The last day of September, Emily and I did a little traveling around Iowa and into Wisconsin. We are experiencing warm temps for late September. Around home it was 93 up by the Mississippi it was 88.
Our first stop was a quick visit to Independence and the area where I work. Nothing too special just to give her reference when I talk about work.
Next up was Elkader. We had lunch at an Algerian restaurant, Schera’s. They also serve Mediterranean and American food. Emily went with falafel a popular middle eastern street food. I had a combo platter of Algerian food. It wasn’t bad.
It was all edible, I was concerned at first about the green stuff but it turned out okay. There was a spinach wrapped in flaky dough, one with chicken and one with beef. There was a different flavor to them but not bad. I probably wouldn’t starve to death if I find myself in Algeria.
After Elkader we made our way to McGregor Iowa. We had to stop a visit the Blue Moon bookstore, they have an interesting selection of books and old fashion flair. There are also cats that you have to be careful not to let out or step on while they nap. We only seen one that was napping.
To make it seem like we did some real traveling, we crossed the big river and visited Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. No trip to Prairie is complete without a stop at Valley Fish and Cheese. There you can get faux fur hats, real turtle shells, novelty canned goods and of course fish and cheese. The have smoked carp, salmon and trout, you can get packages of turtle for soup and a variety of cheese curds. The line was long so we will have to go back for cheese curds another time.
Saint Feriole Island is a favorite stop there for me, the island was important in the fur trade of the 1800’s and there was a battle there in 1814, War of 1812 and in the late 1800’s the railroad came. There are still a number of buildings relevant to the fur trade, a couple of cabins and the Villa Louis. The old depot that is there is currently a restaurant, good for fried blue gill when the bar keep’s husband has caught them and since it is Wisconsin, fried cheese curds. Dousman Hotel is a four story building with a lot of character. It was the old railroad hotel and in the 1930’s was used by Oscar Meyers as a packing plant. It’s currently being restored and the lower level was set up for a wedding dinner.
For those interested in 1800’s they do have the Prairie Villa Rendezvous the third weekend in June. You will see a lot of canvas tents, people dressed in leather and rustic wares for sale. They also have a flea market, knife and hatchet throwing, primitive archery and other activities.
Hopefully everyone had a great summer! With luck we’ll do more day trips next summer there are number of activities and things to see along the Mississippi. We’re looking forward to our next vacation, the Caribbean side of Costa Rica!
Little update on my boat project, it is currently getting white paint turned into blue paint! It would have been a good weekend here to have it, the whole weekend is warm, I think the 93 degrees was a record for September 30th.
Be safe!
Traveling with Emily! 