Galena

 Today we drove 30 miles north to visit Galena.  We had been here many, many years ago with the kids.  We had driven through the town yesterday coming from Iowa and it "wet our appetite" for seeing Galena more completely.  We decided to ride a sightseeing trolly to get an overview of the city.  The trolly ride was a great idea.  We drove by many of the historical homes in the city and heard their history as relates to the city.  Now since it has been nearly a week before I could post, I don't remember much of that history but wanted to post the pictures of the homes because they are so beautiful

This picture is a close-up of the tile work around the top of the above house.

There is a four block section of downtown Galena that is the heart of the historic district.  The buildings are old, the streets are narrow, the shops are unique, and the tourists fill the sidewalks.

The four-block historic district also houses several restaurants.  We ate lunch at Charlie's Place Eatery.  It was a busy place.  As we were seated, the man at the next table had just been served his meal and it looked delicious.  We asked the waitress what he was having and she told us a breakfast skillet.  His meal convinced us to order a similar dish.  I had the vegetable skillet and Carol had the meat-lovers skillet.  Both were enormous and delicious.

The Galena River flows about two blocks from the historic district.  Homes, businesses, churches, and government building are built on the hillside up from the river.  This is an old set of steps that rise from the historic district to the first row of buildings up on the hill.

This is the remnants of an original cobblestone street going from the  first level of building to the next level.  We drove a lot of really rough highways this trip but I don't think they were as rough as riding on this cobblestone street would be 

Galena Post Office

Another view of the street.

This building had an unique idea for decorating Halloween.

This house was restored and covered with stucco.  Now there is a Galena historical committee that must approve any restoration  for historic houses that would not allow it to be covered with stucco.  Now there is a set of strict rules and guidelines that restorations must follow and for which approval is necessary before anything can be done.  This applies even to the paint colors.

The houses in Galena did not begin as mansions.  They were also made of simple logs.

The Galena Cemetery is located across the river from the historic district and many of the homes.  This is the tallest monument in the cemetery.  The wife of the man buried here lived on the other side of the river up on the hillside.  From her home, she could see this monument and because it was so tall, would wave to it every morning and evening.

This is an enlargement  picture of the tilework between the two stories of the house.  

This is the Belvedere House which is the largest historic house in Galena.

This is the home of General Ulysses Grant and his wife Julia.  It was given to Grant by residents of Galena in 1865 as thanks for his service in the Civil War.

Statue of Julie Dent Grant at the Galena home.  She was the first wife of a president to be called "First Lady."

This picture was taken from an overlook in Mississippi Palisades State Park.  There were several opportunities to view the river from the heights of the ridges of the park.

We really enjoyed the day in Galena.  The houses are beautiful and we loved learning more of the history of this part of Illinois.  We decided that Galena would be a place to which we could return.  It is a unique, small town with a big history.