Road Trip- 34th Anniversary- Part 2 Floods, Elizabeth, Dubuque, East Dubuque

We left this past Wednesday and encountered water over the road on Queen Anne Road as we were trying to bypass Woodstock. A short time later, there was another fording situation on Illinois Highway 176 east of Marengo.

We got on US-20 at Marengo and took it the rest of the way to Dubuque, Iowa. US-20 is one of my favorite highways, along with US-12, US-66, the National Road, and US-50. We stopped at a new visitors center east of Freeport. This is a very good one with lots of info and a good place to stretch.

US-20 is one of the most beautiful drives in the US between Stockton and Dubuque. If you think of Illinois as being flat, this will surely change your mind. The road follows the ridge line with great vistas off to the sides.

Elizabeth is a quaint little town. Then there's Galena, the town that history forgot. We went on past it as we'll be there tomorrow. The rains that have assaulted the Midwest caught up with us here and the twenty mile drive to Dubuque was done in a nearly blinding torrential downpour, just what we really needed.

In Dubuque, we went to the west end and played NTN at BW3 and then went to Paul's Tavern with all those stuffed animal heads.

We went to East Dubuque and checked into the Swiss Inn, a mom and pop place with rooms at around $50. They have food, but the oven was broken, so we drove to downtown East Dubuque and had one of the best roast beef sandwiches I've ever had at George and Dale's.

Day Two- Thursday- We took a ride out to the Lock and Dam in Dubuque. We go here every winter to see the bald eagles. None around here today, but the Mississippi was high and full of algae. Drove up to Eagle Point Park which has magnificent views of the Mississippi.

Spent $10 apiece to go into the National Mississippi Museum and Aquarium at Ice Harbor, and it was worth every bit of it. We particularly enjoyed watching the river otters and turtles. If there is any animal on earth that has more fun than an otter, I'd sure like to know.

Drove to the Ramada Inn west of Galena and checked in. This is on the site of the old Palace Motel, where we went on our honeymoon. We then went downtown in Galena and checked out some stores and had cocktails at the American Legion before dinner at the Log Cabin, dating from 1935. We ate here on the Sunday after we were married, and it has been a tradition ever since.

Stopped at the Keg and Cask and bought a bottle of Blue Nun wine. Liz's dad, Ambrose, gave us a small bottle to drink once we got out to Galena, and that has been a tradition all these 34 years. We had it out on the Ramada's deck and watched a toad going after the many crickets. OK, so we were hard up for entertainment.

To Be Continued. --RoadDog