Our 49th Wedding Anniversary-- Part 13: Heading Home on Our Last Anniversary

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2022

There was a still a clown hanging around this morning outside our room, only now wearing a bathrobe and later tourist clothes (but still with clown face painted on)  Not something you'd expect to see outside your door in the morning.  And, actually, a little bit unsettling.

Went to the Grant Hills Motel office for coffee and today's Dubuque newspaper.  The manager asked if we were going to stay another day, but Liz had already told me she wasn't feeling well and wanted to go home.  I told her that we didn't want to stay and she said that was alright as they still didn't have any room cancellations.

Read the newspaper outside and we headed for home at 10:30.  I had considered driving the Stagecoach Road on the way home, but Liz said she wasn't feeling well, so took the usual US-20 route.

Instead of going on the US-20 bypass around Freeport, we took Business US-20, the original US-20 through town. It sure seemed like we went a long way on it.

When we got home after a 353 mile drive for our anniversary, I cut the grass and then we went to Sunnyside and the McHenry American Legion.

Little did I know at the time, but this was to be my last anniversary with Liz and that we only had less than a month before her death.  Today, December 23, is the third month since she died.

Sure Going to be a Strange Christmas This Year.  --RoadDog

Our 49th Wedding Anniversary-- Part 9: A 'Great" Morning at a Mom and Pop Motel

Continued from November 13th.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022

Got my coffee from the office as well as a free copy of today's Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph-Herald.  The price of it is now $1.50 Monday to Saturday.  A little bit higher but definitely better than the Chicago tribune which is now $4 daily.  I will be cancelling my subscription, sadly, soon.  I love having a print paper in my hand, but not at $140 every two months.

Sat outside the room, had my coffee and read the paper.  Now that's good living to me.

The neighbors in Room 14 left for breakfast and a boat ride  in Dubuque, but will not be coming back to the motel.  Too bad, we sure had a nice conversation with them last night.  Those old Mom and Pop motels are very conducive to sitting outside your room and talking with fellow travelers, something you can't do in newer motels.

I watched some of "South Park," a really funny adult cartoon show which unfortunately attracts a lot of kids to watch it.  It is hilarious, but things they talk about and cursing should not be for kids.

--RoadDog

Our 49th Wedding Anniversary-- Part 4: Hanging Out and Going to Dubuque

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25

There were three motorcyclists who stayed at the Grant Hills Motel last night and we said hello as they passed by, but as cyclists often are, they only wanted to talk with each other.  Not with car folk like us.

I sat out by the pool and wrote in the journal.  The clouds were gone, sunshining and actually getting hot.  Cars, trucks, motorcycles and lots of SUVs going by on US-20 (the U.S. Grant Highway)  The U-Haul trucks are parked by the side of the pool.  The motel also rents them.

Liz and I drove to Dubuque, Iowa.  US-20 from Main Street in Galena all the way up the hill is really torn up with construction.  Galena High School is called the Pirates and they have the same dopey-looking logo as our Palatine High School Pirates.

Anyone who thinks Illinois is a flat state need only drive US-20 from Freeport to Dubuque to change their mind.  Passed the Swiss Inn in East Dubuque, Illinois.  We have stayed there often and like it especially because there is a bar attached to it.

We crossed the Mighty Mississippi on the bridge and were expecting to find cheaper gas prices in Iowa.  From the bridge there is quite a climb up a hill to get to the main store area of Dubuque on US-20.

--RoadDog

POINTS TO PONDER:  Why do you fill out a form by filling it in?

Our 49th Wedding Anniversary-- Part 3: Bringing It All Back

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25

We were married on this date 49 years ago.  The ceremony took place at the Newman Center in DeKalb right by the campus of Northern Illinois University where we both graduated.  The reception also took place in DeKalb at what was the Holiday Inn on Lincoln Highway (that Lincoln Highway, America's first transcontinental paved highway).  It is now still there and is a Red Roof Inn.  It is right across the street from one of out favorite places, Pizza Pros.

We sat outside for awhile and I went to the office for coffee and a Dubuque newspaper.  Yep, they still give guests a newspaper.  How quaint.

Forty-nine years ago, I woke up in our apartment in Des Plaines and Liz woke up at her parents' house in Palatine.  Then, we drove to DeKalb.

I didn't know Dubuque had three colleges: the University of Dubuque, Clarke College and one other one.  Plus, one of their parks is named Comsikey Park.

--RoadDog

POINTS TO PONDER:  How does a building burn up as it burns down?

Just Got Back From Our 45th Anniversary Trip

Liz and I just got back from a seven day trip out to the Mississippi River and back for our 45th wedding anniversary.  The trip covered seven days, 401 miles and three states.

We were married in DeKalb, Illinois, on August 25, 1973, and went to Galena, Illinois, for our honeymoon.

This trip was out to Galena for four days and to Dubuque, Iowa, for two days.

And, by coincidence, this year August 25 fell on a Saturday, the same day we were married.

We went to a lot of bars in Galena and stayed at the Grant Hills Motel, a mom and pop place.  Enjoyed sitting outside the room and talking with other  travelers, something you can't do in the new motels.

I also did a lot of history at the Washburne and U.S. Grant homes and the LST-325 World War II ship in Dubuque.

A Real Good Time.  --RoadDog

Just Got Back: 40th Anniversary-- Part 2: (August 27th) Dubuque and Galena

We had an excellent hot continental breakfast at the Best Western and sat out by the pool for awhile. Went looking for the Julien Dubuque Monument south of Dubuque off US-52, but couldn't find it, probably because of the road construction.

Then went to the Old Jail Museum and had a Coney dog at the Grand Tap, acriss from the court house, in an old gas station. Crossed the Mississippi on the bridge and went to Van's in East Dubuque. Checked into the Ramada Inn-Galena, on the site of the old mom and pop Palace Motel where we stayed on our honeymoon 40 years ago.

Then we went to downtown Galena, "The Town That History Forgot" as it is straight out of the 1840s. Went to the places east of te Log Cabin today, two that we'd never been to before.

First stop was at the Gold Room, then Durty Gurts and the Galena Brewing Company where we found that Red Stripe Beer, so closely associated with Jamaica, was originally made in Galena for a hundred years before being sold to some British investors in 1937 and taken to that island.

Back to the Ramada and enjoyed yesterday's lunch, the in-room gas fireplace and sat out on the patio and drank a bottle of Blue Nun wine, a tradition started by Liz's father back on August 25, 1973.

Doing That Memory Thing. --RoadDog

Ten Great Great Places to Live in 2013

From the July 25, 2013, Yahoo! Finance, Cost of Living.

These are cities based on affordability, good jobs and quality of schools.

10. DUBUQUE, IOWA, (We'll be there next week)
9. Anchorage, Alaska
8. ITHACA, NEW YORK

7. Morgantown, West Virginia
6. BILLINGS, MONTANA
5. Columbia, SC
4. SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO

3. Bryan/College Station, Tx
2. BURLINGTON, VERMONT
1. Little Rock, Arkansas

--RoadDog

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