Touring, Booze, Bait, Bullets and Brats

Finished the NE tour with a day in McGregor and a trip to Pike's Peak and Effigy Mounds. Finished out the day at Stark's (the home of Booze, Bait, Bullets and Brats - they have it all in Prairie du Chien. Had a great day. A side trip to the River Junction Trade Co. brought a chuckle with another "juxtaposition" photo. After a visit up the bluffs to Effigy Mounds we came back over the Mississippi, passing the casino and visited Starks's. Outgoing owner, great wine prices, guns and cheese curds too....how could you ask for more?

Gunder, Spillville and St. Olaf, Iowa

We had three buffets the previous day - breakfast at the hotel, lunch in Dyersville and dinner at Breitbach's - time to go for the menu (simple yet appealing) approach. Breakfast easily accommodated at the Elkader B and B - delicious French Toast - on toward Gunder for the incredible "gunderburger" experience at the Iris Shanti. The owner Kevin Walsh was a robust and outgoing man who immediately entered into Irish bantering about what ever the Irish from Boston banter about....a delight.....except for the introverts amongst us.

On to Spillville to visit the Bily Clocks Museum.
No pictures due to the "they might copy the clocks from the photos"policy....

A fine finish at the end of the day after wine and artichoke dip at the Elkader B and B was a dinner trip to St. Olaf for a Pork Tender Loin.

A "No Buffet Day" sucessfully completed with a fine 1/2 tenderloin sandwich.

Elkader, Iowa

Elkader is the County Seat of Clayton County. It seems to be a robust and growing community.....they have a beautifully renovated Opera House and a vibrant group of performers who have kept it alive and thriving. The main street is lined with insurance agencies.....not sure why....
The town is named after the Emir Abdel Kader who was the father of modern Algeria. A picture of him hangs in the City Hall located in the basement of the Opera House.

A well done, original and interesting drop on the Opera Hall stage depicting a number of the early sponsors.

The Keystone arch bridge crossing the Turkey River is one of the earliest west of the Mississippi.

Balltown, Iowa & Breitbach's

We drove on from Luxemburg through Holy Cross to Balltown. Incredible views they say but we arrived just at dusk in a slight drizzle....saw naught.....dinner was at Breitbach's ...excellent and fun...buffet loaded with all you could want of 'down home" Iowa food....Mike Breitbach, the owner pauses at every table to "howdy" and we did just that. He popped for dessert - wowie/zowie loaded with sugar and good stuff that hurts your teeth and gets you dancing with a sugar rush. If you check out the Des Moines Register's article you will get a full dose of Mike...As for Balltown...on the Great River Road and...small....

Luxemburg, Iowa

Sometimes the most interesting things pop up on a road trip completely by happenstance, serendipity, luck...call it what you will...so we needed to stop to get gas and use rest rooms and we pull into the only gas station in Luxemburg ....the whole interior of the combination gas station, convenience store and beer sales shop (including the unisex bathroom) was plastered with Bible verses....the owner had his personal favorites posted in front of the register - click on the pictures to get a clear view of his selections. I loved the name of the place....

Dyersville Proper

Dyersville seems to have a lot to offer....still can't figure out why I am able to take pictures with impunity from the middle of Main Streets looking down at the long road....
The sign at the town border kind of says it all I guess.

The Basilica of St. Francis Xavier is darned impressive. The stained glass window of the Priest converting the indigenous folks made me a bit uneasy but hey....as wikipedia notes "Another window features Saint Francis Xavier ministering to the Indians. The maker of the window had mistakenly used images of Native Americans instead of images of people from India." ...regardless, it is one impressive building....

Field of Dreams

Having never seen the movie I was intrigued....I also kept looking around for the buffalo herd from Dances with Wolves and for Susan Sarandon from Bull Durham...0 for 2 on those...The movie site is out in the country about three miles from town. There were cars from several states bringing families to view the site. Probably would have had more meaning if I had seen the film.....