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Sunday, June 12, 2016

Memorial Getaway

After a number of paragraphs explaining why I had missed posts in Memorial Day, I spoke about a Memorial Day getaway with my husband.  We stayed within approximately an hour's drive, but it was still a wonderful weekend.

For most, the weekend likely began Friday evening.  My husband's began on Thursday night since he managed to get Friday off.  Mine, however, did not begin until late Friday night.  So while my lucky bastard of a husband (though, really, I do love the guy!) had the day off, he decided to get the car mostly ready for our trip.  We woke up and left later than we wished, but it was still kind of early for a trip up the Mississippi River.

 So, after loading the car with a freshly packed cooler and some fruit for the trip, we pulled up Google Maps on my phone and headed off for Grafton, IL.  On the way we stopped at an Edwardsville located Starbucks.  While my husband ordered their S'mores Frappuccino® Blended Coffee and Sausage & Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich, I had a Very Berry Hibiscus Starbucks Refreshers™ Beverage and a Cheese Danish.  Thankfully, they are known for their beverages and not their food because the food was, for us at least, just above average to average.  Typically I can't stand items with coffee in them.  Coffee flavored candy? Give it away.  Tiramisu? Spit it out the first time I tried it, could have killed my husband the second - when he tricked me into it.  So while I'm willing to try them, usually the bitter aftertaste of coffee is so bad I just can't bring myself to do more.  My husband was lucky I can restrain myself so well around coffees...I could have drank his.  The refresher was half gone when he finally got to try it as well.  So after enjoying a quick bite to eat we continued on to Grafton.

On the way, we followed the river and happened to see a statue on the other side.  Using Google Maps, we managed to determine that it was in Portage des Sioux, a small town rich with history.  Deciding that if we had time we would go to see it, we continued the north drive to reach Grafton and it's flea market.  Once parked, we walked to the building that housed the vendors.  Once we started looking, we enjoyed walking through the crowded building finding Christmas gifts and personal likes (he found a great deal on a fishing pole!)  After making our second trip to the car, we decided to have a small picnic, though the heat meant we ate in the car instead of in chairs beside it.  Well, more the intense sun than the heat.  I felt it was more of a gorgeous day, but he has always preferred a cooler clime than I.

After enjoying a couple of sandwiches, we decided to try to find our way to Portage des Sioux.  We managed to and the way to the statue was very pleasant.  Once there, we learned various tidbits of history regarding the statue which was Our Lady of the Rivers.  While there, I managed to take a few pictures of the statue.
















So, it may have been more than a few, but there are a few great pictures of it.  As we walked up we noticed the information on the posts.  Little tidbits of history, such as that the location had once been the first port of white settlers in the west and that it had been the site of the signing of a Native American treaty.  Within those tidbits included was that of a church.









We were lucky enough to be allowed inside to see the beauty within the church.  While inside we learned more about the church as well.









Besides the gorgeous stained glass windows, murals resided in the front of the church, as pictured above.  Below are some statues that were painted and hard to believe were wooden.





One of the things we learned was in regards to the church's history.  There were these plaques that had been painted over with white paint.  In the flooding of the Mississippi that occurred in 1993, some of the color bled through, revealing the German heritage of the town even in the church.

Even more amazing is the church's organ.  Built in 1905,it is most likely an imported organ.  It is a gorgeous instrument no matter the origin.

Disappointingly, we could not stay long since we had a cruise we wished to make.  In fact on the cruise, we managed to see several marvels, including more pictures of Our Lady of the Rivers.  I won't put more of them up here, but it was magical, no matter how trite that may seem.

Hopefully, I'll manage to type up a Father's Day post, but if not, for all the father's who may read this, I hope you have a Happy Father's Day...now to get my husband something...this is gonna be hard!

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