Decorah IA

Vesterhiem Museum

We are in Decorah this week. I haven’t written anything partly because we have been busy. This is a beautiful little town in NE Iowa  and if you have never visited I encourage you to. It is the home of Luther college. This is a small private Lutheran college and it is where my youngest attends as a senior. This little town is of Norwegian American  heritage and houses the Vesterhiem museum which is the premier Norwegian American museum in the USA. The King of Norway has visited several times and you will see several large Lutheran churches here as well as the college. We have visited the museum and for me it was a treat as my Mother’s family immigrated here from Norway and I have a Norwegian bible an catechism that were printed here in Decorah.
Our current parking place.


 We have been here many times and never tire of it. It is a beautiful town set next to the Upper Iowa River. This river is a haven for canoeists and those who like to float in a tube.  The river is very picturesque with cliffs along the side with eagles and their nests. We are hoping to canoe on Saturday when our oldest son joins us. We have taken that trip before and it is always enjoyable. 
We feel very at home here. We are camped at Pulpit Rock campground (there is a campground review on Notes from the Flamingo). We have tent camped here several times and  in our 5th wheel earlier this spring. It is  nice little campground that is actually in Decorah and is no reservation CG. If you plan on staying here come early in the week it fills up fast.
Inside T-Bock's


A few of our favorite things here are of course our son (lol) along with several places we love to eat. T- Bock's is a little bar down town that has great food (including breakfast). They have several unique burgers like the Peanut butter burger that my son thinks is the best and several other unique creations. Also outside of town there is a restaurant named McCaffery’s that has great gourmet pizza and often has live music. We will visit it later this weekend (already been to T-Bock's). There are several more upscale restaurants like Rubiyat’s but that really isn’t our style. There also is a new brew pub in town but I can’t remember the name. We spent some time there and they have some good crafted beer.
The other thing we enjoy about this location is it within an easy drive to Harmony, Prescott and Lanesboro where the Root River State Trail is. I’ll tell you a more about it tomorrow (we biked it today).
Happy Trails..........

Comments

  1. owensontheroadSeptember 30, 2010 at 6:07 AM

    Very cool! I am born and raised Lutheran as well..come from a Norwegian background. Have to put that area on our list!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Urban Life

Image
The view from our balcony I have been thinking about this post for awhile. When we are not traveling I find it hard to sit down and write but I have wanted to tell you about our new digs and what living downtown has been like for us. Another balcony view We moved into a one bedroom apartment on the west side of the river in the downtown Cedar Rapids area. This is a brand new building that actually they are still working on. The first floor is businesses, floors 2 and 3 are apartments and floors 4, 5, & 6 are condos. We love the building. Every apartment and condo has a balcony that looks out over the river and the McGrath Amphitheatre. Our little apartment in this building is 767 sq. which, after living in our 5th Wheel for 7 years, seems huge. We feel these apartments were well thought out. The kitchen is wonderful. It has a large island (all  solid countertops - quartz I think) with a large sink and plenty of seating room . We started by buying 3 barstools but found
Read more

Back in Iowa and changes ahead

Image
The Birthday Girl! I've been contemplating this post ever since we arrive back in Iowa. We got here by way of Smith Center KS where we had some work done at the Excel Service Center. A new air conditioner, gray tank, slide seals and adjustment and we were on our way.  They do a great job there but it was definitely a bill. Our spot outside the bay at the service center I'm 4!! Add caption We arrived back in Iowa in time for both John's birthday and our granddaughter Evie's 4th birthday. It has been so great to see her, Mitch and Jen again. Soon we hope to see our older son Gabe and his wife Melissa. They live in NW Iowa and hope to make it here in a couple weeks. It's also good to see old friends again. A good friend Steph is recovering from chemo and it was so good to see her and hear her CT scan looked good at the end of treatment. My BFF (as the kids say) Trudy and I are back to regular coffee sessions and have a trip to Galena planned next w
Read more

The desert is getting ready to bloom

Image
Sunset over Tucson The Octillo are getting leaves and blooms. This week we hiked in Saguaro National Park Western Division and we are beginning to see buds and a few blooms.  Its not quite time yet but it won't be long.  Previous years we have left before the blooms so I am excited to see it. The rains this year are making for an earlier bloom than usual. The month of February saw quite a few rainy days (for the desert) and the temps were below normal much of the month. However, for the next 10 days the predicted temps will be about 10 degrees above normal (normal is around 70). Just finished another walk and the temp is around 80+ with just enough breeze to keep you cool. Love it. First little blooms Our friends John and Sharon Hinton were in the park for about 10 days. It was great to spend some time with them. I am always sad to see them leave but I know our paths will cross again down the road. Tailing from an old mine Since there really isn't to
Read more