Port of McGregor

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Alrighty-then........after our pleasant two hours or so at Pike's Peak, we motored with care down the steep road into downtown McGregor, Iowa. The town's autumn festival was going on, meaning Main Street was very clogged with traffic and parking places were filled. We ended up pulling onto a side street, which turned out to be providential as far as historical fact-gathering goes. In the background of this first photo you can see the grain terminal silos which sit next to the Mississippi River. Barges load up there.

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We parked near this Bluffside Memorial Garden:

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This historical plaque stood in the garden area, too, providing us with interesting

tidbits about McGregor's past. I had never before heard of the Ringling Brothers' connection to this town. (If you click on that link......be sure to read the boxed story recalling the Jesse James' gang stopping for breakfast at a farm near here.......on their way to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota!)

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And, sure enough, across the street was a Ringling Brothers' Circus tribute........in the alley behind the Main Street stores. By the way.......that fascinating alleyway is shown in the first photo on this previous post. The coffee shop photo is from Main Street.

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Main Street was cheerfully busy; there were flea markets here and there, and an art show in the park. We didn't have time to delve into any of those places........which is fine.......I have enough stuff in my house already, but it would have been fun to browse.

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For $4.00, you could take a horse-drawn carriage ride:

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This next photo is my favorite one from McGregor.......because of the tree reflections in the windows of the old building!

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Oh, boy......its almost 4:00 p.m.......our drive home will take 1-1/2 hours........I will be late for chores!! Too bad.....boo-hoo!

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Someday, it would be fun to spend a couple days here, exploring the shops. Although a river town, McGregor doesn't have much of a riverfront. Main Street runs perpendicular to the river, with a railroad track running parallel to the river, servicing the grain terminal.

Actually, wouldn't it be fun to have lots of time and money, and own a house up here. Oh, it would be frivolous and silly, and God knows what he's doing by giving me exactly what I need to live, without silly extras. But, there are quite a few people from our area who own trailers and cabins along the Mississippi River in northeast Iowa, as get-aways for fair-weather weekends. My sister's inlaws own two little houses along the river in Lansing, Iowa, north of McGregor........their family is free to spend time there whenever they want. Wouldn't that be FUN!! I'm not really envious, of course (wink).......but, it would be pleasant to have a place like that to escape to once in a while!

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Well, our afternoon's outing needs to draw to a close. Its time to go home. We followed the old highway below the bluff from McGregor north to Marquette, hoping to catch closer glimpses of the river. It was difficult, as there were train cars sitting in the way most of the time. Near Marquette, my daughter was able to snap this photo of the Highway 18 bridge to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. I remember the old bridge that was there before this one was built. It was in the old style, similar to the one still is in use at Lansing, Iowa.

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Well......I truly enjoyed this pleasant outing to Pike's Peak and McGregor! It was great fun spending time with my two daughters. I would say we're all good friends now, having weathered the sometimes bumpy trails and trials of childhood, adolescence, and the teenage years. If that's where you are now.......I can hopefully assure you that it will pass, and there will be smoother roads ahead. Be the mom when you have to be, and someday you will be friends.

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