Home of the King...

Escaping the trailing police car by hiding out at the northern entrance to the Nathez Trace Parkway.

We had the time, and wanted to avoid the interstates, so we decided on the "scenic" route from Nashville back to the Mississippi at Memphis TN, by taking part of the Natchez Trace Parkway. It was always going to be difficult to find the start of this road, and so it proved, but eventually we got onto it (trailed by a police car who probably misinterpreted our hestitancy for suspicious erratic driving). We had already read that the police haunt the Parkway because the speed limit is very low (40mph) which provides them with good pickings, but he eventually gave up following us when we pulled off to take our photo by the Parkway sign.

Our rental RAV4, now cleaned of snow, ice, salt and grime, enjoying the Parkway forest.

These Parkways (we did the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway 6 years ago) are run by the National Parks Service and are unique the way they weave their way through what seems to be wilderness but in reality is barely wider than the road itself and the tree cover on either side. They are the very antithesis of the interstates - relaxing and quiet (they are probably not quiet in Summer), and cruising along them is a very pleasant interlude, although not suited to making good time. We saw deer running across the Parkway in front of us. Every so often, the Natchez Trace Parkway entertained us with good views, engineering masterpieces, small waterfalls and historic places. One notable place was the death site and burial place of Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame. The cause of his death at only 36 along the Trace seems to be shrouded in Tennessee fog.

The Parkway runs over TN-96 with this award winning double arch bridge.

Idyllic rural scenery of Water Valley, as seen from the Parkway.

With regret, near Waynesboro, we turned off the Parkway to skirt the Mississipi (state) border and make it for Memphis. Much of this road is shown on our Rand McNally atlas as "scenic", but we found it a rather dreary stretch of not very interesting towns with long periods of low speed limits. The road itself was mostly very quiet, and one delightful discovery was a roadside cafe in Savannah which actually builds a sandwich for you with sliced bread and specified ingredients. The last 60 odd miles into Memphis (route 57), if not exactly scenic, was quite pleasant with beautiful houses on large manicured allotments.

The Heartbreak Hotel is directly opposite Graceland, but is not recommended for stays beyond the museum visit.

For Memphis, we made an executive decision to not stay downtown (very expensive) but, since we wanted to visit Graceland, to use Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel which is directly opposite. This would have been a good idea for one night, because it entitles you to a good deal and free parking for the Graceland visit. Having our whole Memphis stay at the HH was a poor decision, in retrospect, because (a) it is really rundown and sad, if not decrepit and (b) in a terrible part of town, with no decent cafes or restaurants nearby, only fast food outlets and heaps of gas stations. That said, our room was spacious and was equipped with a fridge and a microwave, and the hotel had a respectable bar food menu/

The day of our visit was fine and sunny, but very cold at 0C and with a strong wind!

Graceland is, of course, Elvis Presley's last house, and his heirs converted the house to a museum to help defray the costs of maintaining it and its grounds. It has become an impressive shrine devoted to Elvis' life, family and career. Perhaps not surprisingly, the museum underplays the dark periods in the middle and end of his life, but it is pretty frank (and detailed) about his terribly difficult upbringing in Tupelo MS, and the poverty-stricken lives of his parents, who are buried with him at Gracelands. Elvis's stunning wardrobe and mind-boggling entertainment awards are the major features of the Gracelands museum, and (unbeknown to us) it turns out he was a great philanthropist too. One of the delights of Gracelands was Elvis' home-movies on display on numerous monitors throughout.

The front facade of the imposing Gracelands mansion.

Living room at Gracelend as decorated by Elvis.

Part of the stunning gallery of gold records on display at Gracelands.

Huge plaque presented by Memphis City to recognise Elvis' contribution to the city and his support of many deserving causes.

In peak season, Gracelands must be as crowded as Disneyland. During our visit, the carpark was less than 5% full, yet the mansion seemed to be quite busy with visitors, mostly middle-aged to elderly "tragics" who got quite emotional at the grave-site. Most visitors seemed to be non-Americans. The place is run like a theme park, which (so as not to impinge on the Gracelands site itself) extends to the other side of Elvis Presley Boulevard where there are numerous opportunities to buy mechandise and devour awful junk food. Also on this other side are interesting exhibits on Elvis's motor vehicle collection (more home movies) and his aeroplanes, not to mention the Heartbreak Hotel itself.

The graves of Elvis and his parents were relocated to Gracelands to thwart souvenir-hunters at the original, unsecured, site.

One of Elvis' cars, a Cadillac Convertable. Highway 51 through Memphis, which passes Graceland, is now named "Elvis Presley Boulevard".

The musical gates to Graceland are as well known as the mansion, shown here after dark, when the gates are closed for the night.

As we drove around, we discovered the whole city from Memphis downtown to the Mississippi border (maybe 15 miles) is very poor and dispirited. This is sad, for such an important centre of the civil rights movement. The only decent buildings are churches, and there are myriads of these. The depression extends right into the downtown area - Clare's research found us an excellent coffee shop (actual crockery cups, saucers and spoons) just blocks south of the city centre but the area was incredibly quiet and deserted, and we parked there on Main Street without any competition for spaces. While at that end of town, we looked at the main railway station. Unlike in other cities, it is still in use by Amtrak (trains between Chicago and New Orleans) stop here once a day in each direction. The terminal is a fine building, used as a function centre, but not as opulent as others we have seen on this trip.

Trolley trundles by Bluff City Coffee in S Main St, Memphis. The street was almost totally deserted.

Memphis' downtown area is reasonably compact and is well served by a trolley system running on a frequent timetable,and $1 a ride, up Main St (a pedestrian mall much of the way) and down the riverfront (on old railway tracks). The trolleys look like old and ancient Sydney or Melbourne trams are quite possibly are! We used the trolley to traverse downtown before walking around.

Almost empty trolleys ply almost empty Main Street in downtown Memphis.

B.B.King at the Memphis Tennessee Visitors Centre

Nashville was quiet, but Memphis was comatose. We saw very few locals and even fewer tourists. Some of the things we wanted to look at were closed "for the season", even though the weather was perfectly fine (but cold). Memphis is very proud of its musical heritage, and Beale Street, the famous music street was awake, and everything was open, but deathly quiet inside. During the day, we could find only one place with live music, although Memphis does come alive at night with live acts on at dozens of venues, centred on Beale St, but also in the suburbs.

Poster at Kings in Beale Street in Memphis. We had Catfish Po'Boy!

Diversion to Country Music HQ...

Stylised musical footpath marker in Nashville downtown.

A last minute decision had us deviate from the river road and dash 300miles through southern Illinois, cutting off a corner of Kentucky, so we could visit the famous Nashville TN. This was a tedious but nerve-racking drive along busy interstates, crowded with speeding cars and trucks. It really is much more relaxing and interesting to avoid freeways if you have the time!

Giant guitar outside Hard Rock Cafe at bottom of Broadway, Nashville TN.

Nashville downtown (on a rainy day) was just as you would expect it to be as the country music capital of the world. The main street Broadway, and the cross street 2nd Ave S, are lined with honky tonks and bars which, each of which from midday (every day, we understand) attract customers with live country music. The music is "free", but customers are expected to buy a drink or a meal, and, of course, are invited to tip the performers as well as the bar staff. To be a bar-hopper and get a good cross section of the acts thus requires generous consumption of food and booze, something we are trying to avoid on this trip! And we had to drive back to our hotel too. So we sampled the various premises minimally, and poked our head through the door at many!

Country duo Katie Marie and Bo live at Legends Corner.

We were there on a wet winter Monday afternoon, surely the least popular time, yet all solos, groups and bands we saw and heard were really good - we imagine the poor ones don't get gigs, don't survive long! By all appearances, the business model is that the performers get to keep their tips - we assume they seek time slots at the venues and get them according to reputation - and no money changes hand between the venue and the performers. Any day here, there are a myriad of good performances by aspiring musicians with rather little chance of being "discovered" and getting rich.

The lower part of Broadway, Nashville is lined with dozens of bars and cafes with all-day live music.

As is our habit, we sought out the old railway station, Union Station. Here, it's well up Broadway in yet another magnificent building, and yet again, the station has been saved by being used as a hotel. It has the most glorious lobby, which would have been the station's main concourse back in the heyday of railway travel. Goods trains still go by, but it looks as if Amtrak has abandoned Nashville although it still runs routes along the eastern and western borders of Tennessee.

Elaborate and beautiful Union Station terminal in Nashville, now a hotel lobby.

The tablet app "Yelp" guided us to the best coffee in downtown, at "Crema". Actually it was several blocks out of the centre. The cappucino here was the closest thing to a Sydney coffee that we have discovered so far - delicious, strong, low on milk and froth, pretty cocoa pattern on top and (wait for it!) delivered in a cup and saucer! Nirvana - such a delightful change from a 16oz takeaway paper cup. Crema was pretty popular - they obviously have the formula right.

Broadway streetscape on a grey day in Nashville.

Out of town is the suburb of Opryland, and the main attraction here is the Gaylord Opryland Resort. This is a gigantic Marriott hotel (2800 rooms!) clustered around 4 or so great atriums, populated by numerous restaurants, bars, ballrooms etc. It makes so much sense to have the rooms facing inward to a sculpted environment rather than outward to an ordinary view (and freeway and carpark). The impression is one of a large theme park, but it is very, very impressive! It was very quiet during our visit, obviously deep into the off-season, but we helped them by enjoying our daily beverages in the Cascades bar.

Cascade atrium at Gaylord Opryland Resort

"Resurgence", blown glass sculpture by Ludek Hroch at Gayland Opryland Resort, Nashville

Being here in the off-season has many benefits but some downsides. The Grand Old Opry, a famous show we would have gone to see, was closed the entire time we were in Nashville! In winter, they only have reduced performances in the original smaller venue downtown, rather than the newer theatre in Opryland. C'est la vie!

St. Louis Blues...

Grand old Union Station, now converted to a hotel and shopping mall.

St. Louis MO is a big and important city on this journey! It is where both the Illinois and Missouri Rivers join the Mississippi. Historically, it is a crossroads of continental trade as a major river port and later one of the largest railway hubs. We learned that Europeans first started here at the end of the 17th Century after the French ignored Native American ownership and claimed the land. The settlement was named Saint Louis by Pierre Leclede after the French King. In 1803, France sold much of the midwest to the United States, the Louisiana Purchase, St. Louis with it, and the city then became the base for American expansion west. The magnificent, underground Museum of Westward Expansion is here, underneath the iconic Gateway Arch.

Statue at Laclede's landing place, together with down and out residents enjoying the welcome sunshine.

Covered wagon, iconic image of America's push west of the Mississippi, in the Westward Expansion Museum.

St. Louis' "Old Courthouse" where significant decisions were made on civil rights.

St. Louis looks to be a proud city sadly in decline. The population has been reducing since the 1950's and it shows. The route we happened to take into the city was through poor, negelected and, in some cases, abandoned areas. To make it worse, St. Louis was totally unprepared for the polar vortex despite plenty of warning. It doesn't snow that much in this city, and the heavy storms of the past week firstly shut it down, then left it floundering in a mess of mostly uncleared roads and totally uncleared sidewalks. They are calling it "road slops". As we drove in, the local radio was full of how the city has stuffed up and what they should do about it. And later, with temperatures risen to about 0C, it turned into a slushy mess, reminiscent of Perisher Valley! We felt distressed but quite at home in this icy and muddy mess. However, conditions were so bad on our first full day in St. Louis what with steady rain and impassible footpaths that we retreated to the Plaza Frontenac shopping mall and went to see Inside Llewyn Davis, the lastest Coen Bros movie, not their finest effort. The shopping centre itself was unlike any other we have seen in the USA, what with only upmarket stores and cafes, and no fast food outlets. We found out later that there was a big RV show on in town - if we had known, we may have spent that wet day at the show which was bound to be a relevation to us Aussies.

The next day could not have been more different. In the morning, clouds cleared to reveal perfectly blue skies. Much of the "sidewalk slops" were still there, but at least we could now explore the city. The main streets are Market and Washington - we walked them both.

It was Saturday admittedly, but Market Street was very quiet - no pedestrians and few cars. Numerous grand buildings line the street. One is the grand old Union Station, formally a massive railway passenger terminal, now tastefully renovated and rebirthed to a Hilton hotel and shopping mall. The shops seem to be struggling, but it is winter, definitely not tourist season in St. Louis. The current Amtrak station has been exiled to a block or two back from its fabulous old terminal. Another fine building is the "Old Courthouse", now a very interesting museum, focused on slavery, civil rights and their related significant court cases, one of which was the trigger for the Civil War. (Missouri was a slave state, made interesting because Illinois, across the river, was a free state.)

The winter sun flares from behind the Gateway Arch, with the Interstate 64 bridge crossing the Mississippi River.

The Gateway Arch at the eastern end of Market Street, conceived in 1933, designed in 1951 and completed in 1965 (a saga rather like the Sydney Opera House), is downright astonishing and awe-inspiring. It is the indisputed symbol of the city. From the CBD, you can't appreciate how big it is (it is, according to Wikipedia, the largest arch in the world). When close to it, and underneath it, it is staggeringly large and beautiful, clad in stainless steel and reaching high into the sky.

This far south, and as the weather warms, the frozen river itself is starting to break up. We saw some barge tugs runing their engines if not actually going anywhere, and crossing the Eads Bridge in St. Louis on our first day here, muddy water was appearing between sheets of ice. By the next day, this ice seems to have mostly disappeared, and the Mississippi now looks like a regular river, even blue!

Cobblestone paving provides great character to the Landings bar and restaurant area by the river.

Thanks to roadworks preventing our intended walking route, we stumbled into the Landings area of town. At last some life! Here there be bars and nightclubs, and we had a sandwich and a drink at one of them. Cobblestone streets too, to add to the area's ambience. An emergency visit by the St. Louis Fire Department added to the fun.

Enjoying a mid-afternoon cleansing ale at Hannigans Bar in the Landings.

Detail of the Eads Bridge reveals its age, texture and structure. Metro trains run on the level below the road deck.

Classical steel structure of the Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge.

The walk uptown back to our hotel was up Washington Street. Still pretty quiet, but more people and traffic than Market Street. More grand buildings here, but this time they are old warehouses converted to apartments and hotels. At street level, there are good numbers of restaurants and bars, bowling alleys. Even the occasional store, but this downtown seems to be devoid of the shops and department stores which define other cities. They must be out in the suburbs?

Inside this 8 lane bowling alley we found a wedding reception going on.

Keeping Warm - Travelling South...

Typical red farm barn near St. Donatus IA

Throughout the cold-snap affecting the north eastern United States we notice that the usual expression "have a nice day" when you depart a business has been universally replaced by "keep warm". TV, radio and print media are full of "be careful" and "stay indoors", but we haven't noticed any exhortations to say "keep warm". We don't know how this has become so common! Maybe we don't use the right apps? The news is now pointing out how the temperatures are lower than at the south pole! One hundred year records have been broken.

Spectacular church under steep bluff near St. Donatus IA

As we head south, following the Great River Road on one side or the other, keeping warm is becoming just slightly easier. The polar vortex has gone somewhere else. It's not that temperatures are rising much, but we just feel that it is just a little bit less bitter. In the Quad Cities IL/IA, for example, we were prepared to park and rush into shops, cafes and bars without our full compliment of clothing on. Maybe we are getting acclimatised, but the temperatures were still well below zero in Celcius.

Christmas themes decorate many houses, this one near Bellevue IA.

Bridge over Mississippi River between Sabula IA and Savanna IL

Every town features unique Christmas decorations. This example, Savanna IL.

Over three days, we made the drive from Dubuque IA to St. Louis MO, with overnights at the Quad Cities and Hannibal MO. When we are on the west side of the river, we are in Iowa, then Missouri. On the east side, it's Illinois all the way. We swap from one side to the other based on the towns we want to visit, and where the light is, for photographs. But the sky is mostly grey and the light isdead. Sunshine increasingly became a rare commodity. For the first time, we saw clear water on the Mississippi River at about Port Byron, IL. But the water was still mostly thinly frozen and no sign of any attempts at navigation. No ice fisherman any more - we suppose the ice is too thin. The countryside is still 100% snow covered. We made some navigational blunders following the river road stretch from the Quad Cities to Hannibal. The area is called "yellow banks" which we assume is a reference to the endless cornfields which are, at the moment, covered in snow. We were slowed down by a snowstorm and a whiteout for about half an hour. We did see an unexpected covered bridge somewhere in Henderson County, and the huge Mormon Temple in the tiny riverside town of Nauvoo was an amazing sight. The river was really wide along here. And departing Hannibal, we had to deviate from our planned riverside route because of a train derailment. We passed some pretty towns on the Illinois side of the river, and managed to miss entirely the supposedly must-see village of Elsha.

Penny farthing sculpture in Port Byron IL town square.

Suprise discovery of a covered bridge in Henderson County IL

Wherever we stay at night, we have adopted the habit of calling into a bar somewhere within walking distance (if possible) of our hotel. We get tips from the hotel receptionist and the app Yelp. Our drinking habits have solidified. Clare chooses a cocktail from the menu, and Mike has taken to ordering Jim Beam neat. It's cheaper than drinking Glenfiddich, and much more available. We are enjoying these bar visits - we go to trouble to engage the bar-keeper in conversation - this is not difficult because they know it helps them get a better tip. Mostly, barmen and servers easily recognise that we are not locals, but they can rarely guess correctly where we are from. A waitress at the Crumbles Cafe in Savanna IL seemed to think we were the most unusual customers she had ever dealt with - it's a small town way off the tourist trail!

The Quad Cities straddle the Iowa/Illinois border and comprise Davenport (where we stayed), Bettendorf IA, Moline (where we found a good Walmart) and Rock Island IL (where we got lost getting out of town). Our Great River Road bible Road Trip USA by Jamie Jensen, had warned us that the Quad Cities was an "enormous sprawl". We didn't hang around here any longer than necessary, but, superficially, we'd agree with that assessment.

Iconic Mormon Temple in the tiny town of Nauvoo IL

Hannibal MO is the boyhood hometown of Mark Twain, and it has the cutest historical downtown. On our visit, you could shoot a cannon up the main street and not hit anyone. Then we realised, this is a tourist town that may only come alive on weekends. Some shops were only open Friday - Sunday. But we found an open cafe, Java Jive, where, despite language and nomenclature difficulties, they tried very hard (and succeeded) at getting our coffee order right.

Snow clearing by the Mark Twain museum, near his boyhood home, in Hannibal MO.

The Mississippi River is crossed by dozens of spectacular steel bridges, this one from Louisiana MO into Illinois.

Road signs highlighting the Great River Road and the St. Louis MO area where the Illinois and Missouri Rivers join the Mississippi.

Approaching St. Louis, we had seen flocks of swans flying overhead with their necks outstretched in a beautiful formation, then we heard on the radio that rare Trumpeter Swans could be seen at West Alton on the northern outskirts of the city. These swans were hunted to near extinction decades ago, but are reported to be making a comeback. As we went through West Alton, we saw a bird sanctuary right at the intersection of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and went into it. Lo and behold, we spied some of the endangered species on a rare patch of open water. There was only one other car there, and they had a camera with a much longer lens than ours! This tiny encounter with rare wildlife was a major highlight of the day.

Lighthouse at Grafton IL, together with statue of trumpeter swans?

Rare trumpeter swans have been seen in open water patches near St. Louis MO, and is distingishable by his black beak.

Onto the (frozen) Great River Road

The eastern states and the midwest of the US is effectively in lockdown. As we write this, it's Monday 06 January, and extreme cold weather has closed almost everything down. Today is the coldest day in 20 years. Where we are in Iowa, it's incredibly cold, with wind making it worse, but we have (so far) avoided the storms which have brought heavy snow to places further east. Even so, all schools are closed and the TV news is repeatedly warning us how dangerous conditions will be to exposed skin, and to not go outside. Last evening, well rugged up, we had a walk through Dubuque downtown, and the streets were deserted of pedestrians and cars. Everyone seems to have taken the stay at home advice seriously. It was true - even our excellent gear is not good enough to keep you warm under these conditions!

We found a bar, the Mason Dixie Saloon, and went in for a drink. At last some people! It was pretty crowded with football fans watching the Green Bay Packers playing San Francisco live. This game had been hyped for the last several days as it was be placed in Wisconsin and would be the "coldest game ever played". We watched for half an hour before leaving the brave the cold weather again - in the end, the home team lost, so they'll be dismal in Green Bay today. The next day, warned by fearsome weather reports, the streets were still empty of cars and pedestrians. Many shops were closed for the cold snap - we have never seen a town so quiet. Today, the temperature converted to -24C, and was -45C after applying the wind chill factor. No wonder there is no-one about. We have never experienced such cold, even when being in the northernmost part of Alaska in winter!

At the Mississippi Visitors Centre at Prescott, WI, the start of our long journey alongside the river.

We made it to Dubuque from Minneapolis over a couple of days by driving south down the Great River Road which tracks the Mississippi River quite closely, and passes through numerous small and historical river towns. There are two versions of the road, one on either side of the river. Midway, we stayed overnight in La Crosse WI, a very pretty town on the river.

Railway line drawbridge over the Mississippi at Prescott WI.

La Crosse is overlooked by Granddad Bluff which provides great views of the city.

A fine house in La Crosse.

Failing light does not hide the grandeur of the Mississippi River as it passes by La Crosse WI.

La Crosse downtown is not large but has many interesting shops, bars, cafes and restaurants.

Driving south in winter means that the sun is always in our eyes, and in retrospect, it may have been better to have attempted this journey the other direction. We have adapted a particular routine for road-trip days. The days start slowly - it's dark until 7:30am, and we don't get on the road until about 10-10:30. There are important rituals to perform: breakfast, getting our luggage out to the car, scraping ice and snow off the windscreen, warming the freezing car up, and, of course, finding good coffee somewhere.

Lake Pepin is a giant fresh water lake on the Great River, viewed here from the northern end.

Busy railroads run along the river on both sides.

We only do about 150-175 miles in a day, what with cautious driving in poor conditions, stopping for sightseeing and photographs, getting clothes on to fend off the cold, then off again for the car. The towns are interesting, some are very pretty, but its generally too cold to walk around them freely. Somewhere in the early afternoon, we try to find a sandwich and a cuppa for lunch. In these really small towns, mostly "closed for the season", our best opportunities are the little markets attached to gas stations. The sun never gets high - it's getting dark by 3pm, and fully dark by 4:30pm, so we hope to have found our next accommodation by them.

We have seen ice-fisherman everywhere on this road trip, usually equipped with giant augers and warming enclosures.

Driving the river roads informs us well on what makes this area tick. Busy railway tracks line both sides of the river, and we see a lot of commerce going on, with multi-kilometer long trains shuffling up ad down and servicing industry in the small towns. The heaviest industry we saw is mining shipping terminals and power stations. Away from the river, the countryside is thick with cornfields (snow covered and dormant) and cattle, feeding on rolled up hay.

Many riverside towns and cities line both sides of the river, and many are colourful and cute. This one is Fountain City on the Wisconsin side.

Typical colourful riverfront building in Lansing IA.

Unusually, the main street in Marquette IA runs uphill from the river.

Decorated housefront in Marquette IA.

The strongest visual element in Marquette IA is the casino which is across a footbridge to an old permanently docked riverboat.

The river road areas are populated by hundreds or thousands of corn farms. All have silos, the icon of rural properties here. Often there is cattle.

Winona MN is a city on an island in the river. This splendid building is the municipal office.

The river's path is defined by high bluffs on both sides. This spectacular example is near La Crescent MN.

In Dubuque, we stayed a couple of nights in the Julian, described as an "antidote to chain hotels". Regardless it is a historic building in a prime downtown location and has been finely renovated in traditional style, and was a good choice by Clare. Dubuque has some lovely old buildings and nice harbour scenery (all frozen solid) but there was no way we could stroll around this town like we normally would. The Julian is named after Julian Dubuque who was a French lead miner - he was apparently frustrated by not being able to viably ship his product away from the town.

Fictional representation of Julian Dubuque, with his indian wife Potosa.

Residents of the bluff houses over Dubuque have a funicular railway to enable the to walk directly to downtown.

Spectacular clock tower in Main St, Dubuque.

Illuminated church on a freezing night in downtown Dubuque.

Frozen condensation inside the window of our Julian Hotel room in Dubuque.

Instead we decided to hunker down, and spend the best part of the day in the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. We still walked there (only about 500m) and staff at the museum thought we were mad. For a couple of hours, we were the only visitors to the museum, and we were treated right royally with personal guidance. They even fed the fish (inside) and the sea-otters just for us! And we managed to get a great cuppa there too. The museum is located on the river front on a site where riverboats used to be built. Apparently, it is one of the best on the river, the staff were exquisitely friendly, so it was a day well spent.

This eagle sheltering from the cold in the outdoor aviary at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.

Painting by John Gantz Jr on display at the Mississppi River Museum in Dubuque.

The weather in Dubuque for that day was splendid, officially described as "fair and breezy", except for the temperature. The sky was clear and 100% sunny. Of course, the sun never gets very high in the sky, but our hotel room faces south so it was very bright when we returned there. We seem to alternate sunny days with grey days. The photos we take on grey days aren't as vivid as those on sunny days, but we can't wait for the sun to come out!

No, not a McDonalds restaurant, but the magnificent Dubuque courthouse buidling.

The Julian Dubuque Bridge (US-20) and the entrance to Ice Harbour in Dubuque.

The Julian Hotel in downtown Dubuque is overlooked by mansions on the bluff.