American Pickers

                                                 American Pickers store in LaClaire, Iowa.

Dave and Tracy took us to the American Pickers store.  Cool signs and motorcycle antiques.

A Beautiful Ride

We spent the day with our friends Dave and Tracy riding through beautiful country roads, over bridges on the Mississippi and through quaint towns on the Illinois side of the river.

Machine Shed

This is one happy guy!  Finally getting to eat at the Machine Shed.  Family style cooking with huge portions and the best beef.  

Blackhawk Hotel

Our first week in Davenport we stayed at the historical Blackhawk Hotel.   Simply gorgeous!  During the early part of the 1900's the town was booming and this grand hotel had many famous guest.  Cary Grant being one, thus I borrowed his quote "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened".   I took this to heart during our stay in Iowa, remembering his words when I would start to feel sad about leaving.  The Midwest brings a longing deep inside.  It feels like home.

The suite was stunning with a balcony view of the Mississippi River.  The hotel had recently been renovated to it's original time period with modern hip touches.  On the bottom floor is a bowling alley and bar sleekly designed.  The restaurant "Bix", named after Bix Beiderbecke the famous Jazz musician/composer, was wonderful.  

The last photo is a piece of the original china from The Blackhawk which Chuck bought in the 1970's from an antique store in Iowa.  We have had this in our china cabinet all these years and I never would have thought I would get a chance to actually stay in this hotel.

I could go on and on about how fabulous The Blackhawk is, but I need to move on to other parts of our trip.

Crossing The Missouri River

Once you cross the Missouri River which separates Nebraska from Iowa, the landscape becomes rolling hills with pretty farms.  Welcome to IOWA our destination.  We stopped for gas at a "KUM & GO"....hilarious name I thought!

Our goal was to reach Des Moines but it was another 3 hours drive.  We found a small town   with 2 hotels.  Again, another dump.  But we were able to laugh about our room with an ancient AC, no towel racks and a spider in the toilet.  

You've got to remember, I've been hearing about how good Iowa food is for the past 25 years.  So I was excited to have and ready for this meal.  The first indicator should have been that the place was empty.  Second one look at the salad bar, you could tell it had been sitting out all day.  I ordered steak, mashed potatoes and gravy.  I love food and especially mashed potatoes....I took one bite and yuck!  I couldn't eat them.  The steak was just alright.  Nothing to brag about.  Iowa is known for their corn fed beef, so what happened here?  Since I didn't eat much of the dinner I thought maybe I'll have a piece of the homemade pie announced on a large sign.  Big mistake!  Horrible!  Even the color looked off.  I pushed it away and look over at Chuck.  He's eating his piece with a cup of coffee that smelled old and burnt.  He said he was eating it to be polite.  We laughed about banana cream pie throughout the trip and don't think we will ever be able to eat it again.