On our way home from Galena

I had a mighty quiet weekend with Doug gone.  I wasn't feeling well most of the weekend and only left the house once from Thursday to Sunday.  Not like me, though I do love to stay at home.  I was feeling better after a nap on Sunday afternoon.  I spent the rest of the evening binge watching Aerial America on the Smithsonian channel.  They film it state by state and I really enjoy seeing the aerial view of so many of the things I've seen in some of our recent trips.  I follow along on the atlas...totally geeky!

We decided to take the scenic route home from Galena with a leisurely ride along the Mississippi River through Iowa.  Lots of farms and LOTS of cornfields!

We saw many "barn quilts" and the were quiet lovely with many different patterns.

We stopped in Ft. Madison to see the fort.  We thought this building was the fort but it was actually the Iowa State Penitentiary.  It was built in 1839 but I don't believe is still in operation.

We did find the fort though which was not as impressive as the prison.

Right on the river.

We passed through Keokuk, Iowa and saw a sign for a national cemetery.  It wasn't far out of the way so we stopped to take a look.  It wasn't nearly as big as some of the national cemeteries we have seen but it's always interesting to take a drive or walk through them.

Next stop was Hannibal, MO.  We had been to Hannibal before and saw the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn stuff, but if you've never been there it's a cute little town and worth the time to visit if it's on your way somewhere. 

We had dinner at the Mark Twain Brewing Company in a very old Ford Dealership building. 

We were able to walk around the interesting building and see the old car lifts which were still there.

The food was pretty good too!

As luck would have it, I spotted a lighthouse up on the hill.  I'll post pictures of that tomorrow.