Memorial Day River Cruise in Dubuque

 

Today Travalon and I got coffee downtown in Galena, and we shopped a tiny bit more. The coffee shop was right by the trolley depot.

They have a small war memorial in Galena.

Then we drove to visit the much larger war memorial in Dubuque.

They have a monument to just about every war America was involved in.

Then we took a lunch cruise on the Mississippi. We were the first passengers on the boat, so we sat up top, and from there we could see a coot swimming around.

A very congenial couple sat with us, and we talked through the whole cruise. Travalon and I also did some bird-watching. We saw this pelican standing on a sandbar.

Here are the old brewery and shot tower that are at the end of the river walk.

The woman we sat with was very excited about this tunnel. Not sure why.

Here is the cathedral, which is right by the Fenelon Elevator and the cool shops we went to yesterday.

Here is the Hotel Julien, I presume named after Julien Dubuque, founder of the city.

And here is the monument to Julien Dubuque that we were at yesterday. You can see the people that were up there visiting it today.

Both Travalon and the woman we were sitting with love abandoned stuff and boats, so they were both really excited about this abandoned boat you could tour. The woman and her husband toured it yesterday. We will have to go back sometime to do it.

And here is the boat we saw yesterday that I wanted to ride - still no sign of anyone selling tickets for it.

I think this is a casino in an old riverboat.

And this, of course, is a sailboat.

There were lots of beautiful bluffs, some with spectacular houses on top of them.

This is the dam. We had to turn around here, of course.

I love how this pelican is just hanging around with the fishermen. Aren't they in competition?

And I love how the cormorants just hang around with the pelicans. Again - competition?

This looks like a very cool beach house.

And here's another sailboat. I love sailboats.

I have heard this is a bed and breakfast, but I don't know the name of it, so we can't stay there. Like we could afford it, anyway.

On the drive back, we passed Platteville, and there is a giant M on the hillside for the Miners, which is their team name. I took this photo as we were driving, so it's not in perfect focus.

Then we stopped at Governor Dodge State Park and took a hike by Cox Hollow Lake.

We saw this pink jack-in-the-pulpit, but maybe it's just past its prime.

And here's another shot of Cox Hollow Lake. We also drove by Twin Valley Lake but didn't take any pictures.

When we got home, Travalon's new Barney Bear T-shirt had arrived in the mail.

So today was a balance of remembering what the day is for, exercise, and fun. We got a lot of fresh air, and I'm afraid I got too much sun. I told Travalon, "I didn't put sunscreen on, because I forgot to bring any," and he quoted Bugs Bunny: "What a maroon!" I said I was maroon because of forgetting sunscreen, but really I'm more of a hot pink. Time for the aloe vera! Fortunately I have some plants.

Famous Hat