So we enjoyed sleeping in this morning and took off to head to Le Claire. Even though it was a bit chilly, it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. :) We ate at a great German restaurant , Bierstube, that sits right along the Mississippi River. We chose a booth with the window view to the river.
Of course, we couldn't eat at this restaurant without some German flare. I just couldn't order a cheeseburger here. So we ordered a great bratwurst. I had German potato salad and onion rings with mine. It was great! We hope to return some time, and sit out on the patio area, when it is a bit warmer. :)
Then we drove to the Welcome Center to check out a map of the community to find some things to do. We decided to go to the American Pickers store called Antique Archeology. We finally found the place tucked back and went to pull in the parking lot and it was closed off with cones and a had written sign that said filming. :( bummer...so this is as close as we got to it. (looks like we will have to visit again to check it out and the German restaurant again...oh darn...ha ha )
We went window shopping in some really neat stores in the downtown area. Then we went to a new distillery that recently opened up in the last year or so. They had free tours, so we thought we would check it out. It was actually really neat, as they use local corn and grain to make their gin, vodka, and bourbon. They also give back to the farmers the left overs from the grain that they don't need after the product is made. It also had a great view on the river as well.
We finished up by doing some window shopping in the Quad Cities and went home. It's amazing though even though the day wasn't quite what we expected and all we spent money on was food and gas, it turned out to be a great day away. Just what the doctored order! I feel revived and renewed. Looking forward to the rest of the week.
