Elgin to Galena
We didn’t hang around in Elgin long: we got straight on the road, looking out for a place to eat. It was brunch time by the time we passed one, and brunch we had. While we ate, yet another thunderstorm passed over. The locals were glad to see it: they’ve been suffering through a drought.
We proceeded through Rockford and Freeport, spending a little time retracing our path to get back on track after missing a turning.
Rockford has a drive through usurer.
After that, it was lots of road, progressively getting prettier and hillier as we approached Northwest Illinois.
We pulled up to appreciate the view from Terrapin Ridge, just West of the beautiful towns of Stockton, Woodbine and Elizabeth. The county sheriff pulled up behind us — it turned out he was just concerned that we’d broken down. How considerate.
Shortly afterwards, we came upon a viewing tower. As promised, we could see for miles, and it was spectacular.
We proceeded to our stop for the night, Galena, a few miles before we would have crossed into Iowa.
We checked into the Grant Hills motel, and spent an hour or so cooling down. That was a waste of time, since we heated up within minutes of leaving the room again. We drove the five minutes or so to the car park, near the old railway depot, and walked the few minutes to the downtown area through the park and over a footbridge across the river Galena.
It seemed very quiet, although it livened up a little when we found the right end of Main Street. Galena’s architecture has been preserved for us tourists, since its industrial riverboat livelihood collapsed when the railways were built. As a result it’s a very attractive and pleasant town, spoiled only by too many gift shops.
It also has the least wooden log cabin I have ever seen.
We ate at Perry’s Tiki Bar and Restaurant. It was good food. For once I felt that my jerk chicken salad was a sensible portion — but then it occurred to me that I would never consider serving one person with two chicken breasts if I was cooking at home. Oh well.
The tiki atmosphere needed work: I’m no expert on tiki (it’s an American thing) but I have been to Graceland… I felt Perry’s Tiki Bar needed more clutter. I got the impression that the decor was a work in progress, so maybe the clutter is gradually building up. Easter Island heads were required too.
On the way back to the car, we spotted an Alaskan car license plate. I sense a new game coming on.
We found a gas station that sold beer, and bought some to take back to our room. To Debbie’s delight, we got ID’d for the first time in the holiday.
Our motel has horseshoe pits. It was too hot to play, but we examine them for construction tips. We have unused regulation weight horseshoes at home.
TV: "So You Think You Can Dance": Nigel Lythgoe does Pop Idol with dancing. It’s at the funny first auditions stage, where you get to laugh at incompetent people hurling themselves around stage.
July 27th, 2005 at 8:38 pm
Very interesting to read a traveler’s impressions of this area. So sorry you got locked out of your hotel room. I think that the reason Galena lost its status as a riverboat town was not due to the railroads, but because the Fever river silted in - can’t hardly believe that little creek used to be an actual steamboat navigable river! It’s good that you were able to take the time to see some of the highlights of Dubuque, which is a truly gorgeous city. Good luck on the rest of your journey!
August 9th, 2005 at 8:07 am
I suspect the river silted up because the city stopped dredging it!