3 words: delighted, blissful, satiated
On our recent trip to my home state of Iowa, the Dear Man and I seriously touristed it up.
The aim of the trip: canoeing the Upper Iowa River.
And that was pure delight. The Dear Man squired me around in a canoe while I ate snacks (and occasionally paddled). This was our 4th river, and it was the bluffiest of the bunch.
93 degrees and Iowa-humid? We got this.
And then there was All The Other Stuff.
This included a bookstore visit. (Of course it did.)
We stopped by Dragonfly Books in beautiful downtown Decorah. It’s a new-ish bookstore, and it’s super cute.
I liked all the things: their displays, their selection, their layout.
And I bought this book, by Stephen King, which has been on my TBR forever.
So excited!
And we stopped by a stone cottage built by a Revolutionary War veteran, and there was a darling Little Free Library installed by a Girl Scout!
Well done, sister Scout!
And we visited my college campus (Go, Norse!) and I showed the Dear Man all the important places, like the path where my friends and I impersonated the Dead Poets Society guys in our duffel coats.
And Mabe’s Pizza: we ate there.
(I can’t imagine who ate that tiny corner piece of pizza
on my side of the table, before the photo was even taken.)
And Dunnings Spring: we walked there.
And there were trolls, because: Norwegians.
And there was a cave tour and rhubarb pie and a hidden military cemetery and a drive-in and an old fort and a roadside stand and ice cream at the Whippy Dip.
We seriously get around.
So, my fellow book lovers… What are your bookish travel plans this summer?
On Writing is so good.
I have some trolls but I've never read with them. We just watch football together. I might have to fix that.
I'm going to Washngton D.C. in a few weeks and reread the horrible Dan Brown book The Lost Symbol to find out about some places where I've never been.
What a fun trip! I love King's book On Writing…it's great! And what a lovely bookstore…which it was by me! Happy summering!
Heather — I can't wait to read "On Writing." Glad you liked it!
The reading with trolls thing is totally worthwhile.
DC — my favorite city! I listened to "Washington Schlepped Here" by Christopher Buckley before a visit, and really liked it.
Lark — So happy to hear that you love the King book, too! I'm very eager to read it.
Happy summering to you, too!
I love On Writing. My son does,too, The free library and the reading troll and the Whippy Dip give me pings and pangs of joy.
So glad I found such a winner at Dragonfly Books! All those things joy me up, too.
What a lovely trip! I don't think I will get away anywhere this summer so I'm going to live vicariously through you fine travelers!
Marisa — It's all good — you can still travel through books!