Rust, Dust, and Wanderlust

On Saturday we visited Le Claire, Iowa, home to the Antique Archaeology shop. Although the Pickers weren’t there, we had fun browsing their shop and walking around the small town. It’s a pretty little town right on the Mississippi River. Every August they compete in a tug of war competition with a town in Illinois, pulling the rope back and forth across the river!

While in Le Claire, we took a scenic tour of the Mississippi River on the Riverboat Twilight. It was a fun old timey boat that played calliope (Torres) music.

We saw some nice homes along the river, a tugboat hauling cargo (the riverboat Captain said the tugboat and cargo were the same length as an aircraft carrier!), and we even saw a bald eagle commuting across the river from Illinois to Iowa.

Le Claire has some cute shops and a few restaurants. Sneaky Pete’s is known for their no tie policy, and they will cut off your tie if you walk in wearing one! The Mississippi River Distilling Company was started five years ago by the local weatherman. We went on a tour and tried a few samples. I had the River Rose Gin and Kenan had the Iowish Whiskey. HA!

On the way back to Cedar Rapids, we stopped in Iowa City. There’s a well-known diner there called Hamburg Inn No. 2, where many presidential candidates stop during the Caucus, including Obama, the Clintons, and Reagan. We had their famous pie shake — a slice of pie blended into a milkshake! Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds. We also took a quick drive through the University of Iowa campus, which had a great mix of modern architecture and lovely old brick buildings. The old capitol building is also now part of their campus.

When we drove around to their football stadium (huge), we discovered they were hosting a movie night for the community. So we grabbed a blanket and joined the rest of the town on the field to watch the Minions movie on the jumbotron.

They even had fireworks when the movie ended!

 

 

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