Days Five and Six: France, Spain and Ireland

Dubuque, Iowa

Founded by the French-Canadian miner Julian
Dubuque, this Iowa border town on the Mississippi
River celebrates its Midwestern ethos with a giant
statues taken from Grant Woods's American Gothic:



There are plenty of grand houses as well, all of which seemed to be
in a state of perpetual repair:



Our B&B was no exception, although I will cut a 150-year old house
a little slack. The private breakfast room was a delight:



And the massive Jacuzzi had intimations of grandeur:



And although the heat indexes were well above 100, I had to explore the Mines of Spain, where Dubuque discovered lead deposits in the 1790's. It is now a wildlife refuge:



Finally, we took a quick little afternoon day-trip to nearby Galena, Illinois including a tour of The Dowling House, built in the 1840's by an Irish immigrant. Originally a store, it supplied the miners with their various sundries (and no pictures were allowed inside. A pretty paltry tour for $10):



The rest of the town was full of other vintage buildings housing the usual tourist traps; pretty, but not a must-see destination.