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| Dropped Mav with G'ma and we were on our way! |
I mentioned on Instagram last week, but I feel like Josh and I have finally hit our vacation stride. And I could not be more thrilled about it.
At first glance...you may have thought we spent all our time shopping, because that's pretty much what you go to Galena to do, right? And that means this trip was mostly a 'Mollie Vacation,' right? Wrong. We did do a lot of walking up and down the historic streets, but we mixed in a LOT of Josh stuff along the way. In fact, when we came home last night and I unloaded all of our vacation 'loot' on the dining room table...it was almost exclusively "Josh Goodies"...salsa, whiskey, moonshine, a Charlie Brown book, steak sauce, and a whiskey glass purchased from an interesting antique store owner who carried his 'change' cash in a huge roll inside his grungy sweater.
Now...just because I've come to enjoy everything on that list, doesn't mean it didn't come without some growing pains. Josh and I haven't taken tons of trips or vacations, so this list isn't exclusively about traveling I suppose. At times it's been hard to get the hang of how to embrace our differences and also support each other's hobbies and interests...and it was on this vacation that I finally realized we sorta have that part of this marriage thing down. ;)
1. No kiddos.
This was our first 'extended' trip without Maverick. I started planning it last year at this time when the girls in Josh's family took a trip to Galena and I stayed behind because we had a four week old. Since I had been to Galena once before, I knew the lay of the land a bit...and knew I did NOT want to travel there with a four week old. But I
did know I wanted that to be the first getaway with Josh once Mav was sleeping through the night and done breastfeeding.
Turns out the no kid thing was a good idea. We didn't have to spend two to three hours of 'down time' sitting silently in the hotel each day so Mav could nap. And we didn't have to be 'in' every night by 7:30 for jammies and bottle and bedtime by 8. It just took all the 'kid logistics' out of the equation so we could fully enjoy our time together. We decided a 'real family vacation' probably won't happen until our youngest is at least 2/3...and we're good with that. It's a season and it will go by so fast. In the meantime, I plan to perfect the 'day-trip' and small, close, weekend getaways like this one.
A wise couple in our connection group once told us, 'Vacations are just the two of us...Trips are with all the kids. They are two very different things.' And I would have to agree. To be honest...we hardly talked about Maverick at all...is that bad?
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| This kid literally didn't even miss us at all. Punk. |
2. Don't have a plan...but also, have a plan.
I admire people who can jump in the car and take off without a care in the world and just go wherever the wind takes them. Josh and I are not those kind of people. This trip was delicately planned around irrigation shutdowns and Josh's last application of chemicals for the season. Months in advance. So while we didn't have anything super structured about the trip itself...we knew we wanted to eat at certain places and hit certain tours. Once we arrived, we took one day at a time, bouncing ideas off each other and making sure we were both seeing what we wanted to see. Also...when we go somewhere, we get in the car and drive straight there. We both HATE stopping or wandering somewhere other than our destination along the way. We travel well together because of this, and traveling with anyone other than each other tends to annoy us (unless it's Caleb...we've gotten good at traveling to far family things with Caleb).
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| Drinks at Miss Kitty's Grape Escape before supper. I highly recommend the Russian Rockstar. Best $11 drink I've ever had. Ever. |
3. Be prepared.
Whenever we go anywhere overnight, I lay out each of our outfits...right down to the socks and underware and belt. This ensures I don't forget anything and we can get through the trip without an argument about how I forgot compression shorts. I lay everything out, think through each day, the potential activities, check the weather, and then load everything into the suitcase. I can't tell you how many times we've gotten somewhere only to find Josh's black shoes didn't make it...or his belt never ended up in our luggage. Then we have to problem solve and either have to go buy new, or if that isn't an option, figure something out. In the past this has led to an argument, but this way I'm able to easily avoid that, even if it means occasionally over packing (most people think it's ridiculous I'm always laying his clothes out and packing for Josh...but he works 90 hours a week and this is just one way I can make his life easier). I pack everyone and everything and clean the house before a trip, Josh loads the car and does the driving. It's actually a pretty fair arrangement if you ask me.
This note is mostly for the girls...I find that showering at night on vacation makes things a lot quicker in the morning. Josh spent up to a half hour in the shower...and during that time I run around packing my bag for the day, laying his clothes out, getting dressed, and doing minimal make up + cute hair (which is way faster when it's already dry!). Then when we came back to the hotel at 4/5:00, it was super easy to change and add a little more make-up for our 'night out.' This saves hours of irritating and boring waiting for Josh...and I still get to look cute during the trip!
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| It's impossible for Josh to be anywhere on this side of the state and NOT stop to visit the Field of Dreams. |
4. Find a good balance.
This is a good one and it's easier on some vacations than others. If we toured an old house I really wanted to see...we made sure to book the distillery tour for the very next day. If we ate at a burger place...more of a 'Josh' meal...we agreed to get sushi for lunch the next day. We stopped to look inside all the decor stores...but also spent a lot of time taste-testing the hot sauces and salsas and dips at Galena Canning Company. We attended a casual wine tasting...but tasted a couple of different whiskey's while we were there too. I'm convinced...Galena is like, the PERFECT Josh and Mollie Boersma Vacation Destination.
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| It's taken a couple days for this little peanut to adjust back to normal life and the word 'no'...but that's ok. :) |
5. Leave time to be lazy.
Josh got to enjoy a couple hours in the hot tub. I got to read 152 pages of Magnolia story. We both slept in and enjoyed our respective MonsterTea and lattes each morning. It was the perfect mix of sight-seeing and being active + relaxing and enjoying some RARE time to be lazy, just the two of us. On Sunday we woke up and realized we hadn't taken a walk in Grant Park to see the giant levy, the river, and the old cannons, and that was something Josh had mentioned a couple times he wanted to see so we made sure to do it. This will shock you, but I'm more outspoken about making sure we see certain things (if Josh planned a vacation it would be to Twin Lakes and he would nap at the cabin and only leave to eat at the Palmer House all weekend...but he likes doing things when I 'make' him!) so it's good to make sure everyone gets to do everything they want to do.
If you don't enjoy hearing about old stuff and looking at old stuff...this vacay is probably not for you. Otherwise I would highly recommend it!!! It's about a 3-ish hour drive from Ames (totally do-able) and Josh is already talking about going back sometime this winter when it's their 'off-season' and really cheap to go during the week. Now...if we could only 'plan' around those darn Iowa snowstorms. ;)
Here are some pics of our trip!
BELVEDERE MANSION
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| Pictures weren't allowed inside (it's privately owned and people actually LIVE here) but this tour was super cool. |
ULYSSES S. GRANT HOME
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| It's pretty cool how this place is almost exactly like it was when the Grant's lived there. It was donated 'as is' by the kids/grand kids, furniture and all. |
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| Behind the kitchen was the original COPPER BATHTUB. |
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| Can I get a few praise hands for these $30 fring-y fall boots that mimic the ones I see Joanna always wearing? I don't think you'll see me wearing anything else for a while. |
SHOPPING
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| This is how a lot of our time was spent. Josh found a little first-edition Charlie Brown book from 1971 for $2 in here. :) |
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| I feel like I have more mom-street-cred now that my Converse are a little more scuffed up and dirty. |
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| This would be one of the many stores we walked through, just so we can take a peek at their intricate tin ceiling and huge old beams and doors and exposed brick walls and chandy's and amazing hardwood floors... |
BLAUM BROTHERS DISTILLERY
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| Ever since finding a few under the floor boards in the barn out at our acreage, Josh loves whieky old bottles. They had the whiskey in these bottles tested to make sure their new recipe matches as closely as possible. |
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| This distillery and that old whiskey doesn't exist anymore because of Prohibition, but these are the guys who worked downtown at the old Galena Distillery. |
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| This giant ridiculous thing was imported from Germany and that huge thing on the right is all copper that was hammered BY HAND. |
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| When soldier's got sick, they would mix whiskey, gun powder, and MERCURY to feel better. So they drank that mixture for a cold or something...and ended up going blind and then dead. |
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| This crate that's part of their display is literally the exact same thing we use for Mav's toy box! :) We came home with a candle, a bottle of their Knotter Bourbon Whiskey, and some Moonshine. And I know this was a good tour because I remember a lot of random trivia from it. |
MORE SHOPPING
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| You might not believe me, but Josh loved these stores and spent more time combing the shelves than I did. |
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| The next time we go back, I think we will do the Trolley Tour to see a little more of the town and hear about the history...I spotted this cutie on one of our drives. |
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| Aaaaand then I bought this cute cabinet...eyeballing it, the thing looked like it would easily fit inside our car. Factor in that we forgot to leave the stroller with my parents and this is what happened. Josh unscrewing the bottom off for 20 minutes. |
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| This was actually PRIOR to us finding out it wouldn't fit. And we had already paid for it. Josh has been known to get mildly frustrated in situations like this, so I spent 20 minutes silently praying it would all be fine...and it was. :) |
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| The Kandy Store made up for that cabinet thing though. He went along the aisles and delicately scooped different candy in the exact amounts he wanted. There was a soda shop at the back. It was like middle-school-Josh heaven. |
GRANT PARK
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| It's impossible to get a good picture of what downtown Galena actually looks like...it's crazy how perfectly preserved it is! |
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| We aren't huge history nerds, but Josh inspected each canon while I read the history to him. His favorite was one we took from the German's in WWI and brought home as a 'trophy'...haha. Darn right we did that. Different states were entitled to more 'trophy's' the more soldiers they had serve in the war. |
FIELD OF DREAMS
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| Original bleachers from the movie! Signed by Kevin Costner, as his character Ray (I'm literally laughing out loud as I type that sentence because I actually don't care about this at all, but Josh was so giddy about it). |
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| Josh tried making friends with the guy staining the bleachers to see if he was the owner. And then he asked when the barn was going to get a new roof soon, because it needs one so bad. And THEN he spent the drive home talking about how great it would be to live there. You guys...I can't even be mad because it's 100% my fault he even knows this place exists. |
FARM TOY MUSEUM
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| We each paid $7 to tour the Farm Toy Museum in Dyerrsville (please just insert the big-eye-shocked-face-emoji here)...we were there for a little over an hour and I was honestly surprised how much stuff they changed things from when we were there four years ago. This would be pretty cool for little kids 5-10ish, I'd say. Since we were just there a few years ago, I didn't snap too many pictures...but I was excited when I found this little antique cowboy named Maverick. ;) |
PLAZA ANTIQUES
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| Maybe it's because this is a place I obviously don't frequent...but it was a GOLD MINE. I could have gotten pretty crazy in here bringing home every crate and corbel I saw, but kept it to one ammo crate for Josh + two corbels for me. |
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| SEE? AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL?! These are my Christmas gift from Josh's parents. Patti loves when I do her shopping for her, so this arrangement worked well for us. I won't get to put them up until after Christmas...but I have big exciting plans for them. |
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| Now that pretty antique scales are a 'thing' and everyone wants them, I've had a hard time finding one I want for the right price in the right color. This is a postal scale, but I don't care. It's cute. :) |
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| I can't tell you how many hours I've spent in antique stores, never buying anything. Honestly! I rarely buy anything but Christmas ornaments! And I have no idea why, but this little thing spoke to me. I envisioned it as a cake plate, and for now it looks cute on this shelf. |
And that's it! We have vacation hangover pretty hard over here, which is unfortunate because Josh still has a ton of work to do. But there's no time to mope...I'm decorating for a wedding this weekend and our dear friend from DC is spending all next week at our house. Then it's decorating for Christmas, the Faith Women's Conference, and ANOTHER wedding! All fun, exciting things...but I'm secretly REALLY glad I get five days in between each weekend to clean my house and drink my coffee in my pajamas and 'recover.'
MmB
