Galena Weekend

We had a fun short trip to Galena, IL last weekend. Scott is working in La Crosse, WI for a month so we only get to see each other on weekends :-(.

Friday night, I drove down to La Crosse, arriving about 10 PM. We had a quick dinner and then went to bed. We got up early Saturday morning and drove 2.5 hours to get to Galena, IL. Google Maps said it would take 3 hours, but Gabby Garmin got us there in 2.5 by taking us down every tiny backroad in Southwest Wisconsin.

Galena, IL is a great little town - only about 2,300 people. Surprisingly, it is the second most popular tourist destination in Illinois behind Chicago. A lot of Chicagoans go there for a taste of old-fashioned, small-town life.

We stayed at a cute little inn called Greenbriar Country Inn.



The building where our room was located was built in 1838!



Main Street was the highlight for me - 1 mile of quaint shops - gift stores, needlework stores, bead stores, clothing stores, etc. And it was "Ladies Weekend" so a lot of the stores had samples out - brownies, cookies, etc.



One interesting stop off Main Street was an authentic blacksmith shop built in 1897. It is run today by volunteers to teach people about traditional blacksmithing.



We finished looking at the shops about 6:00 PM and still had a few hours to kill before our 8:30 dinner reservation. Scott wanted to go running, but my feet were tired. He begged, so I reluctantly went along. I ended up doing one of my hardest, fastest runs in a long time.

We ran a little over 7 miles in 1 hour! Usually I only do 6 miles in an hour. It was a tough run, but I felt really good afterward.

We had a fabulous dinner at the Perry Street Brasserie. I started with a salad with Spicy Mango Dressing and local goat cheese. It was tasty, but I would have preferred crumbled goat cheese to a big block.


My entree was tilapia in a lemon glaze with a crab cake on top. The crab cake was incredible! The tilapia was just okay - the glaze was too sweet for my taste. But Scott really liked it. He ordered Seared Ahi Tuna in a Thai Red Curry sauce. I ended up eating most of his dinner and he ate most of mine. I wish I'd taken a picture of his dish.


We ended the night with one of the restaurant's signature desserts, a Chocolate Cup. It's a hard shell of dark chocolate. Inside is a thick layer of dark chocolate ganache, milk chocolate mousse, and whipped cream. Wow...is all I can say. Scott and I split it, although I had to give up after awhile.


Our inn only served a continental breakfast of muffins and fruit. Scott wanted something more substantial so we headed to the DeSoto Hotel on Main Street. Sunday mornings, they have a great buffet with made-to-order omelets for only $10!


After breakfast we went to the Ulysses S. Grant house. President Grant lived in Galena prior to the Civil War in a little house near Main Street. After the War he lived in a much grander home.



Grant was sitting in this room when he found out that he'd won the presidential election (I saw a drawing made of this room from a newspaper of the time)

The dining room. Most of the furniture in the house is original.

The kitchen.

Next we drove to the Chestnut Ski Resort. As midwestern ski resorts go, this looked pretty nice. But I wasn't particularly interested in the runs (unlike Scott the skier). I loved the view from the top of the mountain/large hill.


One of the runs

The Mississippi River Valley

After driving around the area a little bit, we headed back to La Crosse. I wanted to drive back to Minneapolis before it got dark, so we didn't have much time together in La Crosse. Scott did drive me up to Grandad Bluffs, one of the key attractions of La Crosse.


From the top of the bluff, you can see Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. I think this is Minnesota and Wisconsin.