Dubuque & Final Answers

Here are the rest of my answers, interspersed with photos from a recent trip to Dubuque and other adventures. I had the pleasure of visiting Eagle Point Park, St. Raphael's Cathedral, the Dubuque Botanical Gardens & Arboretum and the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. 

The botanical gardens were beautiful. The Johnson Strings filmed one of their music videos here, so visiting was a bit of a pilgrimage for me...

Ashley asked: What do you plan on doing in the future? 

In the somewhat immediate future I'd like to:

Mines of Spain

Last October while we were in the Dubuque area, we stopped at the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area and E.B. Lyons Nature Center.  The nature center was a sort of small museum with a gift shop and a conference room.   A field trip for an elementary school class seemed to be in progress; there were a lot of children.

We started our hike on the very short Pine Chapel Trail.  The roof of the chapel was being fixed, and a local historian happened to be there.  She told us about the chapel, built in the 1860s by Otto Junkermann to resemble a church he remembered in Germany.  It seems this chapel, though, was never really used as a church.  

Dubuque County Courthouse

After visiting the Delaware County Courthouse this fall, I headed over to the Dubuque County Courthouse.  Its exterior one of the most impressive in the state, this building (built 1891-93) features Beaux Arts architecture, and was designed by Fridolin Heer and Son.  A 14-foot bronze statue of Justice adorns the pinnacle of the courthouse tower.  Originally, 12 statues were on the roof.  Today, there are six pewter statues.  Four of the statues--large winged angels with trumpets--are said to have been taken down during World War I, and melted for the war effort.

The courthouse is constructed of Indiana limestone, brick, and molded terracotta.  One man, a bricklayer named John Kuntz, died during the construction when a wall gave way and he fell.  Many renovations have been done over the years.  Notably, the dome was plated with gold leaf.  

St. Luke's Methodist Church in Dubuque

In Dubuque, we visited St. Luke's Methodist Church, known for its Tiffany windows. This building was built 1895-1897, and with the windows and altar furniture included, cost over $100,000 to construct.

The church features Richardsonian Romanesque architecture and is built from Indiana Bedford limestone.  Each stone is hand-cut, and some have embedded fossils.

Dubuque Model Railroad Show 2015 - Part 2

One couple I was delighted to see again at the train show was Dave and Sandy Homan of Superior Scenics.  As I noted last year, they create lakes from resin and paint, trees from jute, and grind ballast for rocks under model track.

This past year, they have been working hard on growing their business, which as Dave pointed out, is really a niche market.  A lot of railroad people, he said, don't even have layouts of their own.  So, they market their products to people building fairy gardens, doll houses, terrariums, and aquariums as well as railroad layouts.  

Dubuque Model Railroad Show 2015 - Part 1

Sunday, November 1st, my grandparents (Harry and Colleen Carson), Charity, and I left for Dubuque at 4:00 A.M. We stopped at a convenience store on the way for a quick breakfast (as nothing else seemed open), and arrived at the fairgrounds where the railroad show was held with plenty of time to set up.

After everything was ready, we relaxed, ate donuts, and visited with fellow vendors/friends from last year until the doors opened at 10:00 A.M.

Immaculate Conception Church & St. Raphael

From the Physicians' Clinic in Cedar Rapids perhaps the most interesting building in view is a church.  While eating lunch in the skywalk between rounds of our latest chess tournament, we speculated on its denomination.  

Our top guesses were Orthodox, Catholic, and Episcopalian.  I zoomed in on the sign with my camera, and Catholic it was.  We decided to walk over to see if the church was open.  I grasped the handle of one of the sturdy doors.  It opened, and we filed in.  Inside, the church was quiet and empty.

The Field of Dreams

The Field of Dreams movie site is a quiet spot outside of Dyersville, Iowa.  The blacktop road leading to it is in poor repair, possibly last paved in 1989 for the movie stars and filming crews.   It's a typical-looking Iowa farm which seems it would be more at home on a gravel road.  

A Miniature World

Another model train hobbyist I met at the Dubuque Model Railroad Show was Les Kline.  He has been interested in model trains all his life.  In fact, a love of trains runs in his family.  Mr. Kline's grandfather and great grandfather had 100 years between them working on the Milwaukee Road.   

Dubuque Model Railroad Show

Sunday, November 2nd, my grandparents, Charity, and I left for Dubuque at 4:30 A.M.  We stopped at McDonalds on the way for breakfast, and arrived at the fairgrounds where the railroad show was held with plenty of time to set up.

This time there were no cinnamon rolls available to eat while we waited for the show to open, so we settled for donuts instead.  There was a line waiting to come in when the doors opened at 10 A.M., and throughout the day the building was bustling with people.

Fenelon Place Elevator

The Fenelon Place Elevator in Dubuque is the world's shortest, steepest scenic railway.  It is 296 feet long and elevates passengers 189 feet from Fourth Street to Fenelon Place.  

The elevator was originally built in 1882 by an engineer hired by former Mayor J. K. Graves because it took him 90 minutes to drive his horse and buggy from his bank below around the bluff to his home on the top for lunch, even though his bank was actually only 2 and a half blocks from his house.

  

The elevator soon became popular with the neighbors, and after it was rebuilt because of a fire in 1884, he started charging 5 cents a ride.  The elevator burned again in 1893.  Ten neighbors invested in rebuilding it together.  The neighbor who lived closest to the elevator (C. B. Trewin) bought all of the stock as various neighbors moved or passed away, until in 1912 he became the sole stockholder.  The elevator was last rebuilt in 1977.  You can read the complete history of the elevator at the Fenelon Place Elevator Co. website.