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Jill and I had such a good time seeing and riding the Fenelon Place Elevator. We learned that about 1882, a Mr. J.K. Graves [a wealthy former mayor and State Senator] lived in Dubuque on top of the bluffs. However, he worked at the bottom of the bluffs. At that time, everyone had one and a half hours for lunch. He hated spending so much time getting to and from his home. A world traveler, Mr. Graves had seen incline railways in Europe and thought that it would be a great idea to build a cable car. His private cable car was modeled after those in the Alps.
After his original cable car burned down, he had it rebuilt; this time [1893], he opened it to the public and charged 5 cents a ride. Unfortunately, the cable burned again. He did not rebuild; however his neighbors [10 of them] formed the Fenelon Place Elevator Company and used a streetcar motor to run the elevator and used steel cable for the cars. They reconstructed it so that two [funicular] could be operated at the same time.
It was rebuilt in 1977 with a modern gear box and a DC motor. The cable car that we rode is of that era. And the scene of the Mississippi River and the city of Dubuque is excellent. They say that on super clear days, you can see three states: Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
The Elevator is open from April 1 through November 30, 8:00 a.m.-10 p.m.
Rates [You pay at the top; you use the rope to ring the bell when you wish to go up]
Adults $1.00 or $2.00 round trip
Children .50 or $1.00 round trip
Bike and rider $1.50
Children under five go for FREE Leave a Comment
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 Paddle Wheel Plaza near
entrance to the Museum by deecat, 4 more photos
You are able to experience a trip down the Mississippi River via wide screen in the Journey Theater. The film is called "Mississippi Journey".
There are artifacts about the Native American cultures, a simulated piloting of a towboat [National Rivers Hall of Fame), five big river aquariums, see "critters" that inhabit the Mississippi and its areas, and many living history demonstrations.
My favorite inside the museum was called Catfish Planet [which was new in 2006]. There were over 100 species of catfishes. We walked through a 22 foot long catfish and learned about its insides as well as its outside. There are also interactive exhibits and a multi-media presentation.
In the Wetland, there is a Native American wikiup, a working boatshop, and a trader's cabin. There are suposed to be bald eagles and blue heron, but we did not see them.
You can also tour the steamboat William M. Black and the towboat Logsdon
There is a Depot Cafe, but it does not open until Memorial Day; thus, we could not visit it.
Prices:
Adults......................................$9.95
Seniors [65+]..........................$8.95
Youth [7-17]............................$7.50
Children [3-6]..........................$4.00
Hours:
Memorial Day Weekend-Labor Day..........10:00am-6:00pm Daily
Labor Day-Memorial Day Weekend..........10:00am-5:00pm Daily Leave a Comment Address: 350 East 3rd St., Port of Dubuque, Dubuque, IowaPhone: (563)557-9545 or (800) 226-3369Website: www.rivermuseum.com
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Muscatine, Iowa, is a "must see" river town. Muscatine has about 24,000 people who live between 2 river bluffs along the Mississippi. The area is spread out; however, we concentrated on the historic downtown district.
While in this lovely community, we discovered that Mark Twain was a one-time Muscatine resident, & he wrote, "I remember Muscatine for its sunsets. I have never seen any on either side of the ocean that equaled them."
No other place has the name of Muscatine. Most people believe that the town was named after a small band of Indians who lived in the area during the early 1800's, the Mascoutins.
Muscatine has been a center for the European fur-trading industry; then the lumber industry, &, of course, the button industry (made from the mussel shells fished from the Mississippi River.
Companies of note that still make Muscatine their home are: H.J. Heinz Company {vinegar, gravy, & ketchup]; IPSCO [leading producer of steel plate & pipe}; Monsanto [Herbicides]; & Musco {sports-lighting technology]' among many others.
While in the town & surrounding area, I would suggest that you see:
1. Muscatine Art Center {Laura Musser Mansion & Stanley Art Gallery]
2. Muscatine History & Industry Center , formerly the Button Museum{it preserves the button industry history]
3. Pine Creek Grist Mill/Melpine Schoolhouse/Wildcat Den State Park [see tips about these on my Muscatine pages}
4. Musser Public Library/Oscar Grossheim Collection [50,000 glass plate negatives from turn of the century]
5. Great River Road [Charles Young, a native of Muscatine, devoted much of his life to the creation of the Great River Road & it was his design for the Great River Road's green & white signs which bear the pilot's wheel ]
6. Pearl Plaza [shopping & restaurants right in the heart of this historic district]
7. Lock & Dam 16
8. Muscatine County Courthouse
9. Mississippi Harvest Sculpture
Muscatine is a River City you won't soon forget. Leave a Comment
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We wanted to learn more about The Old Order Amish & the Mennonites as well as explore the Kalona Historical Village, so off we drove to this small town that is just 15 miles southwest of Iowa City.
Don't miss the Kalona Historical Village on Highway 22. It's a great example of how united this community really is. It started with the Historical Society's push to save the town's Depot & grew into a 2-block-long area. By 1973, the former Rock Island Railroad Depot was entirely restored & 2 other historic buildings & 2 museums were opened to the public.
It then became a joint effort of the Kalona Historical Society & the much older Mennonite Historical Society. The Mennonite Museum & Historical Archives were erected. The Historical Society opened the Wahl Museum with the Kalona Quilt & Textile Museum & the Reif Mineral Museum & gift shop.. Jill & I visited all of these, & you can learn more when I do my Kalona pages.
By the middle 1980s, the Society obtained the Grout Church, a line shaft mill, the Richmond Post Office, a one-room schoolhouse, & a pioneer log house.
Today, the Kalona area is home to one of the largest Old Order Amish-Mennonite settlements west of the Mississippi River.
What is obvious in Kalona is that the presence of the Amish-Mennonite traditions has been partly responsible for much of this town's conservatism & stability.
Don't confuse the Kalona Amish with the residents of Amana Colonies. "There is no connection between the two" say the tour guides. Both have German ancestry & are quite religious. Do not take photographs of the Kalona Amish because personal photographs have been "interpreted as a form of idolatry"...
There's more to Kalona than the Amish-Mennonites such as great places to eat, shop, & view the beautiful countryside.
Photographs:
1. Street scene of quaint Kalona.
2. Kalona Chamber of Commerse
3. Kalona Cheese Factory
4. Famous Kalona Quilts
5. Kalona Historical Village Sign Leave a Comment Directions: 15 miles southwest of Iowa City
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 Bricktown Brewery [ by deecat
There are four floors of dining and entertainment:
The Blackwater Grill
Bricktown Brewery
Fat Kat Pizza Pub
Underground Sports Bar & Nightclub
Bricktown Banquet & Reception
The Blackwater Grill is Dubuque's only brewpub restaurant. It's located on the main level. Besides the hand crafted brews, they offer steaks, pastas, burgers, other sandwiches, and seafood. In addition, on Friday nights has live music with no cover charge from 9:00 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Fat Kat Pizza Pub offers fresh brewed beer and fresh brewed rootbeer. They have specialty, traditional, and "Fat Kat Deep Dish" pizzas. Also, they have GIANT baked sandwiches, buffalo wings, and fried chicken. They are located in the lower level of Bricktown. They also deliver to local hotels and area business. Evidently, children are also welcome here.
In the Dubuque Underground Sports Bar has 25 televisions for watching sport's events. They also feature a DJ and a dance floor. They are susposed to have the "best buffalo wings in the area". Live on Main comedy night each Wednesday begins at 9:00 p.m. on the second floor of the complex.
The Bricktown Brewery makes hand crafted beer in the restaurant. The beer selections change each month. They also have seasonal brews. Leave a Comment
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 From Brochure: The Ryan House by deecat
The way this works is you make a reservation for the tour and you will then have a five-course meal while you progress through the city. In addition, you will hear many interesting tales about events and families in the 19th century.
This tour includes stops at the Mathias Ham House Historic Site, the Redstone Inn, the Ryan House, and Mandolin Inn. They also usually make another stop at the Old Jail Museum of Dubuque. At one stop, you will have wines; then you will move on for appetizers; at another stop, you will experience the main course meal; at the last stop, you will have dessert.
The tour includes what they call Themed Entertainment It's really like a play where William "Hog" Ryan and his wife Catherine serve up "a slice of Victorian life" in the form of a vignette called "For C' Ryan Out Loud."
To make either individual or group reservations, you must contact:
Dubuque Guide Service
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium
350 East 3rd Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
See phone number below
"The profit from this tour is used to support the restoration of the properties and the educational mission of the Dubuque County Historical Society." Leave a Comment Phone: 563.557.9545, ext. 214 and 800.2Website: info@rivermuseum.com
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 Beginning of Cable Car Square by deecat
It is filled with darling little one-of-a-kind shops, the Fenelon Place Elevator, and The Cotton Cabin Quilt Shop.
As the previous tip indicates, we did ride on the Fenelon Place Elevator, which was great fun and historic as well. In addition, we visited many of the shops and marveled at the wonderful architecture.
Cable Car Square is quite well known, enough for tour buses to visit! Bus parking is on the south side of 4th street between Bluff and Locust. Public parking is located on 5th and Bluff
There are many annual events that take place here:
Christmas Candle Walk [Friday evening after Thanksgiving]
Cable Car Square Open House [1st weekend in November]
Tri-states Largest Chili Cookoff [1st weekend in October]
Riverfest [2nd week in September]
Cable Car Flag Day Celebration Sale [4th weekend in July]
Dubuquefest [3rd week in May] And this is the one that we attended
I have done individual tips about these places in Cable Car Square:
Fenelon Place Elevator [512 Fenelon Place]
Gotta Have It Store [315 Bluff Street]
Pixie Stix Children's Store [425 Bluff Street]
Willows Store [471 West 4th Street]
There are 18 more places in the square to visit. Leave a Comment Address: 4th and Bluff, Dubuque, IowaPhone: 5630582-0800Website: info@cottoncabinquilts.com Other Contact: www.dbq.com/cablecar/index.html
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Amana Colonies, one of Iowa's most popular destinations, are actually seven historic German villages founded as a religious commune in the mid-1800's. As a collection of seven, they have been named a National Historic Landmark. Their goal is to preserve their crafts and culture while offering tourist a variety of activities. The Seven are:
a. Homestead
b. South Amana
c. West Amana
d. High Amana
e. Middle Amana
f. Amana
g. East Amana
Here in the Amana Colonies there are many things to do such as:
Take a three-mile trail, play golf on a scenic course, eat a hearty family-style meal, purchase antiques, check out the hand-woven baskets, furniture and clocks, taste and perhaps purchase the locally made wine and beer, bring home some home-made jams, jellies, and preserves, or just unwind in one of the many quaint bed-and-breakfasts.
But, the very first thing to do is to go to the Amana Colonies Convention and Visitors Bureau that is located in a newly-restored corn crib on the Main "drag" in Amana, Iowa, 52203. It's one of the best organized information centers that I've seen. I was impressed with the board that displayed all the different Bed & Breakfasts with photographs, telephone #'s and addresses. They also had a wall with all the restaurants and their menus, which was quite helpful for us.
Open: 10-5 Monday through Saturday
11-4 Sunday
We spent most of our time in the colony of Amana. We shopped, ate lunch, and had a mid-afternoon snack there. We drove to all the other colonies, and stopped at a few places; however, the bulk of our time and interest was at Amana. Leave a Comment Address: Visitor's Center:622 46th Ave., Amana, IowaPhone: 319-622-76-22 or 800-579-2294Directions: Just off-80Website: www.amanacolonies.com
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Bellevue is bordered by the mighty Mississippi, & its name means "Beautiful View", which is literally true. It certainly has natural beauty with the Mississippi River as its front door & several State Parks & Reserves that surround it.
Bellevue was the first settlement in Jackson County, & it is the oldest city in this county as well as one of the five oldest cities in Iowa. Such historic attractions as The George Dyas House & William Dyas Barn, Dyas Hexagonal Barn on 362nd Avenue are places to see.
Although we did not see it on this trip, we were told not to miss Mont Rest [1893], a beautiful home "nestled halfway up a 9 acre wooded bluff overlooking one of the most panoramic views of the mighty Mississippi River." (300 Spring Street; (563) 872-4220).
The Grant Wood Scenic Byway [East End} goes through Bellevue to & through several other small towns, including Maquoketa, Anamosa, & Stone City.
Bellevue has a golf course north of town, & the county has over 8,000 acres of federal, state, & county parks. We stopped in to see the best known of their parks: Bellevue State Park, which has overlooks, bluffs, & an old Indian Mound. It also has a butterfly garden. It was designed specifically to attract butterflies by providing necta plants. It's used as a teaching & research resource.
Iowa's oldest standing frame flour mill is located here on the southerbn border, & we visited it. (see individual tip).
Photographs:
1. A Riverfront Park that we enjoyed visiting.
2. A Memorial dedicated to the armed forces of our county that was done by the American Legion. One of the quotes on it reads, "Day is done, gone the sun. From the lake, from the hill, from the sky, all is well. Safely rest, God is nigh".
3. Bellevue's Lock and Dam #12. We saw a huge tug boat & barge pass through the locks.
4. We visited the Butterfly Garden in the State Park.
5. Photo of one of the corner buildings in the town of Bellevue to show the architecture. Leave a Comment Directions: Route 52 along the Mississippi River
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 Dubuque Convention & Visitors
Bureau by deecat
Besides receiving a free Spy map of Dubuque [a map with pictures as well as street markings of all the important places to visit], we also gained valuable knowledge about the Dubuque Fest, places to eat, musical events, art activities, and the Old House Enthusiasts Tour location. We also purchased our ticket [$10.00] to tour six preservation homes.
We were also given a discount book that contained several useful discounts for what we had planned to do while in Dubuque.
The woman who assisted us [As seen in the photograph]was very friendly, quite informative, and very patient concerning our multitude of questions. She marked our map step-by-step to make it easier to find our many destinations.
Thus, my suggestion is to be sure to visit the Dubuque Convention & Visitors Bureau before you begin your exploration of Dubuque. Leave a Comment Address: 300 Main St., Suite 200, Dubuque, IA 52001Phone: 563.556.4372 or 800.798.8844Website: www.traveldubuque.com Other Contact: Mail: P.O. Box 705, Dubuque, IA
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