Iowa-American Pickers
So Hunk and I decided to take another trip, albeit a short one. Hunk has become a big fan of the History Channel's American Pickers TV show with Mike, Frank and Danielle. I too watch the show but have not seen as many episodes, but I was still quite pumped about going to Iowa to see their store. Decided to be gone only Thursday and Friday as I need to be home on Saturday for Adenaline practice, but that's okay. In order to make the most of our trip we decided to leave Wednesday afternoon after I got off work at 2:30. As Lewis luck would go, I had hunk get the oil changed on our car and have the mechanic check a slight noise under the hood. $650 later and a new serpentine belt and alternator, we were on the road once again. I should mention here too that I did have to do my traditional scolding of hunk between 494 and merging onto 35W, that it would be a long 2 days for him if he didn't mind his manners on the road while driving MY car. As I'm writing this, it is Wednesday evening and he has done quite well at behaving himself and we're still speaking. Alas, I've skipped a few events of the day and must go back.
We made good time getting to Iowa, heading for LeClaire,Iowa on the Iowa-Illinois border. LeClaire is the hometown of American Pickers show, on the Mississippi River, Home of Buffalo Bill, and also the home of some quaint antique stores besides A.P. We ended our first day in Cedar Rapids around 7:30 or so. Hadn't eaten dinner yet and hunk wanted to eat at a local restaurant. Couldn't really find one around the hotel. Yes, there were the usual restaurants like Ruby Tuesday, but we wanted something different. Actually nothing sounded that great to me as it was so late and I was so tired. I told Hunk, "Couldn't we just eat at Wendy's?" So that's what we did. Whenever we take a road trip we usually have a CD on tape. Our favorite author has been Michael Connelly and I like his Harry Bosch character. Hunk was able to find a CD we hadn't listen to before at the Library, so that's what we ended up listening to. We were getting to a good part in the story, so I wanted to stay in the car, eat my hamburger, and listen to the CD and be comfy in my heated car seat. Oh, I love simple pleasures. Then back to the hotel for the night, a bit of TV time, and then to sleep.
On Thursday a.m. we slept in until about 8, but the hotel quit providing breakfast at 9 o'clock, so that put me under the gun to get my shower and get dressed. Anyone who knows Hunk, knows that the freebie food is a must-have on the trip, so I needed to hustle. We were on our way to the food by 8:30. Surprise, surprise, there was still plenty of food and other people eating as late as we were.
Then we were on the road by 9:30. Found LeClaire with no problem and the AP store was just off the main drag. The store is much smaller than it appears on TV. I believe it is a restored gas station from the 1950s. Unfortunately, we were not able to get near the store. They were filming that day and told us to come back in the afternoon. Apparently the microphones are so sensitive that they could pick up sounds outside the building. Across the street from AP, Danielle has her own store so we decided to go over there. At this time only the first floor has merchandise at this time. Most of her items are clothes and definitely has the personality of Danielle. The gal watching the store was very pleasant and was one of the girls in the Air Streamer episode if you saw that one. She was one of the gals that dressed up 50's style and helped Danielle clean the Air Stream. She was very sweet. Since we couldn't get into the AP store we decided to check out the rest of LeClaire. We went through several antique shops. Everyone was so friendly and quite open about places to go and things to see. We had lunch at Sneaky Pete's. It's situated on the river with a lovely view of it. After we were seated at picnic style table and bench I took a look at the restaurant decorations. Apparently if you go into the restaurant with a tie on, it will be cut off and promptly tacked to the ceiling. Sure enough the ceiling is covered in cut off ties - very unique. Food was pretty good too. Hunk had a BLT on Texas toast and I had a chicken sandwich on a super-delicious egg bun...yummo!! Then we went to the Buffalo Bill Museum that was also down by the river. That was very interesting too. By the time we had gone through the museum it was around 2 p.m. so thought we would check the AP store again. This time it was open. When you first walk in is where the t-shirts, hats, etc are. To the right is where the antiques are kept, albeit not too much there, at least not like you would think. There is a second level but no one was allowed up there. Also on the main floor is a desk where they pack items to mail out. I think most of their business is done through eBay or at least over the internet. They had 2 employees there - 2 gals that resembled Danielle. Both had black hair, tattoos, etc. etc. but very pleasant and sociable. No sign of Mike and Frank though. They were on the road and after filming was completed, Danielle had other things to do. Oh well...we didn't really think we would get to see them in person, but we could hope. We did see some items from the TV show like motorcydles and bicycles and Laurel and Hardy masks we had see from their show. We were told to look for a blue boot, but we did not see that item.
After leaving LeClaire we started the trip back home. Stopped in Kolona for cheese curds. They were so tasty. They were so fresh that they squeaked when you chew them..smack, smack, yummy. When you come into the store, you can even watch the curds being processed. I remember being there many, many years ago on a previous trip and we could walk into the room where they did the processing but now you can only watch through large windows.
After leaving the cheese store we headed towards Amana, Iowa. Unfortunately, by the time we got there all the stores were closed but there were still 2 restaurants open. We chose the German one. Very nice place but the smell of sauerkraut was quite overpowering. I like sauerkraut mind you, but it was very strong. We should have been more venturesome but Hunk got a pork sandwich and I got a turkey sandwich and vegetable soup..it was tasty and again everyone was so pleasant. When dinner was over the waitress brought this huge tray of desserts to choose from. Hunk chose coconut cream pie and I picked something like a raisin pie with lots of coconut in it. We got them to go. They were definitely homemade and so good to eat.
We finished out the day in Evansdale, just outside Waterloo. Staying at a Days Inn. We were going to drive longer so as not to have too far to drive tomorrow, but it was getting dark and the rain was getting the better of us. It wasn't storming, but the rain was coming down pretty hard all the same. Just as well too as we got to see the end of the Twins game. They lost, but ended up splitting a 4-game series with the Yankees. I hate the Yankees...
We made good time getting to Iowa, heading for LeClaire,Iowa on the Iowa-Illinois border. LeClaire is the hometown of American Pickers show, on the Mississippi River, Home of Buffalo Bill, and also the home of some quaint antique stores besides A.P. We ended our first day in Cedar Rapids around 7:30 or so. Hadn't eaten dinner yet and hunk wanted to eat at a local restaurant. Couldn't really find one around the hotel. Yes, there were the usual restaurants like Ruby Tuesday, but we wanted something different. Actually nothing sounded that great to me as it was so late and I was so tired. I told Hunk, "Couldn't we just eat at Wendy's?" So that's what we did. Whenever we take a road trip we usually have a CD on tape. Our favorite author has been Michael Connelly and I like his Harry Bosch character. Hunk was able to find a CD we hadn't listen to before at the Library, so that's what we ended up listening to. We were getting to a good part in the story, so I wanted to stay in the car, eat my hamburger, and listen to the CD and be comfy in my heated car seat. Oh, I love simple pleasures. Then back to the hotel for the night, a bit of TV time, and then to sleep.
On Thursday a.m. we slept in until about 8, but the hotel quit providing breakfast at 9 o'clock, so that put me under the gun to get my shower and get dressed. Anyone who knows Hunk, knows that the freebie food is a must-have on the trip, so I needed to hustle. We were on our way to the food by 8:30. Surprise, surprise, there was still plenty of food and other people eating as late as we were.
Then we were on the road by 9:30. Found LeClaire with no problem and the AP store was just off the main drag. The store is much smaller than it appears on TV. I believe it is a restored gas station from the 1950s. Unfortunately, we were not able to get near the store. They were filming that day and told us to come back in the afternoon. Apparently the microphones are so sensitive that they could pick up sounds outside the building. Across the street from AP, Danielle has her own store so we decided to go over there. At this time only the first floor has merchandise at this time. Most of her items are clothes and definitely has the personality of Danielle. The gal watching the store was very pleasant and was one of the girls in the Air Streamer episode if you saw that one. She was one of the gals that dressed up 50's style and helped Danielle clean the Air Stream. She was very sweet. Since we couldn't get into the AP store we decided to check out the rest of LeClaire. We went through several antique shops. Everyone was so friendly and quite open about places to go and things to see. We had lunch at Sneaky Pete's. It's situated on the river with a lovely view of it. After we were seated at picnic style table and bench I took a look at the restaurant decorations. Apparently if you go into the restaurant with a tie on, it will be cut off and promptly tacked to the ceiling. Sure enough the ceiling is covered in cut off ties - very unique. Food was pretty good too. Hunk had a BLT on Texas toast and I had a chicken sandwich on a super-delicious egg bun...yummo!! Then we went to the Buffalo Bill Museum that was also down by the river. That was very interesting too. By the time we had gone through the museum it was around 2 p.m. so thought we would check the AP store again. This time it was open. When you first walk in is where the t-shirts, hats, etc are. To the right is where the antiques are kept, albeit not too much there, at least not like you would think. There is a second level but no one was allowed up there. Also on the main floor is a desk where they pack items to mail out. I think most of their business is done through eBay or at least over the internet. They had 2 employees there - 2 gals that resembled Danielle. Both had black hair, tattoos, etc. etc. but very pleasant and sociable. No sign of Mike and Frank though. They were on the road and after filming was completed, Danielle had other things to do. Oh well...we didn't really think we would get to see them in person, but we could hope. We did see some items from the TV show like motorcydles and bicycles and Laurel and Hardy masks we had see from their show. We were told to look for a blue boot, but we did not see that item.
After leaving LeClaire we started the trip back home. Stopped in Kolona for cheese curds. They were so tasty. They were so fresh that they squeaked when you chew them..smack, smack, yummy. When you come into the store, you can even watch the curds being processed. I remember being there many, many years ago on a previous trip and we could walk into the room where they did the processing but now you can only watch through large windows.
After leaving the cheese store we headed towards Amana, Iowa. Unfortunately, by the time we got there all the stores were closed but there were still 2 restaurants open. We chose the German one. Very nice place but the smell of sauerkraut was quite overpowering. I like sauerkraut mind you, but it was very strong. We should have been more venturesome but Hunk got a pork sandwich and I got a turkey sandwich and vegetable soup..it was tasty and again everyone was so pleasant. When dinner was over the waitress brought this huge tray of desserts to choose from. Hunk chose coconut cream pie and I picked something like a raisin pie with lots of coconut in it. We got them to go. They were definitely homemade and so good to eat.
We finished out the day in Evansdale, just outside Waterloo. Staying at a Days Inn. We were going to drive longer so as not to have too far to drive tomorrow, but it was getting dark and the rain was getting the better of us. It wasn't storming, but the rain was coming down pretty hard all the same. Just as well too as we got to see the end of the Twins game. They lost, but ended up splitting a 4-game series with the Yankees. I hate the Yankees...
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