1 post tagged “guttenburg iowa”

Mark took the day off yesterday and we went "visiting" relatives.  Weird as it may sound, what this means is that we travel around the various small towns close to us and take photos of grave stones which he uploads them to his genealogy program.  It is kind of cool because it's like a history lesson; each cemetery holds the spirit of people who settled in this area in the 1800's, most of them from the same area of Germany.

We also drove up to Guttenburg, a smallish town on the Mississippi River.  It's an old town, settled in the 1820's, mostly by Germans.  Main Street runs parallel to the river and is full of antique shops, boutiques and restaurants.  We ate at a little cafe and shared a bratwurst and a reuben.  We also went into a wonderful store that was loaded with imported pottery, glassware and Christmas decorations. 

Lock & Dam #10 are located here and you often get the chance to watch barges.   We were lucky yesterday to be able to watch a barge as it went through the lock.  The thing was huge!  I would guess at least 100 feet wide and 1000' feet long, and see it maneuver through the narrow lock opening was impressive.  We were watching from an observation area next to the lock and we were only 20 feet away.  I was able to talk to the crew members who were standing on the front; they told me they were hauling coal and soybeans.  I took a couple of videos, but we were so close it's hard to see the real size.

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Looking down Main Street.

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Overlooking the Mississippi

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Lock and Dam #10

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Amish boys fishing

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A barge waiting to go north through the lock.