Take time to stop in Salisbury

Part 1: Morning Star Mercantile and Café

[AUG. 23, 2000]  Salisbury may not ever make the top 10 list of tourist attractions in Illinois — it’s not even listed on the state map. But for those who take the time to slow down while traveling on Route 97 from Springfield to New Salem and Petersburg, they will find a delightful place to wile away a few hours, have a leisurely lunch and watch the world go by.

Salisbury, just a short drive from Lincoln, is located about 12 miles northwest of Springfield and about the same distance south of New Salem. This town of approximately 150 people (no one knows for sure, since the population sign is missing) is loaded with charm and tranquillity and maybe the friendliest people you will ever meet. I still smile when I remember the enjoyable afternoon I spent there several weeks ago.

There was a time not so long ago that the business section of town consisted only of two taverns, two churches and some folk art scattered along the road as advertising for a local business. These fixtures are all still there — but so is a new tearoom, gift shop, garden center and nearby herb farm. Plans are also under way for an antique shop to open soon. There may still be a few rickety buildings that have seen better days and a few boarded up storefronts scattered among the new signs of economic growth, but that just adds to the charm of the place.

 

Salisbury has become one of my favorite places to share a cup of coffee and a piece of homemade pie with a friend on the front porch of the rustic tearoom that blends right into the primitive countryside. I’m not the only one who enjoys the charm of the Morning Star Mercantile and Café — it’s been packing in people for lunch since opening nearly two years ago.

Pat Adamski, who owns the business with her parents, Bill and Georgia Adamski, not only cooks and serves homemade pies and sandwiches in the rustic structure made from salvaged wood from a 100-year-old barn, she also lives above the restaurant.

 

(To top of second column in this section)

Adamski says she gets a lot of comments from customers about how much they like the decor of the rustic building. The warm wood floors, beams, ceilings and walls are like a warm blanket on a chilly spring day. The massive stone fireplace, the featured attraction on one wall, was patterned after those at New Salem, adding to the ambience of the tearoom, which feels like part old general store, part log cabin and part bed-and-breakfast. Mismatched, simple wooden tables and chairs culled at country auctions and estate sales complete the decor. My favorite place to indulge in a chicken crepe or dessert, however, is out on the expansive front porch, decorated with hanging flower baskets and antique trellises.

This is a family business and it shows. Adamski’s father and brothers built the building, and her mother is usually found in the kitchen, washing dishes or helping out in other ways.

The menu includes a soup of the day (including chili during October through May), cashew chicken salad, olive nut spread, smoked turkey, chicken crepes and special broccoli salad, which is a crowd pleaser. Desserts such as apple-nut dessert, carrot cake and coconut cream pie are consumed rapidly by customers. You get the feeling many local residents have made this a daily or weekly part of their routine.

 

Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, but lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drinks, baked items, and desserts and ice cream are served all day.

After eating lunch, you can shop in a section of the building packed with candles and other craft items.

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

 

(Note: This article continues Thursday and Friday.)

 

 

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