Castles and Palisades

 

This morning I woke up early and took a sunrise walk around the pond in the backyard of our hotel.

Tiffy and I went to the Dubuque Arboretum and fed the koi, like Travalon and I did. Here are some cool flowers we saw there, like foxtail lilies, clematis, and delphiniums.

Remember when Travalon took a photo of these white flowers? Now they are mostly done blooming, but they have cool silvery foliage.

And this is lupine.

After the Arboretum, we went to the Mines of Spain to see the Julien Dubuque monument, which looks like a castle tower. We stopped at McDonald's so I could try a Grimace Birthday Shake, which is kind of meh. It tastes vaguely like berries. Then we drove south and stopped at the overlook at Bellvue State Park.

 

We went to Eagle Point Park in Clinton to see the other castle tower. We climbed up the tower, then we went to the overlook.

After that we headed north again and drove around Sabula, the town on an island in the middle of the Mississippi. We went to Savanna and had a late lunch at a restaurant recommended by some women on the next boatel when Travalon and I stayed in Sabula a few weeks ago, called the Sippi-Side. I had a BLT with a fried green tomato, and we had duck wontons for an appetizer. Everything was delicious, and we had quite a view.

There are train tracks right there, and a train went by as we were having lunch, so that was excellent. Then we went to Mississippi Palisades State Park. These are photos from that overlook. In the first one, you can see the bridge to Sabula.

When we came back, we hung out on the back patio of the hotel, overlooking the pond, and listened to birds. We heard lots of robins, an oriole, a catbird, and a cardinal with a different song than I'd ever heard before, among other birdsongs. It was a beautiful evening. We had a late, light dinner at a Mexican restaurant (and I brought most of mine back to the hotel room fridge), and after resting a bit, we will swim again in the wonderful hotel pool. Tomorrow we head back to reality.

Famous Hat