Solon to St. Donatus (mostly) Iowa (Day 2 of Spring Vacation)

Finished processing Day 2 of the Spring Trip.  Anytime this family sees ANYTHING with Frida Kahlo, we have to stop.  Found a Mexican place in Solon, Iowa, with her name on it.  Not open, though, at 9:30am in the morning - too bad.  I picked up a few waymarks in Mount Vernon - the highlight of the day was Anamosa, Iowa, former home of Grant Wood.  He was the painter of American Gothic - the man with the pitchfork and his daughter in front of the house.  Not often can I waymark an entire historic District in 90 minutes.  I then proceeded to Maquoketa and to St. Donatus.  We had to cut the visit short to St. Donatus and come back the next day.  Statistics:  180 pictures taken.  130 waymarks posted. 2 visits made.

Freda Kahlo Mexican Restaurant
The reason we had a Mexican lunch in Anamosa.

Old Masonic Hall - Anamosa
Great example of the older buildings in Anamosa

Civil War Monument in Mount Hope Cemetery - Maquoketa
Unusual because it is a Stone and Zinc Monument.

St. Donatus Catholic Church
This church is halfway up the hill and has a
great view of the valley below.

Monroe/Washington Iowa (Day 1 of Spring Vacation)

We decided that Covid or no Covid; we were going to go ahead and get out of Kansas City for a week.  This was a strange trip as we didn't really visit museums - it was a series of day trips from Dubuque.  No worries though - it was still fun and very interesting. 

The first real day was the drive from Des Moines to Coralville.  Normally, this would be a straight shot on I-80 that takes two hours, but we took the scenic route through Pella, Oskaloosa, Sigourney, West Chester, and then north on up to Coralville.  I made two stops because of interesting objects - 1st in Monroe, Iowa, an Octagonal Barn and a large zinc obelisk in the Monroe Cemetery; 2nd Washington, Iowa, a REALLY nice Second Empire building called Blair House.  I processed 90 pictures which turned into 55 waymarks.  Not bad for about an hour of picture taking.

Octagonal Barn in Monroe, Iowa

Zinc Obelisk Headstone
in Monroe, Iowa, Cemetery

Blair House - former Washington, Iowa
City Hall

Queen Anne building on 

Washington, Iowa, Town Square

Washington Bust located on the SE 

grounds of the Washington, Iowa Square

Waymarking OR Bridal Shower -HMMMM????

Actually, no choice as this uncle wasn't invited - Oh Darn!  No worries, I took a drive around my old stomping grounds growing up!  43 pictures and 25 waymarks!  one new category added - Orthodox Churches.  Funny, the Orthodox Church used to be where my Baptist Church was 40 years ago!

 Oldest Building in Shawnee, Kansas - 1824

 First Merriam School - 1872

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
They've really made the building their own!

Galena - more Gold than Lead

Throwing axes, losing money at a casino, winning that money back (and a tiny bit more), shopping, oh, and getting some Waymarking and a tiny bit of Geocaching in.  Yep, fun times for our week-long adventure to Galena and environs. 

I ended with 512 pictures taken in three states.
In Illinois - 56 different categories waymarked; 284 waymarks created; 26 waymarks visited.
In Iowa - 12 different categories; 13 waymarks created; 5 waymarks visited.
In Wisconsin - 6 different categories; 6 waymarks created; 5 waymarks visited.

I also found 5 Iowa, 5 Illinois and 1 Wisconsin geocache.

Dinosaur Field near Hazel Green, Wisconsin
I only found this because of a geocache.
I was able to get some nice waymarks because of
the stop.

Market House
Steamboats would actually come up the Galena River
and sell their wares.  This building is supposedly haunted.

One of the many Italianate buildings in Galena.
Most of the entire town is in the Historic District.

Julia Grant Dent
This statue isn't a favorite among locals -
they call it the "Mrs. Buttersworth".

Come and Take It! in Gonzales, Texas...

October 2nd, 1835, a band of Texian patriots drive off a detachment of Mexican dragoons attempting to reclaim two small cannons the town of Gonzales, Texas, had for defense against Native Americans.

October 2nd, 2018, one unsuspecting Jayhawk Waymarker drives into the town of Gonzales, Texas, wanting to visit this historic town and to use up some space on both the memory card of my camera and my GPSr.  I had absolutely NO clue this was the anniversary date of the "battle" that started the Texas revolution. 

I ended up shooting 205 pictures.  (I also got to eat at another Whataburger - always an added plus for this Kansan!)  Of those pictures, I got 53 new waymarks - kinda surprising as this town had been waymarked by 4 different people before me.  I also got 49 visits to other waymarks.  I did not mark visits to those waymarks that I posted new.  Great day!  Highlights -

 Gonzales County Courthouse
There are Gargoyles draining the tower
Always a nice find!

 Former Gonzales Jail Museum and Visitors Center
Victorian Era Architecture at its finest!

 My first posted labyrinth

Always happy to explore a
cemetery and find a Woodmen marker
This was the Masonic Cemetery

Texas State Cemetery

I just got back from a two week vacation.  Drove to Galveston to pick a week-long cruise and then took several days to drive home.  I did minimal waymarking on Grand Cayman - picked up 5 visits.  I am processing my pictures coming home backwards, starting with the stop we made at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.  This should be a definite stop for anyone interested in history, sports, or just nature as the grounds themselves are beautiful.  I took 42 pictures and made 56 waymark visits from these.  Here are some of the highlights:

 Stephen F. Austin

Gravesite of the "Father of Texas"

 Benjamin McCullogh

Confederate Civil War General killed at Pea Ridge, Arkansas

 Albert Sidney Johnston

Highest Ranking Confederate General killed in battle
Died at Shiloh

Cenotaph to Tom Landry
Appropriate that the famous "houndstooth" hat
appears on the cenotaph.
Great Cowboys Head Coach

Labor Day in Saint Louis

My daughter is REALLY into all things ancient Egypt.  The Saint Louis Art Museum had a very nice special exhibit with some artifacts found excavating two towns that are now under water.  I highly recommend visiting the Saint Louis Art Museum just for the regular art - it's free.

Oh, we also took a quick run across the river to go visit the World's Largest Catsup Bottle.  I truly miss Brooks Catsup - it, mixed with horseradish mustard, made the best dip for boiled shrimp!

I actually was able to get two new waymarks on the Art Museum and several visits.

 One giant Catsup Bottle
Collinsville, Illinois

Art Museum
Saint Louis, Missouri