Great River Road - La Crosse to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

At La Crescent we crossed the river into Wisconsin and continued our journey south along the Great River Road.

In La Crosse, Wisconsin we tried to go up to Grandad Bluff, a major landmark mentioned by Mark Twain in Life on the Mississippi. Alas, the road was closed and, under time pressure, we decided not to hike the few miles up the hill to see the view. Instead we admired the big, beautiful houses on Main Street.

It was pretty easy to imagine myself in the hammock on this porch, soaking up the lazy vibes of summer on the Mississippi. I could perhaps learn to play lacrosse, about which I know almost nothing, but I would be willing to find out.

I could watch the squirrels collect acorns on the road and write endless purple blog entries about hummingbirds and buzzing bees.


Several of the houses had unusual features, like this exterior spiral staircase.

These places are so huge that I wonder if it is possible that they are still single family dwellings. Perhaps they have all been converted to apartments inside.

That's what I'd do if I owned this one (my favourite). I'd pick a corner for myself and rent out the rest, but only to people I really liked. What an amazing house in which to build a little community.

The house actually is for sale. I didn't ask about the price, but if anyone is interested in buying it and turning it into a big shared house please let me know. The realtor's number is below for your convenience.

We passed through Ferryville, which my guidebook describes as "perhaps the nation's longest one street village (more than a mile)." I was surprised to find such an ambiguous description in such a reputable publication. Perhaps? Once I saw the town I was even more surprised because there was at least one tiny back street behind the "one street," thus surely disqualifying Ferryville from the single street village category.

The road wove on around the base of sandstone bluffs. The river is marshy and dotted with little islands in this area. Closer to Prairie du Chien, a former outpost for French voyagers, the landscape changes to cornfields and cows. With apologies to the fine people of Prairie du Chien I must say the town has little of the charm that its history suggests. If you want to eat at Burger King, or shop at Walmart, then this is the place. Otherwise, go across the river into Iowa and stay somewhere picturesque, like Marquette. That's what we should have done.

One strange thing that happened in Prairie du Chien is that we passed the White House. Not the one in Washington D.C. at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This is a different one. It's a large white building that houses a wedding business but, with the columns and the American flags and the big sign announcing "the White House," it was a pretty good substitute for someone who had just been forced to call off their visit to the real thing.