Dubuque

The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium tells the fascinating story of America's rivers. The museum consists of a large campus with two major centers that showcase different aspects of life on Mississippi.

There are more than a dozen aquariums with living representatives of the animals living in the Mississippi River, a historic Train Depot, steamboat William M. Black, Woodward Wetland, steam boilers, a blacksmith shop, the Pfohl Boatyard, a stream, raptor aviaries, and much more. The Mississippi Discovery Center has a range of activities, and the 3D Theatre shows fascinating movies such as Flying Monsters. There is also the River's Edge Café to replenish your energy after all the fun.

Address: 350 E 3rd St, Dubuque, Iowa 52001, Phone: 563-557-9545

Located other outskirts of Dubuque, the Mines of Spain Recreation Area is a 1,439-acre state park along the Mississippi River. The park consists of some intriguing land forms, a variety of plant species, and plant and animal communities. Mostly a combination of forests and prairies, the area is largely rugged with 250-years-old burr oaks standing like sentinels on the bluffs above the river.

Some parts of the park were used for grazing, cropping, mining and logging in the past, but everything mostly looks the same way it did when Julien Dubuque came to the area in 1785. There are twelve miles of hiking trails and four miles of ski trails. If you're lucky, you might see rare animals such as bobcats, flying squirrels, red-shouldered hawks, and bald eagles. The park includes the EB Lyons Interpretive Center and the Julien Dubuque Monument.

Address: 9097 Bellevue Heights Rd, Dubuque, Iowa 52003, Phone: 563-556-0620

The Fenelon Place Elevator is probably the steepest and shortest scenic railway in the world. It takes passengers from Fourth Street up to Fenelon Place, stretching296 feet in length and 189 feet up in the air. The view of the Mississippi River, Dubuque business district, and three surrounding states is spectacular.

The elevator is the brain child of Mr. J. K. Graves, a former Dubuque mayor and state senator who lived on top of the bluffs and worked at the bottom; he had to spend an hour every day going around the bluff. The original cable car was used only by Mr. Graves, and it had a simple wooden building with a winch and a coal-fired steam engine. A hemp rope pulled a simple wooden up and down. The cable cars were rebuilt in 1977, and the original gear was replaced by a modern gear box powered by a DC motor.

Address: 512 Fenelon Pl, Dubuque, Iowa 52001, Phone: 563-582-6496

If you are traveling with kids:

Eagle Point Park is a one hundred and sixty-four-acre park overlooking the Mississippi River and its Lock and Dam No. 11. The park, which was established in 1908, offers breathtaking views of three states: Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Park Superintendent Alfred Caldwell, whose use of native materials, designs of the buildings, and meticulous craftsmanship show his love for the prairie architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, did most of the landscaping design.

Eagle Point Park consists of a range of facilities such as the Shiras Memorial Pavilion, the Riverfront Pavilion, Veranda Rooms, Terrace Room, and much more. Other fun amenities are the Rock Garden, Spray Fountain, six tennis courts, the Fish Pond, and a music band stand. The park is a popular venue for local events and celebrations - about 1,200 are held each year. Miles of hiking, biking, and walking trails weave through the park along the old trolley line starting at Shiras Avenue and ending at the large statue of an eagle.

Address: 2601 Shiras Ave, Dubuque, Iowa 52001, Phone: 563-589-4263

Dubuque’s historic Town Clock is a prominent landmark located on the Town Clock Plaza on Main Street. The Clock Tower was originally built on top of a 3-storey building at 825 Main Street in 1873 and was brought to its current site in 1971, just more than 100 years later. This was no easy job as the clock tower weighs at least 13 tons and must have been extremely difficult to reposition without damage. The clock and its tower were mounted on a lofty 4-column concrete pedestal. Today you can admire the impressive Town Clock, rumored to be accurate to within 2 seconds, as you explore the Main Street Historic District of Dubuque.

Address: Clock Town and Town Clock, Town Clock Plaza, Dubuque, IA 52001, 563-589-0890

Activities and Attractions for Couples:

The Dubuque Museum of Art, founded in 1874, has a rich collection of over 2,200 works of primarily American art. It has one of the world's largest collections of paintings by Grant Wood, a rare and complete compilation of Edward S. Curtis's photographs of the American Indian, and a number of touring exhibitions.

The museum places great value on arts education and welcomes school groups, group tours, and Boy Scout badge workshops. For children there are Saturday morning and summer art camps, for families there are family-friendly matinee art performances, and for adults there are classes in drawing and oil and landscape painting. Regular lunch-time lectures teach brown-baggers about art history.

Address: 701 Locust Street, Dubuque, Iowa 52001, Phone: 563-557-1851

Brainchild of a former US Marine Louis Kartman, who served in the Korean War and the famous “Frozen Chosin” Reservoir Battle, the original Veteran’s Memorial Plaza was built in 2009. At that time the memorial included a curved wall which was dedicated to the memory of all members of the services and the wars in which they fought. In 2021 the plaza underwent an enormous improvement project funded by the Dubuque Racing Association. Improvements included a decorative swirling concrete path which becomes a boardwalk projection out over a pond. At the end of the boardwalk there is a moving sculpture entitled “Skyward”, which contains a hidden etched poem within.

Address: Veteran’s Memorial Plaza, 1801 Admiral Sheehy Drive, Dubuque, IA 52001, 563-589-4263

Stone Cliff Winery is well known in Dubuque for its charming wine bar and tasting room located in the historic and beautifully restored Star Brewery Building in the heart of the Port of Dubuque. The spectacular aesthetics, which include exposed bricks, original industrial elements, ornate ceiling, and old black and white photos on the walls, create a warm and friendly atmosphere.

They have a simple but delightful lunch menu of salads and paninis to go with their excellent wines that come from their own vineyard. Once a month the winery offers a Murder Mystery dinner, a fun and popular form of entertainment where murder is served with excellent food and select wines.

Address: 600 Star Brewery Drive, Dubuque, Iowa 52001, Phone: 563-583-6100

The Julien Dubuque Monument stands like a sentinel guarding the city of Dubuque high on the bluff above Catfish Creek and the Mississippi river in the Mines of Spain Recreation Area.

The monument was built in 1897 in honor of Julien Dubuque, a trader and lead miner who Mesquakie Indians granted the right to mine their land, creating the first Euro-American settlement in the area that would eventually become Dubuque and Iowa. Julien got close to the chief and even closer to his daughter, who he married. When he died, the tribe buried his body under the log mausoleum on the site of the current monument.

Address: 1810 Monument Dr, Dubuque, Iowa 52003, Phone: 563-556-0620

Crystal Lake Cave was discovered in 1868 by miners who were looking for lead but instead discovered an enormous underground cave, a magical place that took nature 2 million years to create, and it is still working on it. The cave, which was opened to the public in 1932, consists of a network of passages and cave formations such as a stalactite named St. Peter's Dome and a bunch of stalagmites on a stone shelf called the Cliff Dweller.

There is also a shallow underground Crystal Lake and anchorites, beautiful flowerlike white crystal clusters hanging from the ceiling of the cave. The deepest point of the cave stretches down 100 feet. The cave, which is located about five miles from Dubuque, offers a special treat for the kids, who can look for fossils and use sifter and water like real geologists in the special gem mining area. There is also an hour and half long Wild Cave Tour through unexcavated and unexplored passageways.

Address: 6684 Crystal Lake Cave Rd, Dubuque, Iowa 52003, Phone: 563-556-6451