ZSW [C M Y K]G1Sunday,Jul.14,2013

taking off G2 tip sheet G3 destinations G4 yosemite midwest Steer clear of bed bugs Changes — both good and traveler G5 at your next hotel. bad — for frequent fliers. Kohler, Wis., resort is all about pampering. travel STARTRIBUNE.COM/TRAVEL • SECTION G • SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013

Behind all its Victorian beauty, Galena, Ill., is embracing 21st-century tools that will help preserve this river town.

Photos by CATHERINE WATSON • Special to the Star Tribune Agracefulfootbridgeover the Galena River connects Grant Park,on the city’s residential east side,to the west side, with itsMainStreetanddensecollectionofpre-CivilWar buildings. GALENA thrives in the modern age

By CATHERINE WATSON • Special to the Star Tribune torical Museum, they’re symbolic of other 21st-century Settled in a velvetarmchairintheformal parlor of changes underway in this nearly 200-year-old commu- a mansion-turned-museum, I stared into the darkened nity in Illinois’ northwest corner. dining room beyond and waited forGalena’spast to col- Galena is going green, as green as the green shut- lide with its future. ters that grace so many of its handsome 19th-century Then Galena’s favorite couple — Ulysses S. Grant homes. And it’s doing it without fanfare. and his wife, Julia — materialized from the dining-room Visitors invariably hear a lot about Grant, wholeftfor shadows and proudly welcomed me to their historic the Civil Warfromhere.Butnotourist trolling the Main town, he in uniform, holding his trademark cigar, she in Street shops is likely to hear about — let alone visit — a long, bell-skirted gown. the gleaming 1,440-panel solar array that powers the They’re holograms — life-size, 3-D holograms — town’s new sewage plant. projections more suited to “Star Wars”thantheCivil The centerpiece of Galena’s Grant Park is this statue of the victorious general, donated by a grateful citizen. War. Brainchildren of the Galena and U.S. Grant His- Galena continues on G6 Ø

Other than In Madagascar, land of lemurs in zoos and research centers, lemurs are found ! This large island off the coast of Africa is a world apart, even if animal protectors might only in Mada- filled with unique wildlife and lush landscapes. protest that getting tooclose gascar; there are could accustom our visitors to dozens of spe- By ANN GERACIMOS He isn’t the only greedy one. handouts. In the distance, black- cies of different Washington Post Lured by the scent of fresh fruit, and-white sifaka lemurs dance colors, behaviors abunchof lemurs have sprung like circus performers around and sizes. What’s this lemur doing? out of the forest during our an unusual baobab specimen. He’s not exactly in my lap, breakfast hour. They’re aggres- Madagascar boasts more ANN but close enough formeto sive, but not threatening, these baobab species than anyplace GERACIMOS • wonder about its next move. furry brownprimateswiththe else in the world, but they aren’t Washington Post I’m at Camp Amoureux near irresistible bug eyes. the only natural phenomena Madagascar’s Kirindy dry rain- Iholdoutapieceof mango of note in a country where 80 forest reserve, where I’ve come to one. Theanimalreaches over percent or more of the plants to explore the country’s flora with a thin, leathery-fingered and animals are indigenous. and fauna. Thepeskycreature hand and snatches it away. is poised to grab my mango. Such intimacy is thrilling, Madagascar continues on G5 Ø ZSW [C M Y K]G6Sunday,Jul.14,2013

G6 • TRAVEL • STAR TRIBUNE • SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013 Galena thrives in the modern age

ø GALENA FROM G1 more, and youlearnhehelpedwrite the terms of Lee’s surrender. I’ve always been fond of the Grants, But there’salotmorehistoryto but I am waybeyond fond of Galena cover, and the museum doesn’t have itself. When it comes to this little enough room “for the big stories town, I’m flat-out biased, so watch- about Galena that we have to tell,” ing it embrace modern technology — Breed said. The next 2020 step will be without losing its Victorian charm — asking experts to determine the size, has been a treat. location and type of space needed for I fell in love with Galena 40 years the museum’s extensive collection, ago, on an assignment to coveraCivil now mostly in storage. War re-enactment fortheStar Tri- TheGrantholograms are a glimpse bune. It wasduskwhen I drove into of this Victorian future. They are town, and the redbrick canyon that is effective enough that when the imag- Galena’s Main Street was wall-to-wall inary Julia gestured toward her own with off-duty blue and gray. real-life portrait, hanging on the par- I felt as if I’d stepped into history. lor wall next to me, I automatically AftermorevisitsthanIcancount, I turned and looked. still feel that way. It’s a famous portrait, by the way— the only one known that was painted Still Galena, only better full-face. Julia Grant had crossed eyes Once bigger than Chicago and the and wassoself-consciousthatshe busiest steamboat hub between St. usually posed in profile. She once Louis and St. Paul, Galena wasthe asked her husband if she could have focus of America’s firstminingrush. an operation to repair them, but the Long before California and the Klond- general said he loved “your dear eyes ike, miners rushed here forhigh-grade just the way they are.” lead ore, known locally as “gray gold” and technically called galena sulfide, A downtown revival which is what gave the town its name. Forty years ago, when I first saw But before the 19th century was over, that portrait of Mrs. Grant, time was the lead mines playedout,railroads by and large passing Galena by. Many put an end to steamboating, Galena’s of Main Street’s mid-19th-century once-wide riversiltedinandthetown storefronts were empty, and most gradually fell asleep. Itspopulationhas —includingtheonce-grand DeSoto shrunk steadily from a high of 15,000 in House Hotel, which anchors Main the 1840s to about 3,400 now. Street — badly needed restoration. Over the years I’ve known it, plenty Adowntowndrugstorewasstill of other small towns have changed displaying its aspirin and cough syrup beyond recognition. But not this one. on the original Victorian shelves — Galena’s Main Street looks just like not because it wasdecorator-quaint, it used to —onlybetter. The whole but because it always had. Dusty town, in fact, looks just the way it did antiques and collectibles were eco- —onlybetter. Abe Lincoln would still nomic mainstays, there were few res- recognize it, and so would Grant. taurants and, as a local man once com- Most of Galena has been on the plained to me, “you couldn’t buy a pair National Register of Historic Places of shoes on Main Street anymore.” since 1969, and its preserved architec- There weren’t even any stoplights ture is still a big attraction. But now because trafficandtourism were so people come for good restaurants, low that lights weren’t really needed. local wines, rental canoes and kayaks, Themostnoticeabletraffic warning, hot-air balloon rides, concerts and in fact, wastheyellow “Duck Cross- plays, art gallery crawls, tours by foot ing” sign at the foot of Main. and trolley, and more than two dozen Ducks actually used it. On spring bed-and-breakfast inns. visits, I often sawmotherducks Accommodating visitors while calmly waddling up from the Galena keeping Galena, well, Galena forthe River, leading strings of fluffy young- people wholive there is a big job for sters and stopping big, roaring semi- its small city government. trailer trucks in their tracks. “In the last decade, we’ve been try- There are trafficlightsnow, alot ing to create the best quality of life of them, and they’re needed, because we can,” said Mark Moran, the city Galena is bustling. On busy weekends, administrator, this past spring. “We’re locals complain that it’s hard to find trying to do the right thing.” a parking place downtown. That’s the Visitors as well as citizens benefit flip side of success. from such improvements as the mod- Yo ucanonceagainbuyshoeson ern boat dock on the Galena River, the Main Street. Also handcraftedjew- walking path atop the leveeandthe Photos by CATHERINE WATSON • Special to the Star Tribune elry, rare books, European cookware, well-groomed bike trail that follows Set among wooded hills, Galena and itsFirstPresbyterianChurchlook much as they did in U.S. Grant’s day. upscale clothes and homemade fudge the riverdownto the Mississippi, that my chocoholic friends swear is 4 miles away. That’s why city government is test- Galena life, and citizen task forces are “Attention spans are so tiny now,” the best in five states. And when it officially opens this ing LEDs in its stoplights, whyits now figuring out how to preserve and museum director Nancy Breed Beneath it all, though, Galena fall, everyone will enjoy the new recycling programnowhandlesbat- improve —andpay for—thetophalf- explained, that visitors used to remains a small town. People still watch Gateway Park — 100 acres of pasture- teries, prescription drugs and every dozen priorities by the year 2020. quickly move on. Now, they tend to out foroneanother,andthey’rewilling land on the heights east of town. It kind and size of electronics, even One priority is the history museum. linger. I did, too. The computerlets to trust strangers in a waythat’srare in was saved from development by local why City Hall is pushing “My Green In addition to the holograms, it has youchooseamaninthepainting, big American cities: Yo ucanstillcall efforts and $1.2 million in grants and Galena” tote bags. venerable exhibits ranging from one find him on the screen, click and read any restaurant in town, order a meal for donations, because people didn’t want “We’re just temporary caretakers” of Grant’s cigar butts, to an actual lead the first page of his biography. Keep pickup and not need to give any more to lose Galena’s most beautiful view: forGalena,Moran said. “We want to mine found under the building, to a clicking, and more and more details identification than your name. Galena itself, spread out like a red- be able to hand it offbetterthanwe computerprogramthatletsvisitors come up. Ihaven’tseenanypedestrianducks brick, white-steepled banner against found it.” explore the history represented by its That bronze-skinned officer lately,butyes, there’sstilla“Duck its wooded hills. The biggest changes — though not prize exhibit, a 9-by-12-foot oil paint- toward the back, for example — click Crossing” sign at the foot of Main. “These projects have a value in yet tangible — are expected to come ing called “Peace in Union.” It depicts —isElyS.Parker, abrilliantSeneca terms of our footprint on the planet,” from a communitywide project called Robert E. Lee surrendering to Grant at Indian who wasoneof Grant’s adju- Catherine Watson is a former Star Tribune trav- Moran said. “We’re trying to be more Galena 2020: Residents were asked to Appomattox, as a crowd of other offi- tants, at atimewhen American Indi- el editor. She has had a weekend home in Gale- sustainable as a community.” vote on what they most valued about cers looks on. ans weren’t yetcitizens.Click some na since 1986.

THINGS TO DO AND SEE IN GALENA

This spring, Smithsonian magazine south of the Wisconsin state line. The news that he’d been elected president called Galena“an open pop-up book prettiest waytogettherefromthe in 1868. One of Elihu’s many broth- of classic Midwestern Victoriana’’and Twin Cities is to drivesouthalong ers wasCadwallader Washburn, who named it one of the“20 Best Small either side of the Mississippi to La came to Minnesota and founded what Towns to Visit in 2013.”Fodor’s named Crosse or Prairie du Chien, Wis., and would become General Mills. Open it among the“10 Best Small Towns in then angle southeast through the hills Fridays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., May through America,’’saying Galena has“allthe of rural Wisconsin. That route takes October (1-815-777-3310). musts on a small-town wish list.’’ In about six hours, if youdon’tcount The flood gates: Youprettymuch the past 10 years, Galena hasearned stops for gas, eating, dog-walking or can’t miss these because Main Street similar praise from, among others, checking out junkshops. runs right through them.Most of the Midwest Living,Trip Advisor, Travel time, they stand open, but they are and Leisure, Forbes, the American DON’T MISS part of the post-World War II leveesys- Institute of Architects and the National U.S. Grant Home State Historic tem that protects downtown from the Trust for Historic Preservation. Site: AshowpieceonBouthillierStreet, little Galena River’s occasional floods. The city now hassomuch to do on the east side of town, it holds some One in 1937 wassobadthat towns- and see and eat and drink and stay in of the Grants’original furniture,china people negotiated lowerMainStreet that it takes a 100-page publication, they used in the White House and in rowboats. Even with the gates, a The Galenian, to cover it all. Published gifts they receivedontheirtwo-year flood in 2011 did an estimated $16 twice a year, it is available free around round-the-world tour after he left million in damages. town or go to www.galenianonline. office.Grant supporters presented this Grant Park: On the east bank of the com. house to him on behalf of the town Galena River, connected to downtown when the victorious general came by an elegant footbridge, its center- TRAVEL INFO home to Galena after the war. Open pieces are a life-size bronze statue of A variety of organizations offer Wednesday through Sunday from 9 Grant.(his wife,Julia,said it looked Galena travel information:The City of a.m.to 4:45 p.m.(www.granthome. just like him) and a restored Victorian Galena, at www.cityofgalena.org; the com). fountain. The park also hasamonu- Galena/Jo Daviess County Convention Galena and U.S. Grant Historical ment to local Civil Warsoldiersand and Visitors Bureau, at www.galena. Museum: Open daily year around, trophy cannons from World WarI,the org; the Galena Visitors Bureau, at 9a.m.to4:30p.m.(1-815-777-9129; Spanish-American WarandtheCivil www.VisitGalena.org, and the Galena www.galenahistorymuseum.org). War. That last one is an English-made Chamber of Commerce: www.galena- Elihu B. Washburne House: Apow- Blakely rifled gun that wasusedbythe chamber.com. erful politician, later ambassador to Confederates to fire on Fort Sumter. France, Washburne helped Grant get Despite the park’s military theme, GETTING THERE amilitarycommandwhen the Civil it’s apeaceful,shadyplacewithgreat Galena is in the uttermost north- Warbroke out. The living room of this views over the river. Galena’s groomed bike trail,seen here from the Grant Park footbridge,followsthe west corner of Illinois, about 8 miles house was where Grant receivedthe CATHERINE WATSON Galena River4milestoitsconfluencewiththeMississippi.