Welcome to another Outdoor Wednesday. Today, we are traveling to historic Galena, Illinois.
Outdoor Wednesday is sponsored by Susan, @ http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ Be sure to stop by and check out the other Outdoor Wednesday posts.
Last week-end, we got our first real taste of spring. My hubby and I decided to take a little getaway to one of our favorite towns, Galena, Ill. Galena is about a 2.5 hour drive for us and is located in the North West corner of Illinois, just a short jaunt from the Wisconsin and Iowa borders. 90% of Galena is on the historic register and President and Mrs. Grants home is also here. Galena is full of historic, beautifully restored brick buildings, some beautiful mansions, fabulous shopping and of course Grant's home. All this packed into a charming little town of about 4000. We had our first real taste of spring last week-end with temps in the upper fifties and today it's nearly 70 degrees.
Even the bagpiper wore his kilt.
We took in a lot of window shopping.
And checked out a lot of fun stores.
The trolley was up and running.
We took a tour of President Grant's home.
The town's people built this home for Grant and his wife after the war for 2,500 dollars. The state of Illinois was deeded this from the Grant family and the city of Galena.
The beautiful Belvediere Mansion. We toured this on a previous visit.
The downtown was a hopping. This is a favorite jaunt for many Chicagoans.
A view from downtown. The town is quite hilly.
Some more window shopping.
Wonderful historic shops filled with all kinds of lovelies.
We stayed here in this lovely brick building, that is similar to a B&B.
A view of the courtyard leading to the hot tub. On Thursday I hope to have a very special tablescape to share. Thanks for stopping, Cindy
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What a nice trip. It really warmed up here and then turned cold again. Today was beautiful. Thanks for taking us with you.
ReplyDeleteHappy Outdoor Wednesday Cindy! Oh my..beautiful pictures! Looks like alot of fun! Thanks for sharing your photos.
ReplyDeleteSusan
Oh Cindy...Thanks for another great tour!It sounds like you are just a short drive from a lot of wonderful hstoric places! I'm glad you had some good weather for your get-away!! Hope you are having a great week...Debbie
ReplyDeleteHi Cindy! What a nice trip! Galena looks like a very charming and quaint city!...Christine
ReplyDeleteHi Cindy...this is the kind of trip I love to take...beautiful old buildings, historical sights, unusual shops, and just a slower pace of life...Wonderful photos! ;-) Bo
ReplyDeleteHi Sweet Cindy!
ReplyDeleteLoved going on this tour with you. What great houses! Very neat town. Thanks for taking us along on the tour... I adore historic architecture.
Happy Outdoor Wednesday!
XO,
Sheila :-)
It takes us about the same amount of time to get to Galena. I to love that little city. We toured the Presidents home and wasnt it amazing? So many of the original furnishings still there.
ReplyDeleteI cant remember the night of the pub we stopped at but they had the best nachos and bloody marys we ever had. Also we ate at Fried Green Tomatos which is mostly Italian and very good also.
Baldyman keeps saying he wants to go back there--so soon maybe.
hi Cindy! This looks like a town I'd love to visit! Thanks for sharing. Happy O.W. to you!
ReplyDeleteI used to live in Illinois and I loved to visit Galena. Your picture brought back lovely memories.
ReplyDeleteHi, Cynthia, I would love for you to be follower, and I'm going to follow you, too. Here's what you do... copy my blog address and go to your dashboard page. At the bottom of that it says add for following a blog. Click on that and then it will say public or private, and you click public. That's all you need to do. I just have never put the gadget on my sidebar because I'm kind of a techno klutz, and I'm afraid I would wipe out my list or something. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI'm adding you now...
XO,
Sheila :-)
Cindy, Looks like you had a lovely visit...totally an enjoyable trip! The shops looked so quaint, as well as the brick place you stayed in! ;) ~CC Catherine (Hey., I'm not sure what green punch you were referring to on my blog - can you maybe give me another hint., maybe it was a post on someone elses blog)
ReplyDeleteHi Cindy at cute Applestone Cottage. Looks like you picked a great place for a get-s-way.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet little town with lots of charm.
Kathy b
What a GREAT town! Thanks for the tour!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a wonderful place to visit. I would love to stroll down the streets. Looks warm (it's cold right now here so I miss the warmth of the sunshine).
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing us along in your tour :-)
Your tour of Galena was warm and inviting. Such lovely memories you and your husband will have about that trip. Wonderful pictures!
ReplyDeleteJoyce
Oh, Cynthia ...
ReplyDeleteWhat a quaint little town. I'd love to visit Galena someday. It's just beautiful, and I loved your tour!
I'm adding your "Applestone Cottage" to my blog list and will be back to visit again soon.
Sincerely,
Janie
What a lovely Spring outing. Wish I could have tagged along.
ReplyDeleteHappy OUTDOOR Day, Candy
Cindy, good morning! Great pictures to share today! I love them all! Happy Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you have had a great day.
ReplyDeletegreetings from Holland.
Thank you Cindy for that lovely tour of Galena. One picture(the shot looking down the road with all the buildings on either side)looks very much like a town near me called Warwick. It is especially beautiful at Christmas because most of the buildings are very old and have huge bay windows and of course the shop owners take full advantage of that feature and dress those windows beautifuly. This year I will take some pictures and post them for you to see. Thank you for your sweet comments about my kitchen. I'm so happy with the way it turned out.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed you springtime visit to beautiful Galena. What a beautiful and quaint town with so much history! We love history:-) and spring!
ReplyDeleteThe picture of all the stores lining the streets with the shops of lovlies...reminds me of our Park City, Utah.
Happy Out Door Wednesday!
Beth
Looks like you had a lot of fun! The window shopping is much safer than what I did yesterday. I didn't stay out at the window... I shopped! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat great pictures! I love that trolley!! Happy OW :)
ReplyDeleteCindy,
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I went to Galena once with all my sisters for a weekend of shopping and antiquing. We just had so much fun. Unfortunatly, I wasn't much of a picture~taker back then, so I really enjoyed yours. I will have to suggest to my husband that we visit this summer.
Happy Outdoor Wednesday Cindy!!!!
xoxo
Jane
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful trip, I know you both had a great time!!! I love quaint towns that have not been modernized, I bet you found quite a haul in those stores!! lol Thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
Sue
What a beautiful town! I enjoyed the trip, thanks. I would like to see the Grant home in person. I love historic sites.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how you get comments at the top?
ReplyDeleteI just found your wonderful blog. I am going to link to you on my genealogy blog about Oldendorf Nahrendorf, iowa and Galena, illinois. I was so tickled to find this post. A little post about Galena and link your page. Would that be okay?. My Fred Meyer lived Galena with someone for a short time. Mary Mollemann or Ahrens?
Thanks jo
Did you ever tour the mines?
ReplyDelete