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The upper Mississippi River
Posted by Travel on Wednesday, June 26, 2013
For third-place honors, we turn to an area less celebrated than others,
but nonetheless packed with the unique beauty our nation abounds in. Its
low profile makes it all the more charming. To truly appreciate the
Mississippi, we leave the familiar territory of Huck and Tom and take a
spin on the Great River Road as it runs alongside Old Muddy's upper
reaches through Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. One of the
nation's most scenic routes, it winds over hills, atop towering bluffs
and through one 19th-century river town after another. The sites along
the way read like chapters in American history. Ancient Indian burial
mounds punctuate rolling parkland, sidewheelers ply the river, and
villages on either bank present fine examples of Steamboat Gothic, the
ornate architectural style born in the heyday of river travel. In
Galena, Ill., 85% of the buildings are on the National Register of
Historic Places. At Trempealeau, Wis., the Trempealeau Hotel has offered
haven to watermen since 1888. The whole laid-back region's real draw is
the river itself. Steady and timeless, it makes one fine traveling
companion as it rolls toward the Gulf.
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