Welcome to the ‘Hub City,’ which is questionable on at least one front given that the population is just a smidge under 10,000, which is proof positive that this location is less a city and more of a town by anyone’s definition. Is it a hub? Well, I think you will find that at one point in time, it might have been, but these days, it’s just a bit of a ghost town. This said, if you do find yourself buzzing north-south up and down I39 through the center of north central Illinois and looking for a quiet, unnoticeable little jaunt to stop by and call home for the night, then you could do worse than the Pilot Travel Center#1181 that you’ll find here just west of Rochelle right off this major interstate.
As for this Pilot Travel specifically, while there’s no bespoke restaurant embedded into its retail offering like many of the other Pilot Travels, you'll find they do have a small kitchen on the premises that was serving up hand-rolled pizza along with freshly made sandwiches and salads when we blew by, along with a fairly decent (for a glorified gas station) breakfast that wasn’t half bad. There’s a total of 8 fuel lanes, 78 public parking spaces as well as 18 reserved for ‘prime parking,’ which means you can reserve ahead of time and pay a small nightly fee of $17 to hold a spot for you, which given the desolate area you find yourself in isn’t really necessary to do IMH. There’s also fairly spartan clean bathroom and shower facilities of which there are a total of 5 dedicated shower stalls. Apart from having all the gasoline and assorted varieties at your pumping pleasure, this location also offers the following: diesel lanes and mobile fueling, ATM, Cat Scale, check cashing, cylinder propane, DEF lanes, lottery, money orders, Pegasus, premium WiFi and truck parking spaces.
Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you are looking to stock up on groceries, while there is a PJ Fresh Marketplace here at the Pilot Travel Center, it is meager, so head due west of this location driving towards Rochelle to the nearby Walmart, Aldi’s, Walgreen’s or Dollar Tree that should have you pretty much covered on just about any front; (2) Should you be on the look-out for meat for your evening grill, THE BEST BUTCHER I have ever been to (and I’ve been to quite a number) is located nearby, due east of this location where you’ll find Headon’s Fine Meats – and even if you’re not looking for meat, this humble local store will blow you away with its deli, wide assortment of esoteric wines and micro-brewed beers as well as a number of other groceries you will end up buying despite not needing in the first place; (3) If sitting down and grabbing some grub is on the agenda, unless you have been ‘jonesing’ for some really great food at the kitchen counter here at the Pilot Travel Center or the nearby Denny’s, then when you are over in Creston picking from the fine selection of red and white cuts of meat, head over to nearby Moose Knuckle Bar & Grill which serves up Midwestern comfort food the right way. Beyond this, you’ll have to head towards Rochelle where you’ll find: Hub City Express, Iron Skillet, Wendy’s, Subway, Dan’s Big Slice of Pizza, McDonald’s and Culver’s to name but a few; and (4) Looking for a slice of nature while in these parts? Just head due west to Dixon (that’s right, the home of Ronald Reagan) where you can follow the Rock River up north towards Oregon. This bit of land is chalk full of amazing hiking, simply fantastic canoeing / kayaking as well as some decent rappelling as it’s over in these parts that the flat land of Illinois actually shows some promise by showing off the many dells, valleys and steep cliffs that exist in this little-known patch.
While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience (EZ on- and off-access), safety & security, quality (of facilities), peace & quiet and amenities (either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot:
Convenience: 4
Safety & Security: 5
Quality: 4
Peace& Quiet: 4
Amenities: 3
Overall, I scored this location a 4.
Happy Overnighting!
