Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
18.
McGregor-Marquette
TravelingfromEffigyMoundsNationalMonumenttowardPikesPeak,youwillsooncome
upon the sister communities McGregor-Marquette, nestled between the Mississippi River
and the towering bluffs of northeast Iowa. If planning a stop here, you'd better have sev-
eral hours: The streets of these historic river towns are lined with 19th-century buildings,
antique and specialty shops, and charming restaurants, such as the Old Man River Restaur-
ant and Brewery, housed on a two-story redbrick Romanesque style building that recently
madeitontotheNationalRegistryofHistoricalPlaces.Ifyouwanttotrysomeaward-win-
ningwines,stopbytheEaglesLandingVineyardandWinery,whichprovideswinetastings
daily and live music every weekend in September.
19.
Pikes Peak State Park
Most explorers would be proud to have even one place named in their honor, but General
Zebulon Pike could claim two: one peak in Colorado that became famous, and a bluff in
Iowa that few people have ever heard of—despite the fact that Pike sighted it a year before
its legendary counterpart.
During his 1805 expedition to map the Upper Mississippi, Pike chose two locations for
forts, one of them atop a summit on the west side of the river. The area is now occupied
by a 1,000-acre park that overlooks the site where explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis
Jolliet first encountered the Father of Waters. The park offers a bird's-eye view of the con-
fluence point where the Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi.
20.
Dubuque
Iowa's oldest city, Dubuque, gave birth to the state's first bank and newspaper. Among the
city's attractions are the General Zebulon Pike Lock and Dam and the Dubuque Museum
ofArt,housedintheoldcountyjail.(Thebuildingisoneofthefewremainingexamplesof
Egyptian Revival architecture in America.) The best views are from the top of the Fenelon
Place Elevator—built in 1882 to connect bluff-top homes with downtown businesses, it is
the world's steepest and shortest railway—and from Eagle Point Park, with sweeping vis-
tas that overlook broad areas of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
Atop Dubuque's floodwall in the Port of Dubuque is the Mississippi Riverwalk, a half-
mile-longwalkwayalongtheMississippiriverbank.ItrunsfromtheIceHarborinthesouth
totheDubuqueRail Bridge andAlliant EnergyAmphitheater inthenorthandprovidesex-
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