Report 13. Dubuque
But first ... John Deere addendum: Was curious about history of John Deere company and when they got into tractors. Some info from the company website: John’s son, Charles, took over the company reins in 1859, at age 21, and ran it for 49 years. It wasn’t until the 1920s that Deere got into the tractor business; apparently Ford and International Harvester were the first companies doing tractors. During the Depression, the company carried debtor farmers, which earned them gratitude and loyalty. Recently, they provided free equipment for the Greensburg, KS tornado clean-up.
May 18. Our quest for an RV park with wi-fi led us to the Rustic Barn RV Park in Kieler, Wisconsin, just across the Mississippi from Dubuque, Iowa. I'm a sucker for barn RV parks. Here’s the barn and our view of America‘s Dairyland from the park.
But first ... John Deere addendum: Was curious about history of John Deere company and when they got into tractors. Some info from the company website: John’s son, Charles, took over the company reins in 1859, at age 21, and ran it for 49 years. It wasn’t until the 1920s that Deere got into the tractor business; apparently Ford and International Harvester were the first companies doing tractors. During the Depression, the company carried debtor farmers, which earned them gratitude and loyalty. Recently, they provided free equipment for the Greensburg, KS tornado clean-up.
May 18. Our quest for an RV park with wi-fi led us to the Rustic Barn RV Park in Kieler, Wisconsin, just across the Mississippi from Dubuque, Iowa. I'm a sucker for barn RV parks. Here’s the barn and our view of America‘s Dairyland from the park.
Turned out wi-fi didn’t reach much beyond the porch, certainly not to our site, but the park had an ethernet connection in the office that we used quite a bit - to send out the last batch of breathlessly-awaited blogs. (Incidentally, Blogger doesn’t seem to be able to reproduce double dashes. Or maybe the problem is that I’m typing reports in Word, then copying and pasting them into Blogger later when I can get an internet connection. I’m going to try single dashes and see if that translates.)
In early afternoon we headed for the Field of Dreams movie site - near Dyersville, around 25 miles west of Dubuque. If you build it he will come. I had wanted to see this place for a long time – holy soil for baseball fans. We had to skip it last time through the state, last year, in the interest of time. Ample time on this trip. Here’s a picture of owner, Don Lansing, and myself.
In early afternoon we headed for the Field of Dreams movie site - near Dyersville, around 25 miles west of Dubuque. If you build it he will come. I had wanted to see this place for a long time – holy soil for baseball fans. We had to skip it last time through the state, last year, in the interest of time. Ample time on this trip. Here’s a picture of owner, Don Lansing, and myself.
Just as we pulled up a traveling softball team was taking pictures and leaving the field. There are no organized games on the field, but groups are allowed to play a little ball when they visit. we left, a school field trip showed up and took the field. Field trips give Susie Schoolmarm the willies. 
It turns out that the Field straddles two separately owned properties. The movie folks located it for lighting and sight lines. Don Lansing owns the farm and most of the field, but the property line runs across left and center field. There are two souvenir stands – one on each property. Also two signs and two access roads off the highway. There’s a sign on Lansing’s property saying don’t shop over there – it’s owned by an investment banking group (boo! hiss!). We got to visit with Don Lansing and he said he and the other owner tried to work something out, but couldn’t. The present owners wanted to put in several fields and make it a baseball/softball complex. Make lots of money. Lansing just wants to preserve it the way it was for the movie, keep it low-key, supported by sales and donations, not admission charges. He was a nice guy to visit with.
Here's close-up of house and barn. The Lansings do not live on the property – they have a new house across the road.
We bought souvenirs from the Lansing's shop and went back to Dubuque. I had spotted a Catfish Charlie’s restaurant in a brochure and that led to a fine meal, sitting on a deck overlooking the Mississippi.
I think there should be a partnership between Dubuque and Albuquerque – and any other cities ending in que. Are there any? (Martinique?) Other things in common: Dubuque’s airport code is DBQ and Albuquerque’s is ABQ. Both are situated on the bank of a great River. Both have casinos on their peripheries. Probably other similarities to bring us together.
Saturday we took a lunch cruise on the Mississippi in a stern-wheeler. That was restful and scenic. Learned that there are about 17 sets of locks and dams on the river between St. Louis and Minneapolis, authorized, I think, in the 1930s and built to permit river barge traffic and shipping through the upper Midwest.
I think there should be a partnership between Dubuque and Albuquerque – and any other cities ending in que. Are there any? (Martinique?) Other things in common: Dubuque’s airport code is DBQ and Albuquerque’s is ABQ. Both are situated on the bank of a great River. Both have casinos on their peripheries. Probably other similarities to bring us together.
Saturday we took a lunch cruise on the Mississippi in a stern-wheeler. That was restful and scenic. Learned that there are about 17 sets of locks and dams on the river between St. Louis and Minneapolis, authorized, I think, in the 1930s and built to permit river barge traffic and shipping through the upper Midwest.
The scene below on the river reminded me of a story I read in "Uncommon Carriers," by John McPhee. The book is about the shipping industry - planes, trains, trucks, barges. McPhee rode with a crew pushing barges on the Illinois River, rather narrow and shallow compared to the Mississippi. One big hazard was pleasure-boaters, whipping around the barges and tugboats. On the other hand, the crew fantasized about pleasure-boats on which gorgeous women would, uh, reveal themselves as they cruised past. Well, it actually happened when McPhee was on board - spectacularly, as I recall the story. The most excitement we had, Susie and I, was watching a couple struggling to control a sailboat as we went by.
On Friday we had taken picture of the Dubuque courthouse. One of the paddle-wheeler's crew told me that this county courthouse is the only gold-domed government building in Iowa besides the capital building.
Followed our cruise by strolling through a downtown art festival, then I rode the world’s shortest, steepest railway(though this claim is disputed), called the Fourth Street Elevator, also called the Fenelon Place Elevator. It’s 296 feet long with an elevation rise of 189 feet to the top of the bluff overlooking downtown DBQ. This means it has an angle of 41 degrees, pretty steep. Story is that a Dubuque banker didn’t like to use a half hour of his one and a half hour lunch break just getting home. So, he built this funicular in 1882. It’s been burned and replaced a couple of times, but it’s still operating. 
On the way into Dubuque the previous day we had come through St. Donatus, a Luxembourger settlement. Two large churches (I dubbed them St. Donations) stood out on opposite hills so we decided to go back for a closer look. They were both open. A nice lady chatted with us in the Lutheran church shown below – she might have been the preacher. Both had elegant sanctuaries. We had thought there might be shops or restaurants displaying the Luxembourg heritage, but there weren’t. After we left Dubuque I found brochure describing some old houses and barns off on a side road from Saint Donatus.
So, that's the Dubuque story. Tomorrow it's on to Ames.
Cheers,
Rob and Susie
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