King Kuhl Weekend (Day 3)

This was the last day on a quick trip to Iowa for King Kuhl's retirement party.  So on Monday morning K9 and I woke up and left to head back to Milwaukee for a flight that I had that evening.  But knowing me, I cannot just take a straight line to get back.  So I was able to talk K9 into detouring to Dyersville, Iowa to see the Field of Dreams Movie Site, then to Galena, Illinois for lunch, before heading back to Milwaukee.  

K9 had never been to the Field of Dreams Movie Site and I had not been since June 2017 when my family and I were on a road trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota.  My family and I had stopped there as Field of Dreams is one of my favorite movies of all time and I wanted to play catch with the girls on the field.  At the time, the corn was not that tall and most of the onsite attractions were open.  However, this time there was no one there. It had just snowed about 3-4 inches the previous night.  

Unlike the last time I was at the site, there is a new baseball field off in the distance.  This is the field that MLB built for their annual game in Dyersville.  You can see it off in the distance of this picture with K9 pretending he's Babe Ruth and calling his shot.  

There is a plaque at the original site commemorating the game from August 2021.  

Fans of the movie will recognize the carving of Ray Loves Annie is still on the bleachers after all these years.  

Overall, K9 and I had a blast in Dyersville at the Field of Dreams Movie Site.  He will have to go back in the summer when it's much warmer and the corn is growing.  It is a sight to see and a lot of fun.  However, we were very cold, I needed to get back to Milwaukee and had to get some lunch first.  

Dyersville, Iowa is a few minutes outside of Dubuque, Iowa.  Dubuque is a great town along the banks of the Mississippi River that I had a lot of fun in when I visited back in 2017.  However, this time we did not have time to stop there because we were on a tight schedule.  I was able to take a picture as we were crossing the Mississippi River from Iowa into Illinois though.  

Once on the other side of the Mighty Mississippi, Galena, Illinois is not too far ahead.  Galena is one of my favorite towns I have ever been to in my travels.  Their main street is picturesque and vibrant.  Even on a cold March Monday, there were shops open, people walking around, and a lot of things going on.  

K9 and I walked the main street, stopped into a couple shops, and then ate lunch in the Green Street Tavern, which is a restaurant in the historic DeSoto House Hotel.  The food there was great and served fast.  Something that was appreciated because we were short on time.

I had been telling K9 about this long staircase I had walked up last time I was in Galena and we were able to find it.  It is located next to Vinny Vanucchi's.  It is a very long and steep staircase which was worth walking up for the view at the top.  It was snowy and cold on this day, so we did not walk up there, but we did see a deer on the side of the staircase up near the top.  

After visiting Galena, we made our way back to K9's house, hung out with him and his wife for a little bit, and then headed to the airport to get dropped off to come home.

Overall it was a great trip made even better by hanging out with a bunch of my friends who I had not seen in a long time.  Taking to the road with K9 was epic.  He follows a lot of my travels and has a lot of questions about them.  So being able to show him a mini version of one of my road trips was fun.  

Bottom line, make sure you all take a break from your every day lives, whether work or family, and get out on the road with a buddy.  It's so much fun and it's great to just talk about life and whatnot.  It's good for the mind.  Thanks for going with me and driving my ass around K9!  You are an amazing friend and I love having you in my life.