For the 4th of July this year, Julie and I headed a couple hours west to Galena, Potosi and Dubuque. We’ve driven through Galena and had dinner in Dubuque once before but this was a our first time spending any kind of real time in either of these towns. We were just looking for a place to spend the 4th that still had rooms and was driving distance. Galena and Dubuque made the cut.
Galena, Illinois
In Galena we stayed at the DeSoto House Hotel which dates back to 1855 when the town was a booming metropolis of 14,000 residents. The DeSoto has housed many historical figures from Abraham Lincoln to Mark Twain and even US Grant’s 1868 Presidential Campaign Headquarters. The hotel sits directly in the center of town and underwent a complete renovation about 25 years ago.
Root Beer Revelry
To my delight and surprise, connected to the DeSoto is the Root Beer Revelry bar/shop. Revelry has three root beers on tap: Millstream, 1919 and Princess Potosa. You can order 12oz cups or get a 24oz frosted mug and of course they do floats. They also have a wide selection of bottled root beer. You can do a mix and match of six or four packs, or just buy them by the bottle. I had a 24oz frosted mug of Millstream and then did a mix and match six pack that I’m trying to slowly work through.
Galena Brewing Company
We spent the afternoon at the Galena Brewing Company working our way through their selection. I was a fan of the seasonal Identity Crisis which is a Black IPA. We didn’t eat there but they seem to have a wide selection of food and a large dining area.
Parade
I guess we should have known that all towns have parades on the 4th of July but it didn’t really dawn on me until we got into town. The parade basically did a loop down Main Street which was right outside our hotel and more importantly Revelry. A lot of Churches, high school bands and Moses were in the parade. Galena claims 9 Union Generals who served in the Civil War, so they had 9 reenactors in the parade. Seems legit to me.
Grant’s House
Speaking of Civil War Generals, US Grant lived and worked in Galena just preceding the Civil War. After the war, the citizens of Galena purchased and furnished this House for Grant as a token of gratitude for saving the Union. The Grant family only lived in the house for a short period of time but maintained the house for several years and until eventually donating it to Galena.
Fireworks
As we were walking near the river earlier in the day we started seeing people claim their spots along the river bank for the fireworks. Our hotel was selling tickets to their rooftop for a viewing party/cookout, we scored tickets and watched the fireworks from there. It was a rather extensive display but the DJ rocking out on the roof was a little too much.
VFW Club
After the fire works we headed down to the VFW Club for a couple of drinks. I managed to commandeer the jukebox and play quite of lot of Neil Diamond. I consider this my cultural gift to Galena.
Potosi, Wisconsin
The next day we took a detour to Dubuque and stopped by The Potosi Brewery. The brewery is setup at the site of the original Potosi brewery and it’s a sprawling complex that includes a Winery, The Brewers Museum and the current brewery. It’s also a major stop over for motorcyclists. I think the crowd was about 70% people who had rode in on a bike. The beer selection was good but I was partial to the Pilsener, it was a hot day and this was the perfect beer. We had lunch there as well; a fish sandwich and fried cheese curds. There were a lot of people stopping in for growlers to go. A father came in with his two sons and had five growlers of Princess Potosa Root Beer and then order a round of root beer while he waited. This of course inspired me to take one for the road.
Dubuque, Iowa
In Dubuque we stayed at the recently renovated Hotel Julien Dubuque which dates back to 1914. The Hotel Julien was a much more modern space than the DeSoto, really one of the better hotels I’ve stayed in in a long time. We made dinner reservations at Mainstreet Steak & Chophouse only to discover that it is in the same building as the bar we had dinner at the last time we were in Dubuque, the German Bank. Dinner was good and I think we should have hung out there the rest of the night instead of trying to find a decent bar. Every place we went had a DJ mixing songs that should never be mixed, even our hotel bar.
Fenelon Place Elevator Company
One of the places we wanted to checkout was the Fenelon Place Elevator Company’s incline. From what I could gather online the view is good and you can see three states (Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin) and the Mississippi River. The incline was originally installed for private use but is now a tourist attraction. It takes about 3 minutes for it ride up or down. The turnstile at the top is reportedly from the 1893 World’s Columbia Expedition in Chicago.
Mississippi Riverwalk
Saturday morning before heading back to Chicago we made our way down to the Mississippi Riverwalk to checkout the river and the site of the Old Star Brewery. Despite the heat, the river walk was really nice. I imagine the main building does some decent business for events with the overhang and the river views.
Side Notes:
* See also Grant’s Tomb.
** Previous trip to Iowa.
*** Previous trip to Wisconsin.
**** Previous rides on an incline.