Baseball and Boats

DAY 5 ~ Our Great River Road Adventure

Heading north on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, we stumbled upon the delightful town of Galena.  Ulysses S. Grant once lived here; a statue of his wife Julia Grant stands on knoll in front of their house.

Home of U.S. Grant in Galena, IL

The main street is a hidden gem.  From the south side of the Galena River, one cannot see the many business that line this street.  It must have been a half mile or more of storefronts.  The stately red brick former high school building sits high atop a hillside.

Galena, IL

We had followed Lola’s GPS directions that led us down a couple of gravel roads and through (yet another) cornfield when we had that de je vu feeling: we had arrived at the Field of Dreams.  Manicured and looking just like it did in the movie, the field, the house and the cornfield were fun to see. The baseball coach loved it!  Of course, he threw some batting practice for a kid who was there sightseeing, too.  We watched as family after family arrived, with little boys grabbing their bats and gloves and heading to the field for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  A really neat place! 

From there, we continued northward on the Iowa side to Guttenburg.  An overlook just before town offered a breathtaking midday view of the river, a roadside honey stand, and a lunch suggestion.  Our lunch at The Picket Fence Café included the freshly made, hand-picked-from-the-yard cherry pie. 

Overlook south of Guttenburg, IA

While in Guttenburg, we had the fortune to see a barge going through Lock No. 10.  So interesting to see!

A barge waiting to go through Lock #10 at Guttenburg, IA

We are easily entertained!

Too late for sunset, but we captured these few scenes from Lookout Point:

 

Twain, Deere and AA

DAY 4 ~ Our Great River Road Adventure

We criss-crossed the river throughout the day, catching the best sights of both the east and west sides.

First stop: Hannibal, Missouri. We stepped back in time as we walked through the streets of Hannibal.  This town pays homage to its most famous citizen, riverboat pilot Samuel Clemens, who penned some of America’s best literature as Mark Twain.  We chose not to dally here long, for there were more miles to travel and more sights to see before day’s end.

Becky & John whitewashing Tom's fences

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Riverside in Hannibal, MO

Moving northward, we were surrounded by cornfields much of the day.  Unlike South Georgia fields, very few of these Illinois fields had pivot irrigation systems (maybe, we saw a half dozen in the span of a couple hundred miles). 

Around lunchtime, we spotted the perfect picnic site with a walking trail surrounding a pond on the campus of Memorial Hospital in Carthage, Illinois.  A flock of geese swam slowly by while we ate and stretched our legs from our morning’s journey.

Getting the lunchtime spread ready

From there, we drove to the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois.  This downtown museum showcases the company’s history and some of its equipment.  A great stop!

John & Becky at the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, IL

A few miles up the road we arrived in LeClaire, Iowa, home of Antique Archaeology.  We had been excited to visit since we’d seen the television show, American Pickers.  However, the lack of accessible parking for our two rigs was a problem.  So, while the men made the block, Becky & I ran through the shop.  A big disappointment; it was a souvenir shop for the show, not an antique store.  The antiques were used for staging.  Oh, well.

We set up our campers at Mississippi Palisades State Park, a few miles north of Savanna, Illinois, and drove back into town for dinner.  John spotted Frank Fitz’s Finds, a combination bar and antique store.  This is what we had expected to find at Antique Archaeology.  Some interesting pieces:  the dashboard of a car, several oilers in graduated sizes, a Santa – just like the one John has from our grandmother, motorcycles, signs . . . . 

 A drive through the park landed us on top of a cliff overlooking the river just as the last of the daylight was disappearing.  What a beautiful sight!  We couldn’t have asked for a better end this day.

Last light from Lookout Point at Mississippi Palisades State Park