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Galena, IL weekend ideas?

JP4CY

JP4CY

Lord, beer me strength.
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Dec 19, 2008
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Have a wedding on a Friday night in Chicago in a couple weeks. Thinking about coming back thru Galena and staying somewhere Saturday and possible Sunday before coming back to Des Moines.
It will be our Anniversary weekend, so I thought it might be a good idea for my wife and I.

Any recommendations on what to see, stay, eat, drink? Do I need to have a pinkie up while I drink?
 
Galena, IL = Highly overrated IMO. Of course I grew up in Dbq, so a bit tired of it.

We've stayed at Eagle Ridge and an Irish themed place on the east side of Galena. If you pony up some real bucks - Eagle Ridge may be nice. But I'm talking 300+ for a night. We didn't - went for one of the more "standard" rooms and it was a dump. Keep in mind it's a good ways east of Galena itself - so if you're hitting the taps... The Irish place had some interest - but overall it's was a regular old hotel with a neat lobby and bar motif. Couldn't tell you about any of the B&B's - but that's where I would look.

Only place I can recommend for food in Vinny Vanucchi's.

You'll have a good time if you enjoy shopping... :wink:
 
00clone said:
The irish cottage is what ruby was referring to...Mrs. 00clone and I spent our first anniversary there. Enjoyed it, did a couples massage...while it wasn't my thing, Mrs. really enjoyed it.

http://www.galena.org/the-irish-cottage-boutique-hotel/
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Yep - that's the place. It's nice - just the rooms are kinda run of the mill. Don't think the ambiance carries upstairs.

Wife did the massage thing too - forgot that. I agree with you ... she went on her own. :wink:
 
JP4CY said:
Have a wedding on a Friday night in Chicago in a couple weeks. Thinking about coming back thru Galena and staying somewhere Saturday and possible Sunday before coming back to Des Moines.
It will be our Anniversary weekend, so I thought it might be a good idea for my wife and I.

Any recommendations on what to see, stay, eat, drink? Do I need to have a pinkie up while I drink?
Click to expand...


I recommend staying at the Stillman Inn Bed and Breakfast. I never stayed at a B & B before, but it was surprisingly awesome. The folks that run it are super cool. My favorite place to eat at is Gobbies. Awesome Chicago style sports bar with delicious Pizzas, Calzones, Wings, etc. Try the beer nuggets, they are delicious!
We went to President Grants home, which was like $5/person. It was really cool to see. We also went horseback riding, which my wife enjoyed. Otherwise there are tons of shops to take in so that will keep you busy for a while. There is a little French Bistro restaurant that my wife and I enjoyed as well. They normally have ghost tours and the wineries in town have events going on as well. Enjoy! Its a cool town. Let me know if you need any other recommendations
 
Does Chestnut have the alpine slide still? Haven't done that since I was a kid - but it was fun.
 
Are most of these stores open on Sundays as well? Seems like a lot of the hotels and B&B's are a two night stay minimum, so we'd have Sunday open to shop as well.
 
Golf at Eagle ridge. They have one bedroom cottages that are nice around $200.
 
JP4CY said:
Are most of these stores open on Sundays as well? Seems like a lot of the hotels and B&B's are a two night stay minimum, so we'd have Sunday open to shop as well.
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can't say for certain - I'd think so. Place lives on tourism.

Not unlike Chisholm, MN. (anyone? anyone?)
 
Also, not sure where home is for you, but not too far away is the Potosi Brewery...Potosi was one of the old regional breweries that went by the wayside with the megabreweries. It was refurbished and turned into a brewery/brewpub and brewery musem, and I know an ISU architect grad who worked on the project.

If it's not too far out of the way, it's worth a stop.

http://www.potosibrewery.com/

And...I mean...you're not ALL that far from New Glarus....
 
00clone said:
Also, not sure where home is for you, but not too far away is the Potosi Brewery...Potosi was one of the old regional breweries that went by the wayside with the megabreweries. It was refurbished and turned into a brewery/brewpub and brewery musem, and I know an ISU architect grad who worked on the project.

If it's not too far out of the way, it's worth a stop.

http://www.potosibrewery.com/

And...I mean...you're not ALL that far from New Glarus....
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Second this.
 
My wife and I have stayed at the Le Fevre Inn and Resort on multiple occasions. Of course, we loved being in the country (outskirts of Galena), instead of staying in the town.
Check it out at:
http://www.lefevreinn.com/
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I'd also recommend Vinny Vanucchi's if you like Italian food.
 

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Galena is full of good food, shopping and lots of hotels and B&Bs. I recommend staying close to main street to avoid parking. The Italian place mentioned earlier is good and there is a good Irish pub on the edge of town.
There is a new distillery that makes good vodka.

If you are a history buff the Grant Museum is pretty cool as his house.
 
Vinny's and then the fudge place and gourmet popcorn place just up the street from Vinny's. There used to be a big Christmas ornament type place under Vinny's if you or your wife find that interesting. They'd have trees decorated with different themes, kinda cool.

Yell at the popcorn people if they still don't have Tiger Butter. Try Irish Cream. Haven't had that stuff in years but man it was good.
 
Do a bunch of girlie **** during the day and then demand deviant sexual pay back at night.



JP4CY said:
Have a wedding on a Friday night in Chicago in a couple weeks. Thinking about coming back thru Galena and staying somewhere Saturday and possible Sunday before coming back to Des Moines.
It will be our Anniversary weekend, so I thought it might be a good idea for my wife and I.

Any recommendations on what to see, stay, eat, drink? Do I need to have a pinkie up while I drink?
Click to expand...
 
The Brasserie (sp?) is a nice sit down dinner place. Vinny's is good for Italian. There is also a German place on the North end of main St. (east side of the road). Can't remember the name, but the food was good. Last time there we stayed at the Ramada on the west side of town. Nothing fancy, but the hotel was clean / nice. We were with a group and got a guy to be at our beck and call to ferry us around in a van for a reasonable rate, which considering our stay involved going to a local winery and distillery, was worth the investment. The winery was pretty neat, the distillery not so much. I would recommend the hot pepper vodka they made though. Perfect for a bloody mary.
 
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