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

About five miles or so before I reached the Iowa state line, I arrived in the small town of Harmony, MN, where a billboard proclaiming the wonders of "Niagara Cave" caught my eye. Although I had not allowed any time in my schedule for any unexpected discoveries, I couldn't resist the temptation of this local tourist attraction, so after a short drive down a side road, I arrived here... 

I've always been a sucker for roadside attractions like this, so I bought my ticket and joined the small group that was making the next scheduled tour. Several minutes later, we were descending into the bowels of the earth...

If I remember the tour guide's words correctly, we reached a total depth of two hundred and twenty-five feet before we had to turn around and come back the same way we came. LOTS of stairs!!         www.niagaracave.com         

Tedsrfs


Now, I got 2 choices and even though they're both practically within frisbee tossing distance, the dog has to stay home.    Ted 

Well Ted I think I owe your dog an apology, but I'm glad you enjoyed Stabby's.  I'll have to try the Colossal the next time I'm up there.  I'm so jealous of you guys who live that close to Lake Harriet--that was another great find of the day, courtesy of Tracy (?).  Their sausage gravy (at Stabby's) is really really good, isn't it?

Shortly after leaving Niagara Cave, I crossed the state line into Iowa. Not long after, US 52 curved to the east and entered the Mississippi River Valley, where the terrain changed dramatically.     

The scenery on this stretch of Hwy. 52 is rather spectacular; definitely not the kind one associates with Iowa. One moment the road is traversing gently rolling hills, and the next it's running high above the wide Mississippi River.   

Note the motel on top of this bluff over US 52. The view from there must certainly be impressive, and I'd like to spend the night there someday.

After descending into the river valley, I passed through the very scenic riverfront town of Guttenberg, IA. Tourism is an important part of the local economy.  www.GuttenbergIowa.net

A view of the Mississippi River looking north...

When I was planning this trip, I "scheduled" a late afternoon arrival in Dubuque for myself, and figured on being home before midnight. However, the unplanned cave tour, all the lost time in St. Paul ( get a map, Bob! ), and an abundance of roadside photo-stops put an end to that. It was close to 8:00 PM when I finally arrived in Dubuque, and, since there wasn't much daylight left, I reluctantly decided to spend the night in town so that, the next morning, I could take photos of the city's historic Fenelon Place Elevator Company. I still hadn't had dinner, so I went looking for one of Iowa's famed Maid-Rite eateries; I found one on JFK Boulevard. 

nocarolina

Bob!!! Bob!!! For a long time lurker, you have out down yourself with this report.  I need that cave right now,  100 in my neck of the woods.  And, I would have preferred a pix of Dawn.  But, you are doing a good job all the same.

Next time you are that way in Iowa.  Spend the day in Pella.  I think I have a return trip scheduled for later this year.

Susan, thanks for the kind words. If it's 100 degrees in Memphis today, you would really love that cave; it's only about 48 degrees in there. I looked at Pella's website, and it looks like a nifty little town. If I ever get back to the Des Moines area, I'll keep it in mind.   

I love the loosemeat sandwiches at Maid-Rite, and I wouldn't dream of passing through Iowa without having a couple. The traditional condiments are mustard and pickles, and that's just how I get them. Good fries too.   

I found a room at the Days Inn just west of downtown Dubuque ( bye-bye budget! ) and got myself some badly-needed sleep. The next morning, looking for a quick and cheap breakfast, I headed over to Hardee's and had a sausage biscuit. From there, it was over to the Fenelon Place Elevator Co. for a round-trip ride and a number of photos.   

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. 
 

Here's the entrance to one of the tiny green and white cable cars...

As my car approaches the top of the bluff, you can see the other car about to pass mine on the way down.   

Arriving at the Fenelon Place "depot" at the top of the bluff...  

The entrance to the upper-level station... 

Here's several views of downtown Dubuque and the Mississippi River from the top of the bluff. You can see Illinois on the opposite side of the river.

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! )