows. After your wine tasting, it is time to get some fresh air, so check out the TREC Calico Trail, a scenic cycling and walking trail that is also handicapped accessible, quiet and safe. The hills are a challenging 10 to 16 percent grade, and the two-and-a-half mile trail shows you some of Illinois’ most beautiful and diverse scenery: wetlands, woods, flatlands and rivers.
If you still want more water, then spend a day at Lake Sara, an 800-acre recreational lake offering fishing, boating, water sports, a beach and more. It is heavily patrolled and you will need to keep track of the lake association’s myriad rules, but it is well worth it to have a peaceful safe day on the water. You can even rent a pontoon boat and spend the day drifting. Cars appear to be a theme in Effingham, so you can go check out Heartland Classics Cars, where owner Tony Griffith has been in the classic and muscle car business since the late 1960s. He has buildings filled with these cars—GTOs, Mustangs, Corvettes, old street rods, Mopars and foreign classics.
Effingham offers something extraordinarily special for car enthusiasts, but even if your heart does not beat faster when you hear the word “Mustang,” you will enjoy a stay with Choice Hotels in Effingham, IL while you taste wines, go hiking, or drift on the lake. Book your stay today!