15-Year Anniversary in Galena, IL

We arrived at our resort hotel, La Fevre, in Galena, which is a little off the beaten path, but has a majestic view of the countryside, hosting a lake on its property. After dropping our dog and luggage off in the room, we made our way to Main Street in Galena. Here we went to absolute-must shops like Specialty Gifts where I purchased a hand-carved Badger-themed totem pole for my dad and my wife purchased an Iowa State totem pole for her parents. We then hit up The Root Beer Revelry for some locally-crafted root beers. This place has a lot of different flavors, so I definitely recommend getting a flight of root beers to find your favorite. Then we got some olive oil at Gelana Garlic Company and locally-crafted hot sauce at the Galena Canning Company. We visited a variety of other shops on the strip including Peace of the Past NORTH, an incredible used-book store featuring books published in the nineteenth century and modern books donated for resale, as well. After a day of shopping, we made our way to Gobbie’s Sports Pub and Eatery for some dinner. Every meal is served with a salad course that is actually to-die-for. Not that other places don’t have good salads, but I have never been blown away by a salad like I was at Gobbie’s. Their Italian beef is incredible and the service was fast and cordial, as well. It gives a bit of a sports bar vibe, but a fun one with plenty of space, both inside and on the patio. Then we came back to La Fivre and took Abbie, our dog, on a walk around the beautiful lake.

We went to the Apple River Fort, which is actually located in Elizabeth, Illinois. This is a facsimile of a nineteenth century fort where Abraham Lincoln was stationed as a militiaman during the Black Hawk War, many years before he was president. To get to the fort, you must first park near the visitor’s center then hike a trail to get to the actual fort. It’s a scenic walk, with plenty of historical plaques on display. The fort itself is a remarkable representation of life in the early nineteenth century. It must have been a rugged experience to be stationed at such an installation. When we came back to the visitor’s center, I was able to purchase the memoir of Black Hawk, himself. 

When we returned to Galena, we decided to take a tour of General Grant’s home, located within the Galena city limits. The tour guide did a fantastic job and was informative on all aspects related to the house and general life in those days. To be clear, this is the house that Grant lived in after the Civil War and during his presidency, when he was in town. It is almost completely furnished with original furniture from their era. It was quite interesting to see how much shorter most people were in the nineteenth century (mostly due to general malnutrition of the time). The house also has a great deal of portraits that look as though you would find them in Washington D.C. Definitely a must-visit national site if you are interested in history.

On our second day, we got our dog situated with food and outdoor time before heading out to breakfast and Charlie’s Place Eatery. This is an incredible modern restaurant that got us seated quickly, despite a line at the front. I’m a big fan of skillets, so I ordered the Polish sausage skillet, which was served incredibly fast and had a generous amount of food on the plate. 

When we were done with breakfast, we went back to shopping! We visited an antique and jewelry shop called Gustafson & Grey, where we discovered these incredible skull floral tea cups that we immediately bought up.

Then we went to our designated bus stop for the wine tour with Countryside Tours. We were then picked up from the post office and whisked away to the Galena countryside. Our first stop was at Fergedaboudit Vineyard & Winery where they had a scenic landscape, perfect for photos. They also had one of my favorite wines I tasted called the Bada Boom, which is a sweet red. After that tour, we boarded the bus and made our way to Massbach Ridge Winery. Massbach has a splendid outdoors patio where a musician was playing on an acoustic guitar. The wine was tasty, especially Good Ol’ Red, which is named after their dog, who was also in attendance at the winery. Here, visitors can also stomp on their own grapes, out by the field. My wife indulged in this life-long dream of hers to recreate an I Love Lucy episode.

Third on the list was Galena Seller’s Vineyard. I didn’t actually get a typical glass of wine here; what I did get was a Bloody Mary wine-like drink that was as rich as it was delicious.

When the tour wrapped up, our host and driver took us back to downtown Galena, by the post office. We debarked and went to Fried Green Tomatoes for some dinner. The wait was only forty minutes, which is really good for Main Street on the weekend. The food was even better. I got the Mile High Meatloaf, which is meatloaf laid on cornbread, piled high with mashed potatoes with a bourbon glaze.