Carlinville (pop. ~5,700) is a walkable, small-city county seat with a lively courthouse square, Blackburn College energy, a unique collection of Sears mail-order homes and Old Route 66 character—ideal for multi-week contracts if you want peaceful evenings, local cafés, parks and community events rather than a soulless hotel stint.
For weekend variety, Springfield is about 50 miles away and St. Louis roughly 60–62 miles—both within an hour’s drive for larger museums, dining, shopping and airport access.