3 minute read
Day Trip
story by Vicki Wood The German Dreamland Palace
Dreamland German Restaurant on Facebook
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Waterloo, Illinois is a mere three hours from Lake of the Ozarks. The charming town hosts a restaurant worthy of a day trip.
Alte Dreamland Palace German Restaurant is as enchanting as it sounds. The menu hints at the German heritage found in the Waterloo area. It’s a township rich in German ancestry.
Jagerschitzel leads the Dreamland Palace menu, with Rouladen and Sauerbraten also made in-house fresh daily. Hassenpfeffer is an authentic Bavarian dish of rabbit that is not easily found anywhere else. Potato pancakes and applesauce and spätzle are side dishes offered. Spätzle is a German noodle pressed through a slotted spoon, or specialized instrument into a boiling rich broth. Customers rave about the huge glasses of Hefeweizen on draft at Alte Dreamland Palace but the local favorite is Paulaner Dubbel Bock, which is a medium strong brew with a hint of floral. The entire counties east of the Mississippi are crazy about their Paulaner. The German atmosphere of the great hall style restaurant welcomes visitors from a warm and friendly staff. If you are looking for sausage, Dreamland Restaurant has it! Bratwurst, Knockwurst, Mettwurst, and Polish Sausage are all on the menu.
Most entrees are under $15, with half the menu priced around $10.
The first night visiting Belleville, Illinois, a stranger tells of the magical restaurant hiding out in the countryside 20 minutes from Belleville, home to the Midwest’s second largest Christmas market, Christkindlmarkt. The entire Mississippi River region is all about nostalgia and heritage. French and German lineage is shared. Belleville claims sister city status with Paderborn, Germany. Just a short drive is Foster Pond Village, home to the Dreamland Palace.
Dreamland Palace dates to the 1870s when the original building served as a way stop to the Mississippi River for travelers. The valley the restaurant sits in is called Foster Pond Village. It is a Little Germany tucked away in the Western Illinois Rhineland. A folksy venue of old-world specialties, the building itself is of the German beer hall style. It originally served as a store, dance hall, and stagecoach stop. Sitting on the historic Illinois Route 156, Foster Pond Village is an unincorporated community located 6 miles from the cliffs of the Mississippi River.
Place of interest in Monroe County when visiting Dreamland Restaurant:
• The cemetery was built by Stephen W. Miles south of Dug Hollow on the summit of the Mississippi River bluff. It is handsomely constructed of stone and marble and contains 64 receptacles for generations to follow. It is a work of art and is visited by many sight-seekers. The inscription shows that it was erected in 1858 by Stephen W. Miles to be used as a burial place for himself, his family and descendants, under the care and direction, in succession, of the oldest male heir of the family. Stephen W. Miles died on December 31, 1859 (Eagle CliffMiles cemetery). • Renault Precinct occupies the lower portion of Monroe County and got its name from Philip Francois Renault, a native of Picardy, France. He came to Kaskaskia in 1719 and introduced the first slaves into Illinois for the purpose of working them in the mines that they were expecting to work in the Bluffs. He received a grant of land and established a town which was known as St. Philips.
For the accommodation of the people, a water mill was erected and next, a church was built. This town has since passed out of existence. It was eight miles north of Fort Charters. The grant was received by Renault on June 14, 1723. He now sailed up the Mississippi and received a large grant of land since known as the Renault Grant, which is north of Renault. Renault Precinct is one of the largest in the county. The elections are held in Renault (1916). Renault contains some of the very best farm land in the state. It is drained on the southwest by the Mississippi River and on the east by Horse Creek. Its history dates farther back than any other in the county. It is mainly inhabited by a farming population.
