Decorah to Dubuque - the long way

Quick breakfast at the hotel this morning - just a little eggs and sausage. Kurt finished off Kwik Trip donuts. Storms are supposed to be moving in today and I didn't want to be out on unfamiliar roads. 

First stop was Pikes Peak State Park.  Walked around a couple overlooks of the Mississippi River. All the water! Would like to have known how far the water usual goes.

We decided on just the short hike out to Bridal Veil Falls. Was just a half mile hike out to the falls - with LOTS of stairs. We were surprised, we thought with the amount of rain and flooding that they would really be flowing. I can't imagine in a dry year how there are even any falls. Still pretty walk. Was already HOT and HUMID and BUGGY though so didn't venture too much further.

We knew the storms were coming so we only spent maybe an hour here. Was a nice park just wanted to keep moving.

Our next stop was Potosi Wisconsin, about an hour down the road. Was a very nice drive through the country side. A lot of hilly, windy roads. 

Potosi Brewery has an ABA National Brewery Museum. Was a really neat place. I enjoyed all the old advertisements and signs. My favorites were the signs with a picture of the old brewery establishments, they were like a small city.

This was a growler carrier. They used to break for beer not coffee. Beer drinking was restricted to between the hours of 9:30 am and 3:00 pm. The bucket boy would come around with his pails of beer. The 'rushing the growler' practice disappeared during prohibition.

Note how they had openings under the table to hold your mug of beer.

After wandering the museum, we had to of course sample some Potosi beer!  Especially as we got a coupon for a free beer with our museum ticket. Sampled some really good beers and had a little lunch. Kurt had some macaroni and cheese and I had a cup of beer cheese soup and a salad. We shared a sausage sampler.

While eating a gentleman came up and had free passes to the museum if we wanted them. We told him we had already toured it so he gave us coupons for a couple free Potosi pint glasses. He said he gets them and can't use them up (didn't quite get how he gets them) so we thanked him and got a couple free glasses to go with our t-shirts we bought...

After leaving Potosi we headed for Dubuque, just about a half hour away. Drove by our rental but wasn't quite check in time so stopped just a block down the road at 7 Hills Brewing. Sampled a beer while we waited to check in.

After a slight snafuu with unlocking the door we were able to get in. Very nice place, with our own private hot tub on the private balcony! Now if it would just cool off enough to use it! Relaxed and unpacked as we are parked for the next three nights. 

Headed back out to Backpocket Brewing just a couple blocks down the road. Sampled a few very yummy beers!

As the storms were coming (they originally were going to show up around 3:00 but nicely held off until about 6:30) we decided to move on closer to the house. So back to 7 Hills. Super cute brewery. We had a couple drinks and shared some pretzels bites (DELICIOUS). Their bathroom signs cracked me up!

Shortly after arriving, it finally started storming. It POURED and BLEW, with rain coming down sideways. They had to put out a couple of buckets where the water was leaking into the building. Visibility was so poor that you could barely see across the street. Although it didn't last long, it was intense while it did.

Talked to some people sitting by us. They were both in town for business. The one gentleman was talking to us about the history of town so am going to have to look into that a bit more as it was quite interesting. He had less than a half a beer left and was staying across the street at the hotel. He asked the bartender if he could possibly have a to go cup. The bartender said absolutely not but he would put it in a can for him. So he put it in a crowler and sealed it. I was looking at the can and told the guy we collected them so I was checking his out to see if we wanted one. He said well you can have mine then, cracked it open, downed the beer, and gave the can to me. I told him he really didn't have to do that but he insisted. This one is definitely going on the shelf!

Back to our rental around 8:30 and relaxing for the night. As always, another great vacation day!

See you tomorrow!