(44) Allamakee County 6.30.2024

Allamakee County started off similarly to Clayton. We headed straight to the Effigy Mounds to see the views and do some hiking and definitely were not disappointed!

The kids even became “junior rangers” after undergoing “rigorous” assessments of what they learned during their visit to the Effigy Mounds 😊

 

After hiking, we headed towards Lansing but made sure to drive through Harper’s Ferry. We got to see the old Oil Springs School

 

And the Immaculate Conception Church in Wexford

Our first stop in Lansing was Coffee on the River where we enjoyed some coffee and amazingly delicious sandwiches right out on the river front. We would highly recommend this stop to anyone!

Right next door to Coffee on the River is the Museum of River History which was closed. This one we knew we would miss and would definitely enjoy coming back to.  This and Coffee on the River are housed in an old mill—so neat!

 

We then headed to the Lansing main street area where we perused the shops that were open which included Horsfalls. If you’ve never been, it’s certainly worth a visit. They cram EVERYTHING in, wall to wall. Horsfalls happens to also be where we ran into Grandma and Grandpa again—this time we did not forget to snap some pictures!

One of the buildings on the main straight had this beautiful mural of the mounds.

 

We also stopped at the Skinny Dip for some ice cream. It started off well with this cute picture. Unfortunately, that’s about all that was good at this ice cream shop :(

Little did we know that Lansing was the Birthplace of Granny Basketball :D

 

Before leaving Lansing we visited the Driftless Conservation Center

Another thing we loved about visiting these northeastern counties was getting to drive through all the “river towns” where houses are right up next to the mighty Mississippi, which at this time was a little dangerous as there was flooding going on. At some points we were driving below the water line. I tried to snap a picture of it, but it never looks quite like it does in real life.

I snapped a picture of the Black Hawk bridge while leaving Lansing—these old bridges are just so neat!

We weren’t sure if we’d make it all the way up to New Albin, but we did! We didn’t snag any pictures, but we stopped at the city park to play for a bit. We did get a snapshot of the old fire house and school building. 

as well as this very old church that is obviously not up and running anymore.

 

But our main tourist attraction in New Albin was Captain Lee’s Iron Monument that marks the border of Iowa and Minneapolis, which, once they had more accurate measuring capabilities, they realized is actually north of the border. 

We headed towards our last stop in Allamakee County—Waukon.

We snapped a few pictures of some of the historical buildings in Waukon:

The Red School

The cold war era courthouse

 

Veterans’ affairs

Historical Museum

 

And this old church which is now Ms B’s

 

We got out to play at the wooden park for a bit

And then headed up to the main street for dinner. Unfortunately, again, all of the shops were closed, but we did eat at Uptown Grill, which we would definitely recommend!

We did find this random complex that hosted yet another “world’s smallest church,” old schoolhouse and the Waterville  Depot.

 

We ended Allamakee County on a sweet note by stopping at the Creamery. 

 

Rate: 2

Other Things to See/Do:

• Mooney House, Harper’s Ferry
• Hartley Fort, Effigy Mounds
• Allamakee County Historical Museum and Genealogy Research Center, Waukon
• WW Homestead Dairy, Waukon
• Yoder’s Country Store, Waukon
• Lansing Stone School House, Lansing
• Mt. Hosmer Park Overlook, Lansing
• River History Museum, Lansing
• Fish Farm Mounds, Lansing
• Paint Creek Amish Bulk Store and Bakery, Waterville
• Old East Paint Creek Church, Waterville
• John R Mott House, Postville