Two-River Three-State Day

 

Yesterday Tiffy picked me up right after I got off of work, and we had dinner at Amber Indian restaurant, then we drove to the outdoor theater to see a play called The Liar. It was a relatively modern play based on a story from the 17th Century about a guy who just lies all the time, and of course there are twins for elevated hijinks. Here is a picture of the brightly-colored stage.

After the play we drove to the Round Barn Lodge and crashed for the night. This morning we swam in the wonderful pool, and we were the only two in there. We were going to get breakfast at the restaurant in the actual round barn, which seems to be closed every time I'm there, and indeed today it was closed "due to illness." (Years ago there was a really good Italian restaurant there that had spumoni cheesecake.) So we went to the general store in Spring Green where my band recently had a gig, and I couldn't decide between a Denver scramble and Bob's Special scramble. Tiffy said they should combine them and call them the Gilligan scramble. (For you Bob Denver fans out there.) There was actually a scramble called the Virgo, and I said Tiffy had to get that one, but she said she was thinking of something else. However, she did get the Virgo scramble. (When I complained to the cashier that there was no Capricorn scramble, she said, "I know! There's no Scorpio scramble either!") 

We drove down Highway 60, which is definitely the scenic route, because Tiffy had never been on it before. We were planning to turn off in Boscobel to go to the park there by the water and then get back on it, but it was closed beyond Boscobel so we had to turn anyway... and then the park was under construction and we couldn't stop there either. So we took Highway 61 and stopped at the Dickeyville Grotto, where I exercised great self-restraint and didn't buy an orange rosary. I told Tiffy, "I don't have that many orange rosaries," and then I realized what a ridiculous-sounding statement that was. 

We got to Dubuque and went on the Fenelon Elevator, which Tiffy really enjoyed. They have now raised the price from $3 to $4 for a round trip. We stayed at the top, enjoying the view, then we got back into line... and shared the ride down with the same family we had shared the ride up with. We also ended up at the same ice cream shop as them. Then we went to the Irish shop (and I got some earrings), and we had some beverages at the coffee shop next door. We took a short walk to get a better look at what appeared to be trees growing on the roof of a building.

Is there a hidden courtyard? What's going on? Some people who work at the brewery next door came out for a smoke break, and I asked them, but they had no idea.

After that we took a walk on the Riverwalk, and we stopped at the winery at the end and enjoyed some adult beverages and some goat cheese with figs. I had a flight of fruity wines and got quite buzzed. The redwing blackbirds were really obnoxious there, hanging around like sparrows often do, only louder and meaner. I did find out that what I thought was an interesting boat that never seems to go out is actually a floating dock, which explains why it never goes out. 

After we got to Galena and checked into our hotel, we went to Frank O'Dowd's Irish Pub for the snapper because it is just so good. We also had Brussels sprouts for an appetizer and split a piece of black and white flourless chocolate cake. We sat outside, and at first I was bummed that we wouldn't be able to hear the live music as well, but after one traditional jig, they started playing those rowdy pub songs I don't care for as much, plus Johnny Cash and a lot of other random non-Irish stuff, so then I wasn't disappointed at all. Speaking of random, I woke up this morning thinking, "If some random guy comes up to us, I'm going to be like, 'Who's this Rando Calrissian?'" However, I didn't get to use this rather lame joke in real life today. Ah well, tomorrow is another day.

Famous Hat