Nancy Milton REALTOR/GRI GoshenRealtyGroup.com

Are you researching your ancestry or your family's history in Madison County, Illinois?

If so, you'll want to click on this link: http://www.kindredtrails.com/IL_Madison.html

Our region -- known as The Land of Goshen -- has a long and interesting history. At one time, the county stretched northward to the Canadian border and several governors hailed from the county seat of Edwardsville. Kindred Trails provides users with some amazing pathways into the past in our county's cities including Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Collinsville, Maryville, Troy and many others.

The site can link you to the state's vital records database, Madison County birth and death certificates and marriage licenses. It also offers access to census data from as early as 1810 and both military and land records.

Additionally, it will link you to the area's official geneological societies and state and university archives which are sure to be of help to the novice or experienced researcher.

I hope this gives you a leg up on your family history projects. Happy hunting!

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About the Author: Nancy Milton, GRI, is a Realtor with the Just Ducky Homes team at Coldwell Banker Brown Realtors in Edwardsville, Illinois. She and Kristina Pratt help their customers buy and sell homes and investment properties in St. Louis' Illinois suburbs of Madison and St. Clair counties with special emphasis on the communities of Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Collinsville and Troy. For more information, visit their web site at http://www.JustDuckyHomes.com.

Sometimes when I get a free Saturday (hard to do in the real estate biz), my husband and I take a "penny hike."

The name comes from the old Girl Scout practice of walking to an intersection, flipping a penny and deciding to go left or right depending on whether the coin lands on heads or tails.

Yesterday the penny led us to the Missouri side of our bi-state metropolitan area. One of the stops we made was at De's Best Bar-B-Que. (Their cook trailer is pictured here).

De's is currently located at 5186 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. between North Kingshighway and Goodfellow. The owners tell us that they are moving soon. (Location TBA. We left our phone number so they can let us know and we'll pass along the info in a future post.)

The number one rule of finding good Q is to order what the neighborhood locals are eating. I did just that -- through the old-school rotating pay window set into the wall inside the restaurant -- by asking for a small order of Rib Tips. The sign at the order window tells customers to be patient, "because good food takes time." They were right. The wait was long, but worth it.

The tips came in a styrofoam clam shell, double-wrapped in plastic to keep the sauce intact. And, just as I hoped, they were served in true St. Louis style with two pieces of white bread and a scoop of potato salad plopped on top. Steaming hot and meaty, the tips were covered in a sauce that was clearly a house-made secret recipe. It had a hint of sweet and a back-end taste that just might have been grape jelly mixed with the tomato base. They had been smoked and grilled on Kingsford charcoal -- in the parking lot smoke trailer -- and had that just barely charred quality that popped right through the sauce. The accompanying potato salad was worthy of the Q, made with both mustard and mayo and enhanced with big chunks of hard-boiled eggs and just a hint of sweet pickle relish.

Eating rib tips properly is not a dainty operation. Pick them up in your hands, dig in and don't forget to ask for plenty of napkins.

Bon Appetit!

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About the Author: Nancy Milton, GRI, is a Realtor with the Just Ducky Homes team at Coldwell Banker Brown Realtors in Edwardsville, Illinois. She and Kristina Pratt help their customers buy and sell homes and investment properties in St. Louis' Illinois suburbs of Madison and St. Clair counties with special emphasis on the communities of Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Collinsville and Troy. For more information, visit their web site at http://www.JustDuckyHomes.com.

March is coming in like a lion at the award-winning Glen Carbon Centennial Library.

Get ready to release your tensions at a series of free yoga classes. Bring your own mat and enjoy the sessions held at 6:30 p.m. tonight, March 3, and again on the 17th and 31st.

Would you like to join the Library's Book Club? The next meeting is March 10 at 6:30 p.m. This month's title is Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. New members are always welcome.

If you have a soon-to-be-college-aged child you know what FAFSA means and you know it can be a daunting process to apply for the Federal college aid. Get the information you and your child need to plan, apply, and pay for a college education during this free program on Thursday, March 12 at 6 p.m.

Did you know that seniors are one of the savviest group of gamers on the Nintendo Wii system? Take part in Senior Gaming Days at the Library every Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Try Wii Bowling, Wii Golf, Wii Boxing, and Wii Fit. Each of these realistic games gives you a chance to practice balance, strength building, aerobics, and yoga.

Village residents with an artistic bent will enjoy the March Art Class. You can make 20 Easter cards with envelopes on Saturday, March 14 at 1 p.m. or Sunday, March 22 at 1 p.m. The fee is $20 per person and pre-registration is required.

For more information or to register for these events, call the Glen Carbon Centennial Library at 618-288-1212.

My brother flew in from Georgia today for a brief surprise visit for our mother's birthday.

It was such a magnificent day, with temperatures reaching well into the 60s, that we decided to take a drive up the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway (the River Road to us locals) to check out the new Grafton Winery.

It did not disappoint. The winery opened in early December and is attracting and delighting new customers daily.

The well-designed facility offers expansive decks overlooking the Mississippi River. Glass doors on garage-style openers can be raised to create an open-air atmosphere throughout the building.

We sampled a variety of wines at the tasting bar before settling on Harbor Red, a terrific blend of Syrah, Cabernet and Zinfandel that tasted of dark fruits and raisins as it opened up in the fresh air.

As a bonus, the wintering American Bald Eagles soared overhead around the bluffs and perched in trees, looking for fresh fish snacks from the river.

The winery is adding a Brewhaus later this year, so the beer drinkers in your group will be just as happy as the wine lovers. Learn more by visiting the Grafton Winery's web site.

A visit to Pere Marquette State Park along the Illinois River is another great winter activity in our part of Southwestern Illinois.

Named after the French Jesuit missionary -- Pere Jacques Marquette who traveled down the Mississippi with mapmaker Louis Joliet in 1673 to look for a passage to the Pacific Ocean -- the lodge was built as part of the government's Civilian Conservation Corps projects in the 1930s.

Its massive wooden beams and gorgeous native stonework are a delight for lodge design lovers.

Surrounding the structure are 8,000 acres of beautiful, forested land rolling with hiking trails and a driving route that climbs high over the lodge.

You can visit for the day or stay overnight in the lodge's hotel rooms or in one of 22 individual cabins. (If you're planning a weekend visit, make reservations early.)

Hearty types can stay in the campground. (Just so you know, my idea of camping is a hotel without room service, so I can't attest to the quality of the grounds. However, I have it on good authority that the camp area is both lovely and clean.)

The lodge offers a grand Sunday Brunch or meals off the menu throughout the week.

A massive stone fireplace is the focal point of the lobby and a huge chess set invites visitors to stage a battle of wits on the lodge's stone floor.

Those looking for modern amenities will enjoy the lodge's pool or a variety of board games offered for free in the lobby. A stone patio faces the Illinois River. Bundle up and it's a wonderful place to watch a vibrant winter sunset like the one on this page.

To get to Pere Marquette, head north from Alton along the Great River Road. Continue through historic Elsah and Grafton. North of Grafton, the Illinois River joins the Mississippi and flows in front of the lodge's rolling lawn.

Whatever you choose to do with your free time this winter, I hope you'll take time to get out and enjoy this beautiful region.

Winter can be unexpectedly beautiful in Illinois.