Getaway to Galena

Dave had the brilliant idea to book a trip to Galena for a recent three-day weekend he had. I took last Friday off, and we headed to the northwest corner of our state for a getaway. It is such a different world out there--no strip malls in sight, hills and winding roads, and a downtown filled with shops and restaurants. We loved being able to leave the car at the hotel and walk up and down Main Street. It was a great place to take a break from the hustle and bustle of life in the suburbs. In fact, we experienced some culture shock when we found ourselves in Chicago traffic upon our return. Yes, there are conveniences of suburban life that I love, but sometimes I long for the wide, open spaces.

I've lived in the midst of farm fields before, but I've never seen rolling hills of farmland as far as the eye can see. I wish I could have captured the dizzying heights we found ourselves at as we drove to Galena. I could only imagine how much more incredible the mountains in the West are.


A picture of our inn. Our suite was just a bit smaller than our apartment and decorated in Victorian style. It was the prettiest room I've ever stayed in.

Galena tends to have high-end restaurants, but we found one that suited our casual tastes. Durty Gurt's had the most delicious, most unhealthy food I've ever tasted.

Kandy Kitchen was a fun find on Main Street. We found it just before closing time on Friday night and filled our bags with candy for the weekend. We also picked up some caramel corn. Yum!

Everyone warned us about the stairs in Galena, but because our inn was on nice, level Main Street, we didn't have to navigate any. However, we made the choice to trek up the highest set of steps we could find for our Saturday morning workout, and what a workout it was! There were points I didn't think I could lift my leg to the next step! But we made it and enjoyed the view from the top.

Ulysses S. Grant, once-president of the United States, had a home in Galena before he was elected. It was fun to learn some new things about him while we were on the tour.

Neither Dave nor I had been to Iowa before our trip, but we decided to make the 20-minute drive to visit Dubuque. After getting lost in the maze of one-way streets in the downtown district in search of the visitors' center, we made our way to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. Among the animals we saw there was this giant catfish.
All in all, it was a lovely trip. We actually found ourselves bored at points and ended up walking through Walmart on Saturday afternoon to spend our time before dinner. Yes, that's how small this town was--the most exciting thing to do after exploring the shops on Main Street was to walk the aisles of Walmart Supercenter. I enjoyed the slower pace and have really missed it this week as we've jumped back into our busy routine. Too bad we can't make a trip out to Galena every weekend.