August 7, 2004

• Galena, part 2

  The Ulysses S. Grant home is actually on the opposite side of the river from most of the town of Galena. It’s a short walk across a footbridge, though, so we left our car parked in the visitor center parking and headed over to look around. The view from the bridge was charming.

  

  Like many river towns, Galena is built on bluffs that rise from river level. I was fascinated by the steps in this picture. They provide the most direct route to the homes on the street above the downtown area. Now I am sure residents commonly use cars to drive up there, but, in the heyday of Galena, the steps would have been the fastest and most direct route home from work. In the 1800′s, citizens of Galena must have been in great shape!

  

  Galena has many historic mansions, several of which are open for tours. This one was auctioned for back taxes in the early 1900′s and went for the magnificent sum of $3.00. Even back then, that was quite a bargain!

  

  Since Galena is no longer a significant shipping community, the residents have had to develop other industries, and tourism contributes significantly to the local economy. The downtown area was bustling when we were there. It was difficult to walk into many of the shops. Would you believe this is a town of 3000?

  

  Since the whole community is an antique, it makes sense that many shops feature them. Most, however, have the same line of collectibles found in all shops everywhere. That’s one thing I find disappointing when I travel. It’s so hard to find thngs that are unique to an area. There are some good candy and popcorn shops and several wonderful restaurants. We had lunch in a little espresso shop that had excellent pannini sandwiches. Dan and I swapped halves of ours. He had a veggie sandwich featuring eggplant and I had chicken. Both were delicious.

  Our hotel was the Holiday Inn Dubuque/Galena, which is in Dubuque, Iowa, across the Mississippi and thirteen miles from Galena. It’s an exceptionally nice Holiday Inn. When we returned to Dubuque, Dan wanted to ride the nearby trolley run by the Fenton Place Elevator Company. I am not comfortable with heights or with small enclosures, so the trolley looked a little intimidating to me. Here’s what I saw looking up at it as it decended to the boarding platform. Residents of Dubuque used these little trolley cars to go from downtown to their homes up on the bluff over a hundred years ago. Better than the steps in Galena????

  

  Here’s a view from above of a trolley making its ascent. Note how far away the boarding platform is and how small it looks from this height. Notice, also, the double track. These trolleys actually pass each other! The ride is slow and mostly smooth, though, so I just did not look down and managed to survive in good shape.

  

  Of course, high places do have the advantage of providing great vistas. Isn’t Dubuque Harbor lovely?

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  The Dubuque/Galena area is a perfect place for a weekend getaway. There is plenty to do, but the area is small enough that you can easily see and do everything you want in a couple of days. We had a great time!

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