#3 Burlington, Ia.

Our second day in Nauvoo was a little more laid back. The land around this area is hilly, and apparently good for growing grapes. In addition to the vintner’s home, now a museum on the state park grounds, we also visited Illinois’ oldest winery, Baxter’s, that dates back to the 1850’s. The original Baxter family came here as part of a French religious group, the Icarians, that settled this area after the Mormons left. We took a self guided tour and purchased some excellent grape juice and a bottle of vino.

Joseph Smith’s grave was hidden from the public (his wife fearing desecration) and almost lost for 84 years; but in 1928 it was found and he, brother Hyrum and wife Emma were re-interred near his home in a picturesque setting along the river.

Finally, we wanted to leave you with a puzzle from Nauvoo. Can you guess what this device from the Nauvoo Tin Shop is? You have to read to the end to find the answer.

The next morning we crossed into Iowa on a rickety bridge with twists and turns in it on the way to the river town of Fort Madison

Our next camping spot was a scenic Iowa State Park about 15 miles west of Burlington, Geode State Park. Named Geode because this state and this area is one of the few in the country where geodes are found. Here is a picture of a very large (maybe 20 inches in diameter) geode on display at the park office.

Driving around the park, we noticed right away that the spillway for the dam was dry, and apparently had been that way for some time. 

Luckily, we got here early Friday and had no problem getting a camping spot; by Saturday morning the place was almost full.

The fall colors seem to be coming a little early, maybe due in part to the draught of 2012. But it made for a lot of great picture taking opportunities.

Multi use path:

A full moon added to the great scenery. Here Anne and Duffy take a walk.

We spent Saturday in Burlington and they had their annual Heritage Days festival in progress. In addition to a car show, they had one end of the street roped off for a display of a Case Loader Backhoe and Combine. Kids were allowed to operate the backhoe boom (with help!) and try to hook and lift a small metal model.

At the Burlington visitors center we found a historical display of the Case Burlington Plant. I was particularly interested to see the history related to someone whom I had heard about often but never met, Elton Long. He was a pioneering engineer in the development of the loader backhoe.

We finished off our sight seeing with dinner at a well known restaurant in Burlington.

OK. Now the puzzle – it’s an early American mousetrap! Pieces of cheese are placed on the center paddle and the mouse has to step onto the paddle in the center of the bucket to get the cheese. The paddle spins, and down falls the mouse, cheese and all, into water in the bucket. Poor mouse!!