Galena, Illinois: Chicks' Paradise

There was a time when the town of Galena, Illinois, was the kind of place that made my maternal grandmother (God rest her soul) cross herself at the thought of having to live there. There was also a time when people in Galena probably crossed themselves at the thought of having to live in Chicago. Both these times in Galena were long before the artists and antique sellers and old-timey ice cream parlor owners got there, long before Galena became a chicks' paradise.

On the way

Downtown Galena

Galena is a small river town in northwestern Illinois, just a few miles from the Mississippi River, the border of Iowa, and the much larger river city of Dubuque. Outside the Chicago area, Dubuque, and the nearby Quad Cities I have no idea how well-known Galena is. But in this era of sky-high gas prices and "staycations," Galena's popularity as a vacation destination among Chicagoans and the residents of the river cities of Iowa and Illinois has soared. At its farthest from Chicago, Galena is only about a 3 to 4-hour drive away. That ain't bad. The downside is (as is the case nearly everywhere in Illinois) that those 3 to 4 hours are taken up passing riveting scenery such as this:

Illinois. Why isn't this state a bigger tourist draw???

The difference a red barn makes in a cornfield.

Galena's current popularity as a vacation town for Midwesterners comes a full century and a half after its heyday in the mid-19th century, when Galena was a thriving lead-mining town (hence, its name) and steamboat stop with a population of roughly 14,000. Sure it was popular enough for Ulysses S. Grant to move there just before the Civil War. Meanwhile, in the years Galena was building itself as the country's lead-producing capital (at its peak in the 1840s Galena produced 85% of lead in the U.S.), Illinois' current urban powerhouse, Chicago, was just getting started and had a population of only a few hundred to 4,000 or so. Fortunes would change fast for both cities. Chicago would go from a backwater trading post to become, well, Chicago, one of the mightiest cities in America. Galena's importance as a river and mining town would suffer with the rise of the railroad as the country's main form of transport, a major economic recession in the 1890s, and various disasters such as floods and fires that damaged the town.

It would never fully recover. It became a depressed little town with historic but rundown old homes and buildings--the kind of town my grandma (who grew up on a pig farm in Iowa) was grateful she didn't have to live in, as long as times never got so hard. Even today, Galena's population is only about 3,500, as if it's traded places with the backwater reputation Chicago once had.

The Galena River. In the city's heyday the river was over 300 ft. wide (almost the length of a football field) and accommodated over 100 steamboats.

The river alongside the railroad. Competitors.

The Dowling House, oldest surviving house in Galena, built in the 1820s as a trading post.

The good news is that even if Galena never recovered its population, it did recover its charm. Beginning in the 1960s the old homes in the area were snapped up for rock-bottom prices by preservationists who restored them to their former grandeur. Grant's home was among those restored and was designated a National Historic Landmark and opened for view to the public. Over time artists began moving in to the area, the old homes were turned into guesthouses and B&Bs, the downtown was revitalized with boutiques and antique shops galore, and skiers and wine lovers copped on to what Galena's vineyards and natural hills and cliffs had to offer. A new local tourism industry was born--and just keeps growing.

Annie Wiggins Guesthouse--where the ghost tours begin.

Downtown Galena

Street musician in Galena

Trolley tours, ready and waiting

Today, Galena is the kind of place that my grandma probably would have loved. She liked shopping and wearing nice dresses and handsome jewelry and high-heeled shoes (even when she was scrubbing the kitchen floor or washing dishes!), and downtown Galena has morphed into the kind of town where you can't swing a cat without hitting a dress shop or antique store or handmade jewelry boutique. Also in abundance are bakeries, fancy candle stores, beauty product shops, spas and salons, ice cream parlors, and candy stores. Women flock to this town--flock.  

Me and a bakery--true love forever.

Yes, like the Energizer bunny.

Hog heaven on the mean streets of Galena.

But Galena isn't just for chicks. One of the surprisingly cool things about Galena is all the different types of tourists and visitors it attracts. Galena is as popular with suburban families, seniors and retirees, and honeymooners as it is with high school groups, LGBT folks, skiers and snowboarders, artists, and bikers (you will see motorcycles while in Galena--you will see them and hear them).

Nevertheless, Galena seems to have begun playing itself up as a chicks' paradise of the Midwest, no doubt with the growing market for women's travel and such mini-break ideas as "women's weekends" and "girlfriend getaways." One of the hottest eating spots in town for awhile has been Fried Green Tomatoes, named after the great chick lit masterpiece by Fannie Flagg and uber-popular chick flick with Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, and my former doppelganger (when I was younger and thinner) Mary-Louise Parker. Men can eat there too, of course. Men who get sick of shopping, meanwhile, can hang loose in the official Men's Time Out Room at the At Home In Galena store, which is proudly advertised in the store window. What exactly is a Men's Time Out Room anyway? I haven't a clue--I'm a woman and didn't go in. But more importantly, where's Galena's Women's Time Out Room, for women like me who don't like to shop and can only stand to smell so many fancy candles? Then I remembered--oh yeah, the Women's Time Out Room is at the top of the street, and it's called Galena Cellars. Sample 6 wines for only $3, 12 for $6. !!! Women and wine--the world's most enduring romance.

Wine tasting at Galena Cellars

That's right, bartenders. Set 'em up and keep the samples coming.

Can't handle your drink? No problem. While there's no Starbucks in Galena, there are a few other, independent coffee shops in town. I was excited to find Rendezvous, a newish, classy-looking place that serves my favorite brand, Intelligentsia, and showcases truly intriguing local art and schedules fun stuff like Scrabble Night. I spent some real quality time in Rendezvous. As I drank my strong mocha latte and watched the shoppers pass on Main Street beyond the front shop window, I found myself thinking, "I want to live here." Inside Rendezvous I mean, not in Galena.

Inside Rendezvous



My sister and me, outside Rendezvous

It's not all shopping and drinking and eating in Galena though--there's outdoors stuff too, and you don't have to wait for the winter and ski season to do it. But it might be better if you do--you won't have to deal with the summer's heat and mosquitoes. If you can handle some sweat and bug spray, though, you can handle the opportunities for golfing and hiking among the area's beautiful rolling hills and high riverside cliffs and kayaking or canoeing down the Galena River. The nice thing is that while these activities are popular in Galena Territory, they get much less crowded than Main Street shopping, and you get a real chance to see how pretty the surroundings are.

Kayaking up Galena River



Me cruising into a low-hanging branch

Banks of the river

Paddler's view

In the shade

My niece and sister

Another activity to give you a sense of the area's history as well as the steepness of Galena's streets and hills is to take a walking tour. Since Galena's streets really are steep and some still covered over in old cobbles, you do need to be sure you can handle the walk and climb. And the sweating. And the mosquitoes. The last you only need worry about for night walking tours, like the ghost tours in town. We tried out Annie Wiggins Ghost Tour, because we liked the look of the guesthouse where it begins (pictured above) and we heard the tour guide dresses up in all black like a Victorian witch (pictured below). While the females in our personal group (4) really enjoyed the ghost tour, the males (1, so just male actually) didn't care for it. Maybe he (my brother) expected more gore. Or maybe us women (my sister, nieces, and I) were extra-impressed by our guide going through the whole tour in full costume--layers of long-sleeved and long-skirted black clothes, old-fashioned shoes, a hat, and a veil--on such a hot and humid night. How did the women of Galena's past put up with wearing all that stuff? 

Ghost tour at the railroad

Our guide

On 4th St., what was once Galena's main road

In the graveyard

Pretty scary. The thought of having to dress so stifingly, that is. It's enough to make me want to cross myself, like my grandmother did at the mere mention of Galena. Thank the universe those days are over though--girls today can dress more free, and Galena has gone from a town on the river skids to a pretty getaway destination for Midwestern girls and Midwestern guys.

My nieces crossing the river, dressed for their time and the heat.