“There won’t be someone chasing you with a chain saw on this tour. This is the real deal,” said Len Adams, head tour guide for Alton Hauntings Tours, during his pre-tour talk. Read more
Alton Hauntings Walking Ghost Tour: I Smelled the Jasmine
Haunted DeSoto House Hotel, Galena IL
You picture Abraham Lincoln descending the sweeping curved staircase, stovepipe hat in hand, following his speech orated from the hotel balcony in 1856. Or perhaps you imagine townspeople greeting General Ulysses S. Grant at Grant’s welcome home reception following the Civil War. The DeSoto House Hotel in Galena, Illinois, was truly a grand establishment in the mid-1800s. The five story hotel was the center of both social and political events. Then with a fire and a boiler explosion ten years apart and an economic decline when railroads replaced steamboats, the DeSoto House fell into disrepair.
Fast forward to today. The hotel is fully restored. The top two floors were removed years ago and private baths added to all rooms. But reminders of the hotel’s glory days remain, like the sweeping lobby staircase and some of the guests who apparently never completely left.
Read moreCruise the Upper Mississippi on the La Crosse Queen, La Crosse WI
It’s a scene reminiscent of the Mark Twain era. The bright white riverboat, powered by cherry red paddlewheels, pushes upstream along the Mighty Mississippi. Blue heron or egrets may wade along the shoreline, while bald eagles perch high up in the trees. You can become part of this scene when you take a narrated sightseeing tour or a meal cruise on the La Crosse Queen, one of only a few authentic Mississippi River paddlewheel riverboats in operation today.
Board the boat at Riverside Park in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and take a seat either on the open-air upper deck or on the enclosed lower deck. The lower deck is where meals are served on the brunch, lunch and dinner cruises and where you can purchase beverages (including adult beverages) on the sightseeing tours.
Your tour guide narrates the sightseeing trip, explaining what makes the riverboat authentic, pointing out wildlife along the shore, explaining the river’s history and geography, and throwing in a few corny jokes.
As you cruise upstream, you’ll pass through a railroad swing bridge, most likely see barges navigating the river, and on the longer cruises, experience going through the locks. Depending on which meal cruise you choose, the trip may be narrated or you may be entertained with music.
Purchase tickets at the boat dock at the north end of Riverside Park next to the Hiawatha statue. Meal cruises require advance reservations. La Crosse Queen Cruises run from May through October. For further details, including schedule, visit the La Crosse Queen Cruises web site.
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Bike or Hike through Railroad Tunnels in Sparta WI, the Bicycling Capital of America
When I first heard you can bike through railroad tunnels in southwest Wisconsin, I envisioned a cartoon character entering a dark tunnel only to be flattened by an oncoming train. Of course, that can’t happen in Sparta, Wisconsin, known as the Bicycling Capital of America, since the railroad tracks have been gone since before 1967, when America’s first rail-to-trail opened, sparking a nationwide trend. Today you can hike or bike 101 miles of four connected state trails in southwestern Wisconsin, running from Reedsburg to Onalaska, north of La Crosse.
You’ll pass through three tunnels on the Sparta-to-Elroy trail, so if you’re riing just one of the trails, that’s the one to do. And if you don’t want to bike the trails but want to walk through the tunnels, you can do that, too. Visit the Sparta Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, stationed in an old railroad depot, and where the Sparta-to-Elroy trail and the La Crosse River Trail meet.
The visitor center staff can map out parking areas with easy tunnel access. Tunnel #3 is closest to Sparta and is also the longest tunnel, at 3,810 feet. The tunnels can be twenty degrees cooler than the outdoor weather, so dress appropriately. You’ll need a flashlight, too, since the tunnels are completely dark. Bikes must be walked through the tunnels. Visit the Elroy-Sparta State Trail web site for details on state trail fees and bike rentals.
Where to eat
Several restaurants are available in Sparta. I enjoyed Ginny’s Cupboard, in Sparta’s downtown area, which offers sandwiches and soups made with fresh ingredients, many of them locally sourced. My turkey sandwich was made with thick slices of freshly-baked wheat bread and the pumpkin sausage soup was creamy but not too heavy, with a hint of an herb that I guessed to be sage.
The art background of the eatery’s owner, Deb Moore, is evident in the décor, nostalgic with lots of Coca Cola items, vintage Formica and chrome kitchen tables, and memorabilia from former local businesses. You can opt to sit on the back deck, surrounded by pots of herbs used in the dishes and overlooking one of four foot bridges in Sparta.
Be sure to stroll through the downtown area while you’re there to see foot bridges and visit specialty shops, like Maiden Wisconsin, where all products are Wisconsin made.
Sparta, Wisconsin, is located in Monroe County, about 30 miles east of La Crosse, off of I-90. For further information on restaurants, accommodations and other area attractions visit the Sparta Chamber of Commerce Tourism web site.
Thank you to Travel Wisconsin and the Country Inn by Carlson for their hospitality.
Enjoy this post? Click the Subscribe2 button to the left to be notified whenever I publish another post on MidwestWanderer.com. (Be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.) Visit the Midwest Wanderer Facebook Page, and check out my Examiner.com page, too, where I’ve had over 75 articles published.
Stay in a Tree House in the Shawnee National Forest
When I was a kid, the neighborhood boys built a tree house in an old cottonwood that stood in an empty lot down the street. The stairs were short lengths of 2x4s nailed to the tree trunk. From the ground the tree house didn’t look like much, a crude structure of scrap plywood constructed in the way 12-year-old boys with no carpentry experience would build it. I never saw the inside because girls weren’t allowed. Read more
Visit Stade’s Farm & Market’s Shades of Autumn for Family Fun
Play in the corn, shoot the corn, or find your way through the corn. Slide down the slides, jump on the giant pillow, or climb on the web. Every weekend through October 27 Stade’s Farm & Market celebrates fall in a big way. Read more