How would you like to wake to see that crawling in your bed? (No, that didn’t happen). However, I could have strapped one of these millipedes to the bottom of each foot and let them walk me around Maquoketa State Park.

General Sherman: “Well Grant, we’ve had the devil’s own day, haven’t we?”

General Grant: “Lick em tomorrow though”

-Sherman and Grant after the disastrous first day at the Battle of Shiloh

Galena is one of America’s most beautiful small cities. Somehow it has escaped America’s insatiable urge to tear down what is old. The traditional federalist-style architecture has not only persisted but has flourished through refurbishment, restoration, and maintenance, proving that what is old continues to be valuable. Built on a cliff side overlooking the Galena River, the town’s topography develops strong legs and healthy lungs. Walking the town is an exercise in exercise.

Galena’s downtown is not just vibrant, it is the model that every city in America should have embraced. I have seen a few towns follow this formula. Deadwood, South Dakota; Sante Fe, New Mexico; Bayfield, Wisconsin; Mineral Point, Wisconsin, just name a few. By steadfastly retaining its original beautiful roots, these towns have thrived.

Being a city that has adopted Civil War hero, General U.S. Grant, as its homeboy has given Galena the excuse to entomb itself in a time-bubble. But who cares why it preserved itself. The fact that it did, and did so wildly successfully, is testament to the power of history.

We walked up and down every downtown street, ate breakfast, and gawked at every store. Galena is a photographer’s heaven and I admit that I got carried away. I wouldn’t have been the first.

The Galena River is kind of interesting. It didn’t seem to follow the preservation script. It is just a trickle. Yet, with Galena having a history of being a steamboat town, it was a lot bigger back in the mid 1800s. I read that in 1841, the Galena River was over 200 feet wide at Galena. However, after a lock and dam was built somewhere down river, the Galena just silted up, and is a shadow of its old self. It can’t be more that 30 feet across now. A steamboat would have walk upriver these days. Progress does have consequences.

On our way out of town, we stumbled across a taco truck. We couldn’t pass it up. We split a delicious fat burrito. The taco truck was affiliated with the Mexican restaurant, Adobos Grill, in Dubuque, which we later saw in downtown Dubuque.

The police department was formed in 1826.

The DeSoto Hotel is where Grant announced his bid for the Presidency in 1868. His name, Hiram Ulysses Grant, evolved into Ulysses Simpson Grant when the Congressman that referred Grant to West Point mistakenly submitted Grant’s wrong name. At West Point he was know as Ulysses S. Grant which was quickly shorted to just Sam. Later, when made a general, he went by the name General U.S. Grant. When Grant gave no conditions to the surrendering confederate forces at Fort Donelson, he was then known as Unconditional Surrender Grant.

Being built on on a bluff, the backs of stores are made into multi-story apartments that go down instead of up.

The Galena River. It is hard to envision riverboats plying up and down this puny creek. But, in the mid-1800s the river was some 200’ wide and docked many steamers.

P.T. Murphy performs nightly magic shows at $30 a head. We almost went.

Galena’s fire department.

The taco truck that we stumbled onto on our way out of town.

Maquoketa State Park, with its 18 caves, is one of our favorite parks. It is located about 30 miles from Galena. It made for the perfect juxtaposition - hiking in the wild park after hiking in tame downtown Galina. Out of the 18 caves at the park, some are just belly-crawlers. Dancehall Cave, however, is the grand-daddy of them all. It is formed by the Maquoketa River choosing to flow through a giant rocky hill rather than around it. The river tunneled out a dramatic 1/4 mile shaft. Visitors can walk the entire way, going in and coming out on both sides. We hiked nearly all of the miles of trails, stairways, and caves up and down thickly wooded hillsides. It was glorious.

Opening to Dancehall Cave, the biggest cave in the park. The cave is formed by the Maquoketa River flowing through it.

Maquoketa River flowing through Dancehall Cave.

We stopped in downtown Dubuque on the way back. After a full day, it was getting late so we couldn’t spend a lot of time in Dubuque. We did run across an outdoor block party. A side street was sectioned off and a two-person band was playing. A craft brewery, a whole-foods style restaurant, and an Asian restaurant sponsors this weekly Wednesday evening event.

A little farmers veggie stand was set up. The whole-foods restaurant sold deep-fried wings and homemade french fries. Tables and chairs were set up next to the craft brewery. I got a craft beer, Wanda got a cream soda made at the brewery, and we split a small order of wings and fries. The little band was so-so, the food was so-so, but the warm late afternoon sun and the drinks were terrific.

Downtown Dubuque is on the cusp of being cool. There are some wonderful old buildings, but a little seediness is creeping in around the edges. There are some loud and garish murals on buildings all over town. Sadly, we didn’t get time to shoot any photos as they were widely spread out, and we invested the little time we had into eating, drinking, and merriment.

Downtown Dubuque is on the river level. Much of the residential area is situated high above on a steep bluff. Getting up and down that bluff is aided by the Fenelon Place Elevator, also known as the 4th Street Elevator. This is a 300’ long funicular railroad track with a car that claws its way up the nearly 200’ bluff. It is advertized as the shortest and steepest railroad in the world. Shortest, maybe, but I beg to differ in regards to steepest. We rode the funicular railroads in Monserrat, Spain. I assure you, they were steeper. All quibbling aside, Dubuque’s funicular railroad, at $2 a ride, is fun little gift the city provides.

Fenelon Place Elevator.

We pulled back into camp after dark - we missed the grand sunset, but we made it just in time for the BNSF railroad to crash through the silence.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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