Dubuque, Iowa

On our way to Dubuque, we stopped in Waterloo, Iowa for lunch.  Pulled into the lot of a Sam's Club to park the bus.  In all directions were fast food places.  Vince, Robin, and I chose Pita King.  (Yeah, I'd never been to one either.)  After ordering and walking back to the bus, we passed the Digestive Health Center.

Huh.

A Digestive Health Center between Burger Kings and Taco Bells.  Irony or necessity?

In either case, it made for a great photo...

O.K, so I had never given much thought towards Dubuque, but it is really charming.  A vibrant downtown of beautifully restored buildings holding cafes and galleries and restaurants right alongside the Mississippi.  Five Flags Theater was just as lovely...

(Rebecca cell phones in the lower right corner.)

(And now she's cell phoning in the center.

Can you see her?

Yeah.  Right there.

In the center.)

:)

The Five Flags Theater.

You can't really see it in the photos above, but there are actually three balconies.  The top one was never restored and stays unused to this day.   One of the theater's employees told us that in the theater's hey-day this top-most balcony was designated specifically for black patrons.

Dubuque sits between the Mississippi River and a high steep ridge.  Atop the ridge are huge historic homes overlooking the downtown area below.  At the end of one street that connects the river and ridge is a cable car/elevator that was built in the early part of this century.

(http://www.dbq.com/fenplco/ - Check this little site out.  The photos and short history are fun.)

It was $1 one way or $2 roundtrip.  We shared a meal in the basement of the theater and then Vince, Scott, Robin, Rick, and I took a short walk to the base of the elevator, got in, pulled a little rope telling the operator at the top of the ridge that we were ready.  He buzzed us back, the doors shut automatically, and away we went!

(Above and below... looking upward.)

The operator gave us a short history of the place and showed us the engine room.

His chair sits in the middle of the photo.  To its right is a long lever (a simple machine, you know) that he uses to operate the pulleys (oh, dear...another simple machine) that raises and lowers the elevator car, seen on the other side of the window in front of the chair.

It was a great little adventure.

We returned to the theater and did a show.  It was another solid performance.  This one was unique, however.  The theater is attached to a hockey rink.  Hockey games are loud.  Our play has many moments of silence and almost no music in it.  And a gigantic bat wanted to see the show as well.  But I mean, of course he would, right?  So weaved among the words of Steinbeck were loudspeaker announcers praising the mastery of ice violence and the swoopings of a curious winged rat.

Live theatre, baby!

Today we head to Chicago to get on a plane to Atlanta and then another to Valdosta, Georgia.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Roseburg,+Or&daddr=Longview,+WA+to:portland,+or+to:coeur+d'Alene,+ID+to:Butte,+Montana+to:Gillette,+WY+to:Blue+Earth,+MN+to:Dubuque,+Iowa+to:Chicago,+IL+to:Atlanta,+GA+to:Valdosta,+Lowndes,+Georgia&geocode=FXlukwIdVvSl-CnNWVlLxSLEVDGR_cLXFl6kXw%3BFTgDwAIdyRys-CkXDWkdFHOUVDG5Zn--ibNYxg%3BFfyhtgIdERyw-CkndKl9CwuVVDGRhdH25rk2HA%3BFfOA1wIdThIK-SmPfFW6-LRhUzGQUr8FW5nlXw%3BFc32vQIdUtxK-SnRPO_QNj9aUzGZl09NHWjNtQ%3BFRTUowId9Cm2-SkfvKwtI5Q0UzFLmMn0MSwgxw%3BFc_amQIdWh1k-inVv-Z_fovzhzGEO66FG9e-Pg%3BFc6BiAIdhJGY-inThorAhCvjhzFHcaMmxh6-tA%3BFbGUfgId_JDG-inty_TQPCwOiDEAwMAJrabgrw%3BFQP4AgIdclf4-imNCZNpXQT1iDELYwuZL97-Zg%3BFT541gEda0UJ-ym9Qz_6_WbuiDF2P1Lj0-cLFw&hl=en&mra=pe&mrcr=9&sll=39.23603,-103.291542&sspn=40.658692,79.804688&ie=UTF8&z=4

The crew and their bus, Jeff and the semi with the set, and Scott on our empty bus are headed to Nashville today and then meeting us in Valdosta for a 3PM show there tomorrow.  Barter is taking over today the land and skies.

Have great weekends!
O.