My Three... er, Four Day Roadtrip to the Twin Cities

These cable cars don't run on any kind of schedule. When you're ready to go is when they're ready to go.

Entering the car for the trip back to the bottom of the bluff...

Passing the "upbound" car...

... and arriving back at the bottom of the bluff. The Fenelon Place Elevator Co. operates from April 1st through November 30th.   www.dbq.com/fenplco/ 

I really enjoy these photographic trips, Bob.  You take me to places that I've never been to before.

nocarolina


The Fenelon Place Elevator Co., ( the 4th Street Elevator ), is a funicular, which is just a fancy term for an incline railway. It was originally built in 1882, and has been rebuilt twice over the years after being damaged by fires. The Elevator is America's shortest railway line, exactly 296 ft. in length, and it is also the steepest; the top of the bluff ( Fenelon Place ) is 189 ft. above the base ( 4th and Bluff Streets. ) The line's two cars are cable-drawn, and the operating mechanism is located in the upper-level station. 
 

Ketchikan, Alaska is not in America?    211 feet long, 130 foot elevation.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM259A

I rode this one.

Thanks, Louis. At first I wasn't sure if these long detailed trip reports were the way to go, but I've gotten such an amazing amount of positive feedback from roadfooders that I'm going to continue with this type, even if I do end up with a book-length novel. The other day I was thinking about this forum's name, and just what the term means. After all, this forum isn't called "Stuff I Ate On My Trip-Reports"; it's called "TRIP Reports", and to me that means everything on a trip; the food, the scenery, the tourist attractions, and even the flat tires and endless "No Vacancy" signs. At first I approached doing trip reports with a sense of dread, but not anymore. I'm really enjoying putting these together; it's a true labor of love.     

Oops! Davydd, I've never even heard of this one. All my info on the Fenelon Elevator came from their brochure. I stand corrected. I'd love to visit Alaska, but since I'm terrified of flying, I don't anticipate ever getting up there. Of course, if some thoughtful roadfooder wants to share driving chores and expenses for a roadtrip up the Alaskan Highway....      ;~)   

My business in Dubuque concluded, I headed south on US 52 towards the highway's Mississippi River crossing at Savanna, IL. 

This is Lock & Dam #12 on the Mississippi at Bellevue, IA.

After passing through the town of Sabula, Hwy. 52 crosses the river over this bridge to the Illinois town of Savanna. 

The US 52 bridge as seen from the Illinois side. This shot is looking north.

After more than three days on the road, I was finally back in the Land of Lincoln and eagerly anticipating getting back home. Continuing east on 52, I arrived in Dixon, IL, the hometown of actor Ronald Reagan. I heard somewhere that he had a second career later in life...       

Enjoying travelling along with you....nice piece of the country!

Since it was early afternoon and I had only eaten a sausage biscuit for breakfast, my empty belly started sending me very unsubtle hints that it was lunchtime. As Dixon is a fairly large town, I figured that I could find a decent place for lunch without resorting to eating at a chain restaurant. After driving around town for several minutes, I found the Parkway... 

The Parkway is a pleasant family restaurant with mostly good food. The one exception was the chicken noodle soup that came with my patty melt. The broth was not the traditional golden yellow color that I expected, and there was no chicken flavor to it at all. Even the sizable amount of chicken meat in it didn't improve the flavor. After tasting the soup, I started to wonder if I had made a bad choice for a lunch stop. 

Fortunately, the patty melt and sides that arrived next convinced me that I had made a good choice for lunch. I love a good patty melt ( with Swiss cheese instead of American ), but I rarely find one that I'm really pleased with. This one was definitely above average, though, accompanied by good french fries and cole slaw. I recommend the Parkway to anyone passing through Dixon, but be sure to pass on that soup.    

In this, the final photo of this trip report, you can see that the ugly grey sky that I had looked at since Friday afternoon had cleared up nicely while I was in the restaurant. From Dixon, I had only a couple of hours of driving east on Hwy. 52 before I reached Joliet, and from there just a half hour drive on I-80 to my home in Lansing. Another roadtrip successfully completed.    

Great report. Really enjoy your pictures of light rail and your descriptions of the Andy Griffith B and B.

When we went to Iowa 2 years ago we took US-20 west from Rockford and IL-84 (Great River Road) down to Savanna in order to cross there.  It was a nice change from crossing at Dubuque.

What time of day did you pass through St. Donatus, Iowa?  You missed a chance to stop at Kalmes' Restaurant for a pork tenderloin sandwich!

Brad

St. Donatus isn't very far south of Dubuque, and since I spent most of the morning doing my incline railway thing, I'm guessing that I passed through that little town about 11 AM, which is earlier than I usually have lunch. One of these days, I'm going to take a roadtrip across northern Iowa to Sioux City ( believe it or not, in the 1890s the town had a Chicago-style elevated railway ), and I'll be looking for a good BPT while I'm passing through.     

Bob,

I am late responding, but once again I must tell you what a great report this is.  Thanks for the pictures of the countryside as well as the food - of course, we're glad that you did not forget the food.

Of course I couldn't forget the food, Rob. After all, this site is called Roadfood.com, not Roadscenery.com ( hey, maybe I ought to start my own... aww, never mind! )