Green Bay/Lake Michigan/Chicago

[Soups]

Wow. A thread with Davenport recs? Never thought I'd see the day. Hometown.

Not sure how much time you have to spend there but whoever said Whiteys ice cream nailed it, it's a must everytime I go home. Also, Harris Pizza if you want a unique style of pizza, just get sausage.

Other than that I got nothing. Drive up north along the river? Some cool small towns and nice bluffs the farther you go north, Dubuque and up. Le Claire is a nice little town to check out for the day that is right next door. If you've seen the show American Pickers their antique store is there. You can also always kill an hour or so at the John Deere Pavilions across the river in Moline. The Figge museum is nice too

Edit: agreed with above. Fuck Chicago/WI/etc unless you plan on staying the night. Although SW Wiscy (Potosi) and NW Illinois (Galena) is an easy day.

Edit 2: IA City too. One of the best college towns around and only 40-45min from Dport. Catch a football game if the timing works and they are at home, having a decent season with the cake walk schedule.

[skuff]

If you go to Chicago I recommend doing the Chicago River boat tour. It is a pretty amazing city architecturally.

Yeah we did that a couple years ago, it was worthwhile and interesting I thought.

Agreed, that architectural boat tour is interesting. Great perspective to view the city and learn something new.

[Rideski]

Wow. A thread with Davenport recs? Never thought I'd see the day. Hometown.

.

Haha, maggots all over the world.

UglyMoney, will be in Davenport Friday-probably Sat/Sun and Cedar Rapids Monday. Might tack some extra days on depending how things go. Pm sent.

Re: my OP where saying pizza joint tourism no biggie I guess I'd clarify I meant for the big drive, like 8 hours for a restaurant only no way. But this ice cream spot and others in Iowa sound good, I'll probably hit it up.

And then I do like looking at architecture. Lake Shore Drive and boat cruise sound fun.

[Rideski]

Always good to get back to the place you were born. I think it is a homing instinct we share with Salman, and some other animals.

Yeah it seems kinda weird to never have seen the place I was born. But my family only spent a small amount of time there and split right after I was born. No other family there, not a ski destination, etc. I've spent a lot of time touring the Western US and the West coast in particular but yeah never that spawning spot.

[Jong Lafitte]

Sabra Nihari in Chicago. Get the Nihari. Spicy. If you do not go, you will be poorer for it. If you have to ask what Nihari is, then all the more reason to go!

[mooseknuckles]

Uglymoney clearly has the corridor dialed in and sounds like an excellent host. Happy to offer any recommendations for Iowa City if needed.

[Notchtop]

These guys gotcha dialed I think. Just would like to add the Amanas to the list. Touristy, but the furniture factory, meat shop, woolen mill, and brewery are worth the short drive IMO. The Millstream amber regularly defeats Munich in "Munich style amber."
And if you speak German you can drink all day in a couple of the inns.
Grew up in Solon, when Big Grove was still Joneseys.

[Rideski]

@mooseknuckles Thanks, which back40 are you in now?

@notchtop, meat shop? Now you're talking my language. Looking forward to some farmers market type stuff. Home raised eggs etc.

[Notchtop]

In Montana. Haven't visited the folks in many years but I don't imagine Amana has changed much since WWII.

[Rideski]

Right. I live 3 hours from Green Bay and 7 hours from Chicago.

What city are you in?

[uglymoney]

My friends have been doing Millstream brewery in the Amanas by boat from Coralville reservoir the last couple weeks. 20 mile ride each way or more depending on where you start on the lake it could be 25 miles. Fricken awesome ride up the Iowa river and only possible in a comfortable boat during flood stage. All the public boat ramps on the res are closed right now but my friend runs Scales Point Marina which is a private lease of Corps land.

[Notchtop]

That boat trip sounds rad. Do you have to Mach it up there or can you troll along the way?
I forget which backroad it is but I vaguely remember paralleling hwy6 to oxford, then crossing over to the north, by bike from IC. Nice ride, roll home buzzed with a prevailing west wind.

[uglymoney]

That boat trip sounds rad. Do you have to Mach it up there or can you troll along the way?
I forget which backroad it is but I vaguely remember paralleling hwy6 to oxford, then crossing over to the north, by bike from IC. Nice ride, roll home buzzed with a prevailing west wind.

Plenty of water right now so you can mach it depending on how brave you are the pool height take you most all of the way there...logs and floating stuff make 25 mph the practical speed limit so you don't hurt anything if you do hit something. Once you get to the canal going to the brewery it is deep and easy. No need to mach fast over stuff or special shallow water equipment...that is what is cool about doing it during high water.

[Soups]

That boat trip sounds cool. Forgot about the Amanas, would be a good way to kill a day with good home cooked food.

[Soups]

We better see a sick DD/DSM style TR come out of this!

[mooseknuckles]

@mooseknuckles Thanks, which back40 are you in now?

CDA, ID

..by bike from IC. Nice ride, roll home buzzed with a prevailing west wind.

inebriated gravel rides to the Amana's in the fall are worth the pilgrimage.

uglymoney... 10yr flood cycle? repeat of 2008?

[mooseknuckles]

We better see a sick DD/DSM style TR come out of this!

We will all be drooling on our keyboards when the photo of a BOSTONS from Whitey's shows up in the feed.

[uglymoney]

2008 went several feet over the spillway which is at 712. It was crazy. Normal summer pool is now at 683.5. The lake was not designed for our current atmosphere.

Current hydrograph...2008 is the record stage.

[Notchtop]

Holy crap. So does the corps have it open full tube? Flooding mayflower/park/arts campus?

[Rideski]

We better see a sick DD/DSM style TR come out of this!

Uglymoney has not yet accepted my challenge to race his Alltrack against my Nissan Versa or similar. Loser buys icecream.

[uglymoney]

Holy crap. So does the corps have it open full tube? Flooding mayflower/park/arts campus?

No. Much to the dismay of city officials in Iowa City who want them to up the flow to alleviate the danger from future precip which in the old days wasn't something they worried about in October. They are at about 12k cfs outflow and plan to hold it steady there. Iowa City more or less not impacted at that level. Dubuque Street, Park Road bridge, Hancher have recently been raised so the city is a becoming a bit more hardened to these floods and can handle more water without impact but the Corps is stuck running outflows based on a very old outdated study which tries to balance the needs of everybody 1960 and also takes into account the Cedar River because they merge in Columbus Junction. No telling for sure if a new plan would change what they are doing but the money isn't there for a new study which is ridiculous.

[uglymoney]

Uglymoney has not yet accepted my challenge to race his Alltrack against my Nissan Versa or similar. Loser buys icecream.

Lol. My racing days are behind me. I only race people when it snows.

[Mustonen]

What city are you in?

Marquette.

[ill-advised strategy]

Never pondered how Chicago has that lengthwise view on the lake. Probably looks cool.

Yetiman, where you at?

I am another 3 or 4 hours north, also in Marquette. I think the thing about this time of year is if you get the right day, good light, good weather, the coastal scenery can be staggering (yes, I said that, because yesterday further north on the Lake Mich coast the gray broke up, the sun made sunbeams through the blueholes, it made a rainbow, then it was bright and the leaves were absurd and the lake was making great waves, it was staggering)....but, BUT, it's mostly gray and drizzly and dark this time of year.

For us yokels, Green Bay = "city stuff"....like, we go to the Olive Garden, like yokels...and shop for shoes and maybe snag something off a bigger craigslist, go to single-A baseball. So, that's not really the Green Bay experience you're after. I spent like a month in GB when I started working for the giant awful trucking company based there....it was truly unremarkable. Safe place to live, easy to get around. Bleh. Bobcats games are fun.

Green Bay is not really a wildlands kind of place, but it's not a big city with unique features either. Chicago has all kinds of that stuff, anybody here could tell you Chicago stuff to do. Blackhawks game! Drive around the South side with your doors locked! Husky latin women!

Here, experience the coast:
http://harborcam.two-rivers.org/#view

I just scanned through the thread. I agree with Mustonen.

[ill-advised strategy]

Marquette.