Relaxing and writing Saturday

To entice me to write down stuff people would need to know if I weren’t around to tell them, Dan suggested a little get-away. He figured if we were out of the house for 24 hours we could concentrate on the details of our family’s future and spend a little relaxation time together.

We made arrangements for care-giving for Hope and took off for The Landing in Guttenberg, IA, about two hours north of our home. Guttenberg has a pretty riverfront park, limestone houses and small shops, a great marina and some fishing barges, plus a few restaurants including a bar and grill at the Lakeside Ballroom where we ate steaks last night. Our morning started with a walk on a riverfront path that stretches atop a levy built by the Army Corps after the big flood of 1965. Barring a little fancy footwork to avoid goose poop, this is a great place to walk – level and scenic, including a great view of Wisconsin.

We set up shop at Kaffee 1858 for breakfast (Dan got an egg scramble with rustic toast and I had sweet potato quiche), coffee and our paperwork. To be honest, we’ve done this before but it was time to update our info. Dan’s job is to document the financial stuff and mine is to write all the day-to-day stuff like how the girl’s care-giving works, when you sign up for camp, who makes her AFOs, etc.  After a couple of hours of editing, I slipped off and found a cool pair of shoes at Esser’s Clothing Store. It reminded me of Bradley’s in my dad’s hometown of Delavan only more packed in. I saw a sign I thought was funny: “The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.” True. True. But I bought mine to fit.

On our way home we stopped at Breitbach’s Country Dining in Balltown for lunch. Dan loves that place. Before we ate we visited the wine and gift shop where a retired dairy farmer acquaintance of Dan’s was working at the cash register. We bought a side table (for $40!) and vintage book about John Deere.

Our lunch at Breitbach’s consisted of Iowa fare like homemade potato salad, broccoli salad, marinated carrots and little round beets. The place is reported to be Iowa’s oldest restaurant, by the way, so they know Iowa fare. There is also a gorgeous lookout just a few hundred feet from the restaurant. If you’ve never been, it is worth the trip for the food and views. And the good deals!

We also made a quick stop at Murray’s Outdoor Store outside Guttenberg for pretty annuals to plant in my window boxes. Happy Mother’s Day to me!

Learn more about music lover and blogger Karen Bernick. Please feel free to share this article or others. But please use photos with permission only – just email me with any requests. If you like this post, please consider following me here, liking my Facebook page Karen Loves Country or following me at Twitter. Thanks for reading! #Guttenberg #Iowa #BreitbachCountryDining #KarenLovesCountry #MomLovesHerMusic

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