Fall Adventure Part 2: Camping and Black Hawk War Sights (Sites?)

Having come, seen, and conquered Galena (I neglected to mention our one dining out experience at the Green Street Tavern located in the historic DeSoto House Hotel; it was solidly good, not quite great (Lincoln: ribs, Tracey: meatloaf, Bennett: spaghetti + meatballs)), we forged back eastward for the final three-sevenths of our October excursion.

Apple River Fort in Elizabeth, IL.  In 1832, Black Hawk's braves attacked this fort for the better part of an hour, but they were staved off by three different Elizabeths (an unknown one of whom is the town's namesake) and around 60 other settlers (only 20 or so true militia men).  Only one defender was killed in the attack. 

Bennett wielding the type of muzzle-loading black powder rifle used by both sides in the battle.

The fort was open to exploration.  We couldn't pass up an opportunity to man the battlements...

Surveying the area for Black Hawk et al. with our improvised rifle.

After splitting a steak sandwich and a bacon cheeseburger from the greasy-spoon Welcome Inn in Elizabeth, we continued onward to our campout in Apple River Canyon State Park.  The 'canyon' aspect may be a bit of a reach, but then again it does boast some cliff faces and bluffs and the closest thing to a Rocky Mountain-type river I've seen in otherwise largely topographically-challenged Illinois. 

This was only our second family campout; Bennett had a better idea of what exactly camping entailed this time, though, and was happy to help pitch the tent...

...and gather and (especially) prepare firewood.  Featured prominently here is the Filipino machete gifted by his Uncle Luke. 

After setting up camp and exploring our surroundings, we cooked tin foil hobo dinners over the fire and capped the day with s'mores.

Just to prove Tracey actually did spend the night on this campout.

We spent a pleasant night all together in our queen-sized sleeping bag (editor's note: a pregnant Tracey can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of 'pleasant' as a descriptor of the co-sleeping experience).  The weather was just perfect for this stretch of the trip.  We had plenty of dry firewood with which to cook breakfast.

Presented without comment (Tracey likes bacon.  I guess that's a comment)

Bennett has never met a fallen log he didn't want to walk across.

We hiked the Sunset Trail (though it was closer to high noon).

It's a long way down if you can't quite tell.

A bear hideout perhaps?

Bennett believed the ferocious bear had clawed this tree trunk.

Not sure what exactly Lincoln's up to here.

To the river for more stone-throwing!

Battlefield Monument at Kellogg's Grove southeast of Kent, IL.  This was the site of two "battles" fought in the Black Hawk War.  More like skirmishes without much strategy or organization from either side, 8 militiamen were killed and somewhere around 15 American Indians.  It was the last action of the Black Hawk War to take place in Illinois.

Lo, a hidden treasure at the battlefield!  This 'Looking for Lincoln' wayside sadly not written by historian Grandpa Andreasen detailed the Black Hawk War and a young Abraham Lincoln's experience in it.  He helped bury the dead militiamen following the battle either here or Stillman's Run (see below).

Bennett helping Tracey do a crayon rubbing of Black Hawk.

And, why not commemorate the battlefield with an old-fashioned unsafe two-story slide.  The results with a 2.5-yr old Bennett were better than 2013's debacle at a similar slide in the Chief Shabbona Forest Preserve west of Aurora.

The Lincoln theme continued on our way back home as we stopped in Freeport at the site of the second Lincoln-Douglas debate to eat a little picnic lunch.

Grandpa didn't do this one either :(  Shortly after this rubbing was done, Bennett discovered a dead squirrel :)

Lincoln (me, not Abraham) had to fly solo to this last historical site as Bennett couldn't properly roust from his mid-afternoon slumber.

 This was the event that pretty much kicked off the war as Black Hawk was probably taking his band back across the Mississippi before sort of accidentally running into the militia here.  The Battle of Stillman's Run (in present-day Stillman Valley) was named after the militia commander who was routed.  Lincoln's grimace is either a reflection of the astonishing military incompetence on the part of poor Stillman or else a premonition of Bennett wetting his pants back in the car in a matter of mere minutes after this photograph was captured.  Probably the latter.

Thus concluded our glorious Galena Trip.  We may have tried to stretch it out a bit longer, but Bennett had to be back by late afternoon in time to march in the annual candy-dumping festivities of the ward Trunk-or-Treat.

Fall Adventure Part 1: Mississippi Palisades and Galena

Lincoln had a long weekend off toward the end of October, and with a baby coming in Spring, we decided to make our long-planned Northwest Illinois trip a little early.  Two state parks, a day or two in Galena, and a handful of Black Hawk War historical sites were all on the agenda.

First stop Thursday morning was a little pull-off between Polo and Lanark.  There was a historical marker explaining that Abraham Lincoln traveled this way and may have even camped for a night with his military attachment nearby(!).  Bennett was chiefly interested in playing a few rounds of hide-and-seek in the small Oak grove.

Obligatory bury-the-small-child-in-fallen-leaves picture

Next was a picnic lunch (Bennett had chosen a special package of Chips Ahoy cookies for the occasion) and a hike at Mississippi Palisades State Park just north of Savanna.  A pregnant Tracey bravely soldiered through the hike.  Here she is with a particular favorite leaf of Bennett's he had given her for safekeeping.  The hike itself through a forest of falling (yes, -ing) leaves was very pretty.  Sadly, no mammalian, reptilian, or amphibian wildlife was spotted, but Bennett assured us the animals were simply asleep for the Winter.

Here we are at Indian Head Rock.  What, you can't tell it's an Indian Head?  Not pictured: Tracey, who is afraid of steep overlooks (and this one was a doozy).  Lincoln wanted to make the leap over to the outcropping boulder but thought better of it with young Bennett in tow.  Bennett was thrilled to see a train far below steaming by at river's edge.

A family portrait at Lookout Point.  Note how narrow the Mississippi River appears in the far background, a rarity this far South on its course.  Also note Bennett's train in the top left corner.

No big animals, but old, reliable Class Insecta can always be counted on to make an appearance or two no matter the season (note: except for pretty much all of Winter...unless you are counting the Box Elder bugs at Grandpa and Grandma Andreasen's house in Bountiful).  Here is a delightful walking stick.  We also saw a cool-looking hornet and some shield bugs

Tracey didn't make the long (board)walk down to Oak Point, so she missed out on an excellent rock-throwing aside.

Supposedly, Bald Eagles frequently nest down there below Louis' point.  Perhaps not so much by late October.

Okay, last scenic overlook at something called Ozzie's Point

On to Galena!  One of LIFE's 'Around the World in 80 Places, the galena.org website implores!  '14th Friendliest City in the World,' raves something called Conde Nast Traveler!  Anyway, all that aside, it certainly is a gorgeous drive and Galena itself is a quaint old-fashioned little vacation resort town.  Of course, we are not exactly in financial shape to take full advantage of the fancy restaurants and hotels as well as the boutique shopping opportunities.  However, Lincoln is his father's son, so the main goal became hitting up the (mostly) free historical sites and get a small sense of the town at least through osmosis.  You see, this was sort of Ulysses S. Grant's hometown just before the Civil War made him famous.  Here is Bennett admiring the sword and knife portion of what is apparently the biggest collection of Grant 'stuff' in the country at the Old Market building in downtown Galena.

From the moment we parked, Bennett immediately wanted to walk along the river and across the bridge to Grant Park (mainly to throw rocks, leaves, and sticks into the Galena River (should have kept the previous name of Fever River) as opposed to actually learning about Grant).  Why he's electing to walk backwards across said bridge is anyone's guess.

Rather poor attempt at capturing downtown Galena in the background from the bridge.  At least Tracey looks good, though, right?

Grant Park proudly displays giant guns from various American military conflicts.  Bennett fully enjoyed finding and subsequently inspecting each one.  This giant Naval cannon is from a gunboat in the Spanish-American War.

Captured German Howitzer used in World War I.

The 'Blakely Rifle,' a gift from some South Carolina artillery enthusiasts living abroad in Britain back to their home state about one year before the start of the Civil War.  Supposedly fired on Fort Sumter.  Somehow procured by an Illinois Congressman 35 years later and placed here since.

Ah, there's the General Grant of 'Grant Park' fame

A Napoleonic cannon again from the Civil War.

Clearly bushed after chasing down so many cannons in the park, we retired to our hotel which according to Bennett's explicit instruction at the time of booking must have a frog slide in a kiddie pool.  Also, there was this slide...

Lincoln and Bennett sharing a hotel bed: the first instance of a recurring theme during our recent travels over the past few months with a pregnant Tracey claiming one bed all to herself (although she explains there are actually two in each bed so it's fair).

Friday morning began with a visit to the Galena & U.S. Grant Museum.  The first floor contained exhibits on the local history.  Galena was the site of one of the first true mineral rushes in American History.  It was the leading producer of lead ore in the 19th century.  The top floor was focused on Grant and the Civil War.  An astounding 9 Union Generals hailed from Galena (although Grant barely moved here a year before the outbreak of war to work in his father's tannery).  Tracey thinks this Mathew Brady photograph of Grant is particularly handsome.

Speaking of Mathew Brady, check out Bennett's handiwork here!  Nice artistic use of the famed 'Dutch Angle' photographic technique, no?

I don't exactly recall what captivated Bennett in this display case.  Perhaps Cong. Allen's wooden gavel?

Thomas Nast's original painting "Peace in Union" depicting the surrender at Appomattox.

Elihu B Washburne home.  He was a U.S. Congressman who was an early political supporter of Lincoln and also later Grant.  The 1868 election results were reported to his living room in this house (Grant won).  He was also the American ambassador to France in 1870 when Bismarck smoked Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War and stayed in Paris while it was being overthrown from without and within to help preserve some semblance of order.  Bismarck and the Kaiser gifted him life-sized portraits of themselves for his efforts (Germans are sort of weird); replicas hang in this house.  If you thought Elihu is a pretty cool name (Book of Job, right?), consider some of these other given names in his family: Cadwallader (brother), Hempstead (son), Adele (wife). 

Next was a tour of the actual Grant home, gifted to him by the citizens of Galena (they only lived here briefly after the war and before his presidential terms).  Not pictured is a rather unsightly statue of Julia Grant in the front yard.  Tracey claims the questionable nature of the statue rubbed off on her in our picture so neither her nor Julia are fit for public consumption.  Sorry.

A neat little display of each U.S. President's pets while serving in the White House (I think that's Teddy Roosevelt's wild menagerie prominently pictured there on the left).

Various First Lady's White House china.

So there you go. Come for the cute pictures of Bennett, stay for the 19th century history lessons. More to come in Part 2...