For those of you unfamiliar, Galena is a gorgeous little river town in Northwest Illinois. It is the only place in Illinois that we have experienced hills and vistas similar to Missouri. As you know, Illinois is usually summarized by one word: flat.
Not Galena. Galena is the Hannibal of Illinois. But really cute and filled with loads of little shops and restaurants. We made the three hour drive on Friday afternoon and arrived just in time to have a leisurely italian dinner at Fried Green Tomatoes. It was so good. We had the signature appetizer fried green tomatoes covered in cheese and sauce and then tortalloni and warm parmesan bread. Oh. My. Gosh. Awesome meal, but more importantly it was a leisurely meal. We found ourselves almost feeling an imaginary rush to quickly get out of the restaurant before a child (or parent) melts down, but then we'd stop and look at each other and realize no, we really don't have to move at all. We can sit right here as long as we want.
It was awesome.
The town is so quaint and cute. The big historical element to Galena is Ulysses S. Grant's home. He and his wife Julia Dent had a home there prior to the Civil War. He was a bit of a failed businessman with four children who became an honored general. When he returned home to Galena, the town presented him with a pretty grand home as a thank you for all he had done for the country. We didn't tour the home because we were in more of a lazy eat and shop mood than we were a historical mood. But we did read about Grant and his family at the tourism center. Very interesting place.
Galena is a really pretty place. The buildings are old and the streets are really steep. When you look up and down each block it feels like you're looking up a ski slope. The stairs are incredible, too. I can't imagine what it would be like to shovel them after a big storm.
This picture isn't fantastic, but you can see below one of the giant sets of stairs that lead up to the next block. Perhaps everyone in Galena has incredible leg muscles.
Main Street is filled with several blocks of cute shops. Gourmet foods, candy shoppes, lots of clothing places (though it tended to be geared a bit more to older women) and some home decor. Mike and I like to go to flea markets and antique places and made a couple of stops outside the city also. We came home with a couple of cute things that I'm painting and will make their debut later.
Why do I have pictures of Republican and Democratic presidents playing pool? Oh perhaps because Mike was OBSESSED with these prints and had to be pulled away from them multiple times. It's like the government equivalent of dogs playing poker. But Mike thought they were incredible, even contemplating all the people he knew who would want to see this because it's so hilarious.
Thank goodness they were expensive. I didn't want to return from our romantic weekend with a fleet of U.S. Presidents staring at me from the back seat.
A few more pics of Galena...
Saturday night we ate at 111 Main, a restaurant highly recommended by a friend who plans his trips to Chicago around dinner and lunch at this place. Seasonal, local produce and meats and cheeses. It sounded right up our alley and while we did enjoy our meal there, it wasn't quite as good as we expected. We'd go again, but maybe without such high expectations.
We drove back Sunday morning so Aunts Pam and Meagan could get back on the road. to St. Louis. They did an amazing job with the kids and it appears that the kids LOVED spending time with them also. Mike and I really needed a break and we are so lucky that they volunteered. They are so sweet to trek all the way up here for us.
There are lots of sporty things to do in Galena like cross-country skiing and biking, but we really had two goals: sleep and eat. Actually, that's not true. Our goal was to just make some time for each other, something that we don't do often enough. It was a great trip and left us feeling so much more relaxed. Such a wonderful and welcome feeling.
Happy Valentines Day everyone!
2 comments:
I am glad you two got to get-away and that the kids have great aunts to take care of them! Sounds like a really cute town!
oh my gosh, those paintings! good thing that Joe and Mike weren't together when they discovered them, otherwise I think they would've pooled their money to go home with one. We also stopped and marveled. Hilarious.
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