Visiting Maquoketa

The beautiful, historic Hurst Hotel restored into apartments.

Hello friends and welcome to the blog today.  On Tuesday I was visiting the small town of Maquoketa (MUH-koh-kuh-tuh), Iowa.  It's about 33 miles east of where I live in Jones County.  Maquoketa is special to our family.  Mom lived here as a youth.  Years later, I sprinkled her ashes high on a hill overlooking this town.  I enjoy visiting now and then to relive some old memories and make some new ones.

Here is the little bar and grill called Perxactly.  It's not the easiest name to say!  An alternative spelling is "perzactly".  It's a colloquialism and contraction for the words "precisely" and "exactly".  This establishment was listed as having one of the ten best burgers in Iowa.  I had to try the grub!  It was pretty good but made crave the "Gunderburger" at the Irish Shanti in northern Iowa.  Nonetheless, this one was pretty tasty.

This was the Jalapeno burger... It was smothered in pepperjack cheese.

This old Queen Anne style Victorian mansion is across the street from where my maternal grandmother lived.  It was built in the latter 1800s for Dr. George Johnson and his wife Lydia.  The doctor had a practice in Maquoketa for 20 years.  What is interesting is that his ancestors were some of the first (if not the first) to settle in Jones County (one county to the west - where I live).

I decided to stay the night in the van.  There is a nice Walmart here at the south end of town.  It's on a hill and near a Kwik Star gas station.  The fuel stop has a powerful free wifi setup.  The Walmart vantage point is also excellent for television reception, too.  I'll definitely stay here again.

With supplies nearby, no camping fees, and wi-fi nearby, what more can a person ask for?

Another reason for camping last night was to test the new interior at marginal temperature conditions.  It was cold and rainy outside.  Most of the night the inside of the van was close to 70 degrees using just the pilot light on the Mr. Heater Buddy.  

Two other lessons were learned.  When snoozing, I'd always assumed that one had to sleep on the transverse bed facing the TV (head at driver's side rear wall).  That severely limited the leg room and I was always kicking the TV cabinet or the overhead storage bins.  It was so much easier sleeping the other way on the bed (head at passenger side rear); there was far more horizontal and vertical leg room ... and even an armchair to support the dangling lower limbs.  Quite by accident, I also learned to dress fully while on my hands and knees on the carpeted floor.  It was possible to put the pants on so much more easily than standing and stooping.

For just a short little overnighter, it was enjoyable get out and take in some fresh air.  I'm already thinking up new ideas for little trips around this corner of Iowa.  Stay tuned.

Thanks for visiting today!

Brad, Jesse, and Jennifer

Jones County, Iowa