It's a Davenport - Not a Couch

We left the heat and humidity of the St Louis area early on Thursday morning and headed up the Mississippi (well next to the Mississippi) for Davenport, IA. Traveling on US highway 61 gave us a few glimpses of the river but mostly we were a few miles away.

Our primary interest in the Davenport area was to visit the Antique Archaeology store in nearby Le Claire, IA. This store is owned by the Pickers from the program on History Channel. We settled the Winnebago in the Interstate RV Park and headed for Le Claire. To our dismay (and that of many others) the store was closed as they were filming another episode at some other location. We knew we couldn't be in California because they left a nice late 1930's knuckle head Harley Davidson sitting out front.

Mary at Antique Archaeology

Antique Archaeology

We tried to stifle our dismay by visiting another antique shop in town. That didn't work so we headed for the Buffalo Bill Museum. You ask why there is a Buffalo Bill Museum in Le Claire, IA? Well William F. Cody (aka Buffalo Bill) was born in Le Claire. And... it is a very nice museum of local history.

Buffalo Bill Museum

Le Claire Model T Fire Truck

The museum also has the Lone Star, a partially restored paddle wheeler, that plied the Mississippi for a mere 98 years. It was launched in 1868 and retired in 1967.

Ever wonder where pearl buttons (the kind you don't see anymore) came from? It turns out that there were three button factories in Le Claire and Muscatine, just down the road a few miles, was the pearl button manufacturing capitol of the world. It seems that the Mississippi river clams make fine buttons.

This Clam Yielded Hand Made Buttons

This Clam Yielded Machine Made Buttons

My other Iowa quest was a Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich. To my good fortune the Machine Shed restaurant just down the road from the RV park makes one of the best Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches in the country (well actually they are really only made in Iowa). 

Machine Shed Sign

My Sandwich

After dinner we drove to downtown Davenport and found that the Mississippi is overflowing its banks. No dry spell here. 

 Flooded Park

Flooded Park Bench

All in all it was a day of learning and good experiences. One thing I learned is that some RV parks claim to have wifi and really don't. I hate it when that happens.