Day 6: July 3, 2007--Davenport, Iowa

Drove to Davenport, Iowa, part of what is known as the Quad cities--Davenport, Moline, Illinois, Rock, Island and Bettendorf. Each city has its own identity and are on one side or the other of the Mississippi River.

We left Springfield, Illinois this morning driving first to Galesburg, Illinois. Now you may not have ever heard of Galesburg but it is famous for at least a couple of things. One is that it is home to Knox College. Knox College is famous because of a debate that took place on the steps of its Old Main between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln who were both running for President of the United States. Galesburg's is also fame because it is the hometown of Carl Sandburg. He was a famous poet.

So, of course we dropped by these two places to check things out. First, Knox College. We stood on the same steps that Lincoln stood on when he debated his opponent Stephen Douglas in 1858. Imagine that, I stood exactly where Lincoln stood! Today, on either side of the door into the building are plaques that commerate the debate that was held here so long ago.

Our next stop was at the childhood home of Carl Sandburg, an American poet who grew up here in Galesburg. In fact, though he moved away and became very famous, he had his ashes buried right here in the garden of this little modest home. The garden has a walkway with paving stones, each of which has a line from one of Sandburg's famous poems. My favorite is called simply Fog.

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

After touring the home we had lunch at a little downtown place with outdoor garden seating which was really nice on a very warm day.

Another hour or so and we arrived in the Quad cities. Our hotel was on Iowa side so we crossed a bridge over the mighty Mississippi River. Barges hauling agricultural and mining products were being towed up and down the river. It must have been nearly a mile across. After checking into our hotel we decided to see as many local attractions as posible since we had to leave early the next day. So we headed back across the river to Moline, Illinois, home of the John Deere Company. I have always dreamed of owning a John Deere tractor for my garden, but they are a bit expensive. So here I am in the next best thing. Oh well, it is probably a little too much tractor for my yard anyway.

We drove down to the river because we wanted to walk along the Mississippi. We found a spot and walked along for a half mile or so and then turned back. It is big, but not too big for this little family of ducks.

Dinner that night was the number one meal of all we had on this trip. We hadn't planned on eating there but the Bierstubbe Grille in East Davennport was simply amazing. The place wasn't fancy at all, but the food was just to die for. I had the best rueben sandwich I have ever had in my life and when my wife and I took a bite of their German potato salad at the same time, we looked at each other as if we had just won the lottery! Unbelieveable, and in Iowa? Go figure.

After dinner we went back to our hotel. That night turned out to be scarry and exciting! About 11:00 we were awakened by the sound of a very loud horn coming from somewhere. I called the front desk and they said it was a warning signal for a tornado. A tornado! "What are we supposed to do?" I asked. The deskclerk said we'd probably be fine, it was only a warning. So we stayed awake most of the night while the rain came down in a torrent--5 inches in 2 hours in places and the lightening flashed several times a minute. What a night! When we got up in the morning and went down to leave, the sky was clear, the day bright and beautiful. We would never have thought anything out of the ordinary had happened the night before if we hadn't lived through it. We did!