7 Jul, Wednesday
Fairport Recreation Area
We left Des Moines at about 11:30 and quickly stopped at a Pilot gas station about halfway to our next campground. We arrived at the Fairport Recreation area at about 3:15 pm. We had site #28, a nice, unshaded site with great views of the Mississippi River. Though we did not have a dedicated water faucet, I was within reach of a public faucet that was scattered behind the sites and could fill our freshwater tank.
Pine Creek Grist Mill
Around 4 pm, we drove up to the Pine Creek Grist Mill. This was a picturesque park with a nicely restored mill with a man-made waterfall. There was also a restored bridge converted to a pedestrian bridge across the creek, where benches had been placed facing the mill and waterfall. We stayed for about an hour but decided to move on when the rain started to drizzle on us.
Muscatine
We then drove into Muscatine. We first stopped at the Mark Twain Overlook as we entered Muscatine, which gave us a great view of the river and downtown. We then drove along the river and stopped at the Contrary Brewing Company. Though it was across the road from the river, it did not have much of an outdoor area, and the windows facing the river from the inside were rather small. We did enjoy the beer flight that we ordered, though.
Fairport Landing Recreation Area
After leaving the brewery, we tried to follow the river, but we ran into construction and could not find any good roads, so we returned to our camper. We returned to our campsite at about 7:30 pm to watch the sunset.
8 July, Thursday
We got on the road just before 8 am and headed to the Quad Cities of Rock Island, Davenport, Moline, and Bettendorf.
Mississippi River Visitor Center
We crossed the Mississippi River on the Moline Bridge to get to the entrance of the Rock Island Arsenal installation. Rock Island Arsenal is an Army installation, so we used our military id cards to enter. We had to drive to the installation’s far side to the Visitor Center.
When we drove through the installation, we saw many abandoned buildings overgrown with grass and trees, which surprised me. As we got farther into the installation, it looked like an old warehouse district with red brick buildings and most windows closed with bricks. As we continued crossing the installation, we had to detour around an event that we learned later was a change of command ceremony for the 1st Army commander.
The Mississippi River Visitor Center was managed by the Corps of Engineers and was located on the 2nd floor of a building next to Lock and Dam #15. It had a small museum with a few displays about the Mississippi River and the lock and dam system, but the main attraction was the viewing deck overlooking the lock. We were fortunate to see a barge going through the locks while we were there. We stayed at the lock for several hours.
Rock Island Arsenal
The Arsenal is the only active U.S. Army foundry. It manufactures ordnance and equipment, including artillery, gun mounts, recoil mechanisms, small arms, aircraft weapons sub-systems, grenade launchers, weapons simulators, and other components.
When we left the Mississippi River Museum, we drove around the Arsenal. The Rock Island Arsenal Museum was closed for renovations, but there were a few attractions that we were able to see. We stopped briefly at the remaining pier of the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River. The bridge was built in 1856, and it was destroyed by the steamboat Effie Afton just fifteen days after it opened. Abraham Lincoln represented the railroad company in the large court case between the railroad and steamboat companies that followed.
We then stopped at the 1833 Colonel Davenport House. The mansion was the home of Col. George Davenport, the island’s first permanent white settler and founder of the Iowa town named for him. We did not go inside.
We then drove down to Memorial Field, which displayed various military armaments laid out in a half-circle. While there, we watched some soldiers fire blanks from three howitzers. This was probably a leftover from the change of command ceremony earlier.
We then drove down to the Confederate Cemetary. The Rock Island Confederate Cemetery is the only surviving remnant of a massive prison camp that once held thousands of Confederate soldiers and is the final resting place for nearly 2,000 prisoners of war who died in captivity from disease and the poor living conditions of the camp.
German-American Heritage Center and Museum
After leaving the Arsenal, we drove to the German-American Heritage Center and Museum in Davenport. The center is in a restored four-story red-brick hotel that immigrants, mainly German immigrants, used.
Before we went inside, we ate our lunch in the truck in the parking lot while watching the traffic coming over the Mississippi River on the Centennial Bridge.
We entered on the bottom floor with a gift shop where we bought our tickets. The second and third floors have museum exhibits about German history, the reasons for immigration and settlement in the area, and the German-American culture. There were a lot of personal stories about the immigration experience, artifacts, and interactive stations. The top floor was a conference area with a small display case of artifacts and great views of the Mississippi River.
Lagomarcinos Soda Fountain
We then drove to the East Village of Davenport for some ice cream at Lagomarinos. This family-owned candy confectionery and old-fashioned soda fountain has been in business since 1908. We had to walk through counters full of delicious-looking chocolates at the entrance. In the back was a soda fountain, where we ordered ice cream. We bought a bag of Sea Salt Caramel Bites on the way out.
Riverfront Trail
We then drove and parked across the road from the Front Street Pub and Eatery near the roller dam. We then walked down the Riverfront Trail to the Quad City River Bandits Baseball Stadium.
Front Street Pub and Eatery
When we returned to the truck, we went across the street to the Front Street Pub and Eatery. We ordered a flight of beers and a couple of burgers for dinner.
Fairport Recreation Area
We made it back to our camper around 6:00 pm. After dinner, we walked along the riverfront to watch the sunset.
9 July, Friday
National Pearl Button Museum
The next morning, we packed up and returned to Muscatine to visit the National Pearl Button Museum just before 10 am. This was a fascinating museum on how Muscatine had a large industry based on making buttons from freshwater oysters at the turn of the century. They had several sponsored displays advertising local businesses upstairs, which were not very interesting.
We got back to the trailer around 11 am, hooked up, and started going to Lowden State Park to meet up with family.