At the writing of this blog, we've been to Galena nine times in the past three years. Also at the writing of this blog, we are getting a little 'homesick' for our favorite place...we'll be back in a little less than two months for our usual October/Halloween Weekend Getaway (this time bringing Jamie and Adam, who we are so excited to show our favorite place!), but we've accidentally been getting the itch to take off and go right now.
So I thought writing about Galena might scratch that itch.
After this many trips, I kind of feel like we're qualified as experts on tourism and travel in Jo Daviess county...and judging by the number of people who frequently ask me about what to see and where to eat, I thought writing a blog with reviews on our favorite tours, activities, shops, and restaurants would be a helpful place to point people when they ask in the future.
Let me start by saying, Josh and I firmly believe Galena is the perfect getaway. You will never convince us otherwise. It's just about three hours away from Ames; the drive is easy and scenic; and it can be pretty affordable if you want it to be (ie: going during the week, not drinking, etc.). It's a great spot for girl trips, couple getaways, or a quick trip with the family. Every time we go, we somehow find something NEW to do...which I think is pretty amazing.
We've been so many times, at this point Galena almost feels like a second home. We have our favorite places to check off every time...our favorite bartenders, hostesses, and certain shopkeepers we like to stop in and chat with. The last time we arrived, actual hugs were exchanged with Anne, our favorite hostess at the DeSoto House Generals' Restaurant. There is usually some store turnover on main street from year to year, but we've found the best places have a long and interesting history...when we get a bar or store to ourselves we take the opportunity to ask questions about the building and the history of the store and it's ownership.
Galena does this interesting thing where it mixes tons of American history with boutique shopping and incredible food + drinks...and the results are pure magic. I wouldn't say there's a lot of 'nightlife'...after 8pm main street slows down and feels like an empty small town where only locals are 'out.' Which is something we simply adore about it. Josh and I don't generally like places with tons of people, so we regularly plan outings and trips based on when the LEAST amount of people will be at the place we're going (movies, the fair, vacations, Farmer's Market, the orchard...the list could go on). This is why we don't mind the lack of nightlife one bit...we quietly drink our drinks and chat with our bartender and it's actually the best.
This will NOT be a long list of places to stay because we stay at one place, every time. And you won't catch us dead ever staying in Bed and Breakfasts...too many people sharing bathrooms and strangers wanting to chat over the same big breakfast table? No thanks. The DeSoto House is right on main street, which means we're within walking distance of almost everything and a space in the parking garage is included with our stay (which in and of itself makes it worth it).They have TONS of specials if you ask or look for them online...some months of the year the discounts are heftier than others (ie: when we go anytime December-March), but they always have awesome mid-week specials. There are three restaurants inside the hotel and we usually try to eat at each one during every trip, they're all excellent (come back in two days for that post). The whole experience feels exactly like you're staying in a piece of history, from the wallpaper to using REAL KEYS to get inside your room. The banister and front desk are all original to when the DeSoto was built in 1855 and today there are only 55 rooms...which means if you're a guest, you always get the special treatment. Don't expect things like microwaves or mini-fridges or perfect wifi in your room...like I said, this hotel was built in the 1800's and has been updated many times since then (actually the top two floors were completely taken off during one renovation!), but there are certain things that will always be 'old' about it. President Lincoln literally did a speech from a DeSoto house balcony and climbed the grand entry stairs we climb every time we're there...it still gives me chills.
During our first two trips, the DeSoto was fully booked on one of the nights we were going to be in town so we stayed at their 'sister hotel' on the edge of town, a Country Inn and Suites, owned by the same people. We enjoyed it there (plus free breakfast!), and the pool and hot tub set-up are great, especially if you're traveling with kids. BUT, if you are staying at the DeSoto and need to do something fun with the fam, you can have the front desk call over to the Country Inn and Suites and you're able to use that pool during your stay at the DeSoto! So now we basically never have a reason to book two places unless we have to.
TOURS
I think we've done almost every tour there is to do in Galena. I'll 5-star our favorites, and then list what we liked and disliked about all the others. Make sure before heading to Galena you've planned what tours you want to take and check the hours on each of those tours. Some places only have weekend hours, some have regular business hours...some run at completely random times depending on the season. Make sure you're aware of what homes allow taking pictures/Instagramming...there's usually a sign on or near the front door. We also like to check the Galena website for special events that might be going on while we're in town!
Ulysses S. Grant Home *****
This tour is the best bang for your buck. For a suggested donation of $5, you get a lengthy, informative tour and get to see the upstairs (when the upstairs of an old house is roped off Josh is always annoyed). The home was donated by the Grant family back to the City of Galena, which means it's been preserved really well. If it's not original, it's period-accurate, right down to the wallpaper. We've done this tour twice and it's probably one of the tours we will send Jamie and Adam to this fall because it's a must when visiting Galena.
Field of Dreams *****
Right on the way from Ames to Galena, we hit the FOD every time, every trip. And then we usually watch the movie while we're staying in Galena (FYI one of the scenes was filmed on Main Street!). It's free to get out and roam around, a perfect place to stretch your legs before the final leg of the road trip. Tours of the farmhouse are $20 and run every hour or so, but we haven't actually done that tour, though Josh has talked about wanting to. Don't plan to go to the bathroom here, the port-a-potties are some of the worst we've ever seen.
Elihu Washburn Home *****
We didn't hit this tour until our second trip, but it's one I point people to every time. I think it might be one of the lesser-attended tours in town, but it's just as good as the Grant House Tour, if not better. The women's group who take care of the home and run the tours know their stuff and take lots of time to answer every single question we can think of. Washburn isn't someone I remember learning a ton about in school, so I really enjoyed learning about his part in our American history. We've also done this house tour twice, suggested donation, $5.
Belvedere Mansion **
You can't repeatedly travel to Galena and not do this house tour at least once. It's kind of the first thing you see when you drive in to town and it's a legitimate mansion, as the name suggests. Tickets to see this tour are on the pricier side, but we 'bundled' our tickets to the Belvedere with tickets to tour the Dowling House (below) and got a small discount. This house is privately owned and people actually live on the third/fourth floors during some months of the year (remember, Josh hates when he doesn't get to see the whole thing) so the items in the house have been collected and decorated by the owner in a very 'interesting' style. The architecture is amazing, but it's definitely not the Washburn/Grant home experience.
Dowling House ***
The Dowling House was built in 1826, making it the oldest house in all of Galena. It sits at the end of main street and has endured a lot of life...it was vacant and abandoned for many years, which means anything original to the home was stolen/vandalized except one item, an incredibly old zinc sink in its kitchen. Now, the rest of the home has been staged so tourists can see what it might have looked like 200 years ago...the main floor was a store/trading post and the family who owned the store lived upstairs, so bedrooms and the kitchen are all arranged to be period accurate. Tickets to this tour were a little high and it's also a 'quicker' tour than I enjoy...I prefer to linger and get as much information from the tour guide as possible but unless you come up with a lot of questions, this tour is over fast.
The Blacksmith Shop *****
We didn't discover this gem until our ninth trip to Galena and it's one of the best tours/demonstrations we've seen. It lasts as long as you want to sit and watch and the blacksmith/volunteer does an amazing job of interacting with whoever is in his audience (ie: a wiggly three-year-old). We watched for probably an hour and learned a ton of stuff about the history of the blacksmith trade. Maverick also got to take home the small decorative iron hook the blacksmith foraged while we were watching, which was super cool. The only cost for this 'tour' is a donation in the jar at the door.
Blaum Brother Distilling Co. *****
We've only done two distillery tours to date, but this tour was by far the best one we've been to. It was 45-60 minutes long, super informative, and our first experience learning how whiskey is actually made. I think our whiskey obsession kind of began on our first trip to Galena and the cost of the tour tickets were totally worth it. The tour guides are super knowledgeable...and the tour ends with tastes of four signature kinds of Blaum Bros Whiskey. Our favorites are the Knotter Bourbon and the Blaum Bros Reserve, and if you sit at the bar long enough, you might get to see the owners pop in. We also love the gift shop here. Josh and I will likely send Jamie and Adam on this tour and we might even join them to do the tour a second time.
Old Market House **
I don't think there's admission to visit this historic building, it's just kind of fun to walk around (or a good place to cool off if you're visiting during the summer). It's set-up like a museum, lots of cool stuff in glass cases, and it's a good spot to ask questions about tour times or other information about the City. Whenever we find someone who isn't busy with a lot of customers/visitors, we always try to ask the locals questions we've come up with.
Amelia Ghost Tours **
When you're driving into Galena, there's an amazing old mansion that sits on HWY 20 that I've always been dying to see the inside of. However, you only get to 'tour' the house if you buy tickets to the Ghost Tour...which Josh and I obviously never cared about. After we'd done almost every single tour in town, we thought it might be fun to try this one just to be able to see the inside of the mansion and I'll say this...this is the last tour on this list that I'd recommend. I'm glad we did it because while everyone else on our tour was being weird and telling made-up ghost stories, I was busy admiring the architecture of the house...the intricate brackets on the windows and hinges on the doors...the parque-style floors and antique shutters on the insides of all the windows...the gorgeous chandeliers and built-in-marble fireplaces in every. single. room. Galena really capitalizes on the whole Halloween theme because September and October are their biggest months of the year, so be prepared to just 'go with it,' when people start telling ghost stories.
Tri-State Trolley Tour ****
If you're going to skip ALL the individual tours and just want one, all-inclusive tour of Galena, this is it. Tickets are sometimes sold at a discount at the DeSoto house or different shops in town, and the hour-long trolley ride covers absolutely everything in town. The trolley drives by every historic house and the driver/tour guide talks about the history of Galena and other town information the whole time. We've done this tour twice because the first time it was windy and FREEZING, so we wanted to try it a second time when we were in Galena with Mav.
Galena and US Grant Museum ****
Tickets to this museum are kind of high, but you could literally spend an entire day in this museum if you read every single display. This is NOT a quick stop...plan to spend a couple hours here, at least. Galena did an amazing job creating this museum, a Ulysses and Julia Grant hologram are the first thing to welcome you...the whole museum is located in an old historic Italianate home. Giant pieces of original, historic art are located here ("Peace in Union" and "General Grant on the Battlefield"), as well as the actual flag from the Vicksburg Siege. Visiting the gift shop doesn't cost admission, and it's a great one for finding touristy-Galena-gifts...the Galena prints I have hanging in our basement came from here!
Grant Park *****
There's more to this park than meets the eye...Grant's copper-green statue stands tall in the middle, but if you walk all the way over and spend time exploring, you'll learn that each cannon displayed in the park was given to the City of Galena as a 'reward' for sending so many generals and soldiers to fight in WWI. Apparently the United States used to do this...give prominent cities significant pieces and mementos from a war we'd won and I think it's kind of awesome. It's also fun to walk across the river on the giant bridge and look back across to see the Galena skyline. When Mav is with us we take a couple trips to the park to run around and play on the small play structure here.
Mississippi River Museum ****
This museum is located in Dubuque and when we took our little family vacation this summer, we bundled our stay at the DeSoto House with tickets to this museum (I told you they have great midweek deals!). And it is super. cool. It's huge, so plan to spend a solid morning or afternoon here. We brought a picnic lunch and ate outside on the picnic tables so we could stay to see as much as possible. It's like a science-center mixed with a history museum, and we all three loved that. We went back the next morning on our way home because the price of admission actually gets you in two days in a row! So we hit the building we didn't spend as much time in the day before (yes, there are multiple buildings, and TONS of stuff to see outside too, including an giant, old, iron steamboat that still sits on the water).
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| This scenic overlook outside of Galena on HWY 20 is one of my favorite spots. |
Come back tomorrow for my second installment on Galena...our favorite SHOPS AND STORES!
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