When we look at taking a vacation, I have unusual criteria for selecting the venue. The potential satisfaction value of a place is directly proportional to the number of plaques on display. Sunshine and pretty scenery are, of course, a bonus and some of kind of record-holding can topple the balance in the favor of a particular spot. We once had a memorable almost-trip to the highest waterfall in Queensland. Which we only took because we wanted to say we’d been to the highest waterfall in Queensland. Now we just have a very long story about how we got to within a mile or so of it.
All of which is long way of saying that when faced with the decision of where to go for a recent weekend break, the place with the most number of historic buildings won hands down. Sunshine in Florida? Good choice. Back to nature in Door County? Sounds promising. A whopping 85% of the buildings in Galena are in a National Register Historic District. The only choice. Our camera has Repetitive Strain Injury from flexing its shutter muscles for all the photographs of plaques.
We managed to put the photo equipment down for long enough to find the most expensive restaurant in town. (In a suitably old building, naturally.) The Perry Street Brasserie was fantastic, which was a real relief to me as I’d picked it from a review in the New York Times Travel section. I’d read about a chef’s special of lobster in a curry sauce that had swung the voting in its favor. It was well worth facing the ire of the maître d’, who was not happy about our turning up without a reservation. No fewer than three members of wait staff approached us to ask if we’d already booked. The look of concern in each one’s face was more troubling than the last as they muttered darkly something about having to ask Mary. Mary turned out to be most happy to accommodate us.
Usually, we base our travel itineraries on paper guide books, but this time I did a lot of research online. That’s also how I found Clarks Again breakfast – a seemingly real old-fashioned breakfast diner that was complete with leather swivelly top counter stools. No need for booking a table here.
After the civil war cannons, we took a trip to the showpiece of the city – a house donated to President Grant by the good citizens of Galena. I love walking around those show houses, set up to look “as it would when General and Mrs Grant visited for their summers”. Scratchy replica horse hair chairs and shiny plastic joints of ham included.
A successful weekend, I’d say.
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