Roadtrip Day 3: Wisconsin, Dubuque, Dyersville & Iowa City

Today we woke up on the farm and headed across the bottom of Wisconsin.  This appeared to be a short distance on the map, but let me tell you it took FOREVER!!!  We took a “rural route highway” which topped out at 50mph on some stretches but hit many small towns and school districts where the speed limit was 25.  Unfortunately Earl happened to be driving this particular stretch, so we actually stayed within reasonable limits.  Blegh!!

In the morning I took Linus around the farm, let him chase some barn cats, and meet the horses.

Meeting the Mare

While driving across Wisconsin, put the brakes on in Burlington (home of the Burlington Coat Factory) for this dive-y looking joint called Fred’s which boasted in big, bright signs “HOME OF THE WORLD’S BEST BURGERS!”  We literally U-turned and went to evaluate this claim.

While walking across the street, Earl and I had a semi-argument regarding the veracity of Fred’s bold statement.  “Yeah right,” I told him.  “No way the best burgers could be here in the middle of freaking nowhere.”

“Give them a chance,” he retorted.  “At least the meat will be super fresh, it probably comes from right nearby and is never frozen.” Well, lo and behold, he was right.  Fred’s was not only COMPLETELY PACKED and we barely had room to sit at the bar (where did all these people come from in this seemingly deserted farm town?!), but the burgers were amazing.   What a great find.  Earl had grilled ham, cheddar, pepper and onions on his burger and I opted for a mushroom, onion, swiss.  I give you the Fred’s burger:

Fred's Burger in Burlington WI

Another chowhound item we were hunting for today was Wisconsin Cheese Curds.  It is very possible that I am actually addicted to cheese curds.  I literally tell Earl that anytime he wants to go home and visit his family I am game because I know we will be in Wisconsin which means I’ll have a chance to get my paws on some nummy cheeeese curds.  Those things are freaking amazing.  They have to be eaten the very day they are made or else they lose their freshness and squeak.  Unfortunately today we stopped for curds in two places, but neither were fresh enough to squeak.  It was a cheese curd failure.

On the hunt for curds

It’s okay we didn’t find any today, however, because I actually have a back-up plan for a cheese factory here in Iowa which is Kalona, on our way south tomorrow.  Phew!  The vacation is SAVED.

Our next stop was the Fenelon Place Elevator which was in Dubuque, IA.  Dubuque was a very cool town which was filled with art galleries and coffee shops.  The Elevator, the world’s shortest and steepest scenic railroad, was a bit different than I was expected.

Earl’s words, upon arrival: “You drove us all that way out of our way for this?”

Fenelon Place Elevator

Ha! So, it was a bit different than the guide books described it, but I thought it was still pretty neat.  Besides, what were we really expecting… the world’s steepest railroad in IOWA? As my friend Matt pointed out at our going away party… something about that just isn’t right.  Linus at least had a good time.

Linus on the world's shortest and steepest railroad

And at $4 total for us (that’s $2 per adult round trip) it was not only budget friendly but offered a great view from the top of the city of Dubuque.

View from the top of the "railroad"

From Dubuque we headed to Dyersville to see the Field of Dreams. I was expecting a tourist trap, but this off-the-highway cornfield baseball diamond was rather peaceful, not-built up, and surprisingly serene.  I wish it hadn’t been raining and getting late, because we would have stayed and played ball longer.

"Is this heaven?" "No, it's Iowa."

If you build it, a corgi will come… and play fetch.

"Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it."

Finally we headed to meet up with two of Earl’s very good friends from college, who are going to graduate school and med school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Here we stopped for the night. Linus made friends with their beyond adorable and completely personable Scotty, Max.

The Spectacular Max

Max is a complete sweetheart. He is two years old and just an awesome dog.  Max not only stole our hearts, but he and Linus had lots of fun playing together and even gave each other kisses!

Playing with Max

Tomorrow we are going out to breakfast with Kate and Brennan and then traveling south towards Memphis, a 9-hour drive. If that gets to be too much, we’ll most likely spend the night in St. Louis.