Gazing at Galena

Up early again for our drive to Galena, Illinois. Our chosen route today followed the Mississippi closely. First on the west, or Iowa, side and then on the Illinois side. Our 8:30 AM departure took us East back to Le Claire and up highway 67 to Clinton, IA. There we made the decision to do the Savanna Crossing north of Clinton. We proceeded with some trepidation after seeing a sign that announced that no vehicles wider than 8 ft 6 in were permitted to cross. Our Winnebago measures 8 ft 6 in wide. The crossing covers about three miles on a combination of causeways and bridges. The bridges had a height of 13 ft 9 in and a width of just barely enough. Our route into Galena followed the river's east side for a time and then moved inland. The guides had our RV park located 2 miles southeast of Galena while it is actually 2 miles northwest of town. A phone call to the RV park informed us to use the local Walmart as our landmark which worked great.

We parked the Winnebago in our site, had lunch and headed to town. Our first stop was the historical Washburn House. According to our guides, Elihu Washburn was instumental in bringing General Ulysses Grant and Abraham Lincoln together. In fact our guides assured us that without Elihu Washburn's involvement our country would be very different today. Well...maybe. There is no denying that he was an influential person in his time.

Washburn House

Our next stop was the Grant home. The house was gifted to General Grant in appreciation of his efforts in the Cival War. The Grants lived there until his election as President. 

Grant Home

The home and its contents were gifted to the city of Galena after Grant's wife died on the condition that they be kept in memory of General Grant. The house has been open for tours for over 100 years.

Then it was on to the Galena and General Grant Museum in downtown Galena. This museum includes a blend of Grant history and local history. Galena grew to prominence in the early 19th century as a lead mining  and river boating town. Ulysses Grant moved there after the Mexican-American war to work in his family's leather goods store. At it's peak Galena had a population of 12,000 people and was the most prominent river town between St Louis and St Paul. Lead mining began to wane about 1850 and the Galena river began silting up from the growth in farming in the area. The ultimate death knell came with the building of the railroad which reduced the importance of river transportation.

Galena Museum

Downtown Galena

We concluded our time in Galena tasting some of the finest wines Illinois has to offer. I enjoy tasting wines made from local grapes. They are not always wines to rave about in your blog but they are an interesting glimpse into local life. These were no exception. I did purchase a bottle of Marquette made from a wine grape from the Pinot Noir family. We'll see how it ages.

After a coffe and treat we headed back to the Winnebago.