Dubuque River Fest

Hal writes:

On Saturday I made a trip to Dubuque to purchase some wedding gifts for a couple weddings that I will be attending in July. Since I didn't have much else to do, I decided to check out the America's River Festival that was happening in Dubuque. Before I went down to the port, I took a walk along main street. Here is one of the older houses of Dubuque.

This next house is on the hillside. Anna and I once stayed here, it is a bed and breakfast. The windows on the top right side of the house belong to "Anna's Room" of the Hancock House.

This church is St. Luke's United Methodist Church. Dubuque is known for having either a bar or church on just about every street corner. ;) The stain glass you see is actual Tiffany Stained glass.

The main reason for my journey to main street was to check out Jitterz Coffee and Cafe. This is the new store owned by Badger Brothers Coffee, where Anna works part time in Platteville. They serve sandwiches at lunch, which is different than Badger Brothers, but they still have the coffee and ice cream that BB is known for. When I went inside I found one of my former RAs from a previous school working for the coffee shop.

Out side the United Church of Christ. They have the God is Still Speaking campaign. "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." --Gracie Allen

OK, finally on to the River Fest. It reminded me a lot of county fairs that I attended growing up. There was a carnival area with lots of inflatable toys for the kids and all kinds of food that you know is not good for you. Unfortunately, they did not have my favorite fair food (mini doughnuts) so I didn't buy anything. The first area that I walked up to were the "Dock Dogs". These dogs would run off a long dock and jump in the pool to retrieve a rubber duck or a ball. I'm not sure if I missed a bigger show because it seemed pretty basic. And there were a lot of t-shirts and other items that said "Dock Dogs" on them, so there must be a big following somewhere.

Next stop was to watch the Lumberjacks compete. I think ESPN 7 was there to tape the proceedings for a future broadcast. In the spirit of getting the crowd excited, foam axes were handed out to everyone to wave in the air or beat on your neighbor during the competition.

And what would a festival be without a concert? Randy Travis had played the night before, but the Doobie Brothers were doing a sound check when I walked by.

If you can't tell, I'm bored with not having my wife around. And if you read this entire blog, you must be bored to... or enjoy dock dogs...