Guttenberg, IA

We set another new record this morning—lowest temperature so far at 47F when we woke up. The cabin was closed up for the night and we were cozy and comfortable. Here’s the sunrise over Dragonfly and the river:

Today was a planned rest day to explore the lovely village of Guttenberg (pronounced with a short u, as in “gut”), population 1,800. Settled predominantly by German immigrants in the 19th century, it was named after Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable type printing press. A map-making error in 1848 misspelled the name with a double “t”, and the typo stuck. Fun fact: A 1949 referendum to change the name back to the original spelling was voted down by Guttenberg residents. 

We had breakfast at Sodes Perk, then got on our bikes for a ride along the 2.2-mile riverfront path, and continued on to Big Springs Nature Area, where we hiked a short distance to a spring that did not live up to its name, but was very pretty. We biked through town, exploring the residential areas and the main streets, which still have many of the original 19th century buildings. 

We also visited Lock and Dam 10, which we passed through yesterday before getting to the municipal marina where we’re staying. We toured the last remaining Lockmaster’s house on the river, built in 1938 and used until the early 1990s. It is has been beautifully restored to its glory days and is now a museum.  

We also watched a large tow pass through the lock, headed upriver. The process is fascinating, and appealed to the nerd in both of us. A typical river tow has 15 barges, 3 across by 5 front to back. The locks are 110’ wide and 600’ long, which fit 9 barges with a foot or two to spare. The tow captain puts the first nine barges in the lock and the tow is then split. The captain backs out with the tug and remaining six barges and waits. The first nine barges are locked through, and pulled out of the lock by a smaller tug. The lock is reset and then the captain locks through with the last six barges and reconnects to the front nine before continuing on.  The entire evolution takes about 90 minutes, and is the reason why we had to wait so long to get through Lock 5A. 

The crews on these river tows typically work 28 consecutive days, and do not go ashore during their stint. River transportation is by far the most efficient way to move bulk cargo. A 15-barge tow carries as much as 225 rail cars or more than 900 trucks, with far less fuel consumed to move it the same distance. 

After our outing, we had a picnic lunch in the park overlooking the marina, but were joined by a small swarm of pesky honeybees. We spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun and 76-degree warmth and relaxing. Dinner was in town at the Fish Shack, a screened porch overlooking the river and run by lifelong residents of Guttenberg. We enjoyed a superb perch dinner, friendly locals and more of the chill river vibes that we’re liking a lot. Then it was ice cream at Joe’s Pizza & Arcade before returning to Dragonfly for our regular evening cribbage game.