Great River Road Trip, Day #19
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Our first stop today wasn’t exactly planned. We had seen mention of the Dickeyville Grotto & Shrines, but never really took much notice of it. However, driving by we couldn’t miss it from the road and despite the drizzle this morning we just had to stop. This is in Dickeyville, Wisconsin and according to ChatGPT: “The Dickeyville Grotto is a remarkable example of religious and patriotic folk art, situated on the grounds of Holy Ghost Parish in Dickeyville, Wisconsin. Constructed between 1925 and 1930 by Father Mathias Wernerus, the parish priest from 1918 until his death in 1931, the grotto was built without blueprints and is composed of stone, mortar, and an array of colorful materials and found objects collected from around the world.”
This series of images worked better in B&W, but Lisa insisted you needed to appreciate the colors.
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Inside the Grotto Shrine. As you will see in a moment, this is all made of random pieces of “stuff.” Even if it isn’t your favorite genre, you do have to appreciate the huge effort that went into collecting all this “stuff” and then piecing it together to make it work as a whole.
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As we strolled around the grounds, it was far larger than we would have anticipated just seeing it from the road.
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I get the need for color to appreciate the makeup of this thing, but the B&W gives it the “vibe” it conveys if you ask me.
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Again, the workmanship is significant. Here, they incorporated an old log as the trunk of a tree and it slowly transitions into “branches” made up of the random things imbedded into the mortar.
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These two images give you a closeup of some of the items that make up these structures. There are colorful rocks, shells, pieces of colored glass and plastic, and this list goes on…. I think the white ball in the middle is a cue ball from a pool table.
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As you can appreciate, this thing is sizable and sprawling.
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We pressed north and stopped in Cassville, Wisconsin to walk along the path at their riverfront park. The Cassville Ferry was not operating today, May is still considered pre-season, so it only operates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It will begin running daily on Memorial day.
This from ChatGPT: “The Cassville Car Ferry, affectionately known as the "Pride of Cassville," is a historic ferry service that transports vehicles and passengers across the Mississippi River between Cassville, Wisconsin, and Turkey River, Iowa. Operating since 1833, it holds the distinction of being the oldest operating ferry service in Wisconsin . The crossing takes approximately 20 minutes in one direction .”
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I found this informative regarding the dates/hours of operation and the fees they charge to cross the Mississippi by ferry here in Cassville. In case you are wondering if it is worth paying the $20 to get a car across here in Cassville; from the best I can ascertain the nearest bridges would be either 33 miles north in Prairie du Chien or 36 miles south in Dubuque. So, I guess it is a question of how bad you want to cross, how quickly you need to get there, and how good of mileage does your car get?
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Rolling into Prairie du Chein we stopped at St. Feriole Island to stroll the grounds and walk around Villa Louis Historic Site. It was at this point in our trip when it became clear that our adventure was coming to an end. We have been here many times in the past, and if you have followed this website you will have seen this place before. So, at this point in the trip we really felt like we had “returned home.”
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One of the reconstructed old buildings on St. Feriole Island.
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Looking southward, down the river from Prairie du Chien, this is the bridge connecting to Marquette, Iowa - the place where we visited the pink elephant and “donated” $5 to the Casino Queen on Day #1. We truly have come full circle. It was tempting to jump on this bridge and start the journey all over again - but first we would need to trade out vehicles. Not doing this trip again without a more substantial vehicle - we live and learn!
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Historic Dousman House on St. Feriole Island in Prairie du Chien.
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We had hoped to stop at both locks between Prairie du Chien and LaCrosse, but our path to Lock & Dam #9 was blocked by road closures for construction. So, this is Lock & Dam #8, just a little further north in Genoa, Wisconsin.
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We stopped at Goose Island City Park just south of the city of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. If you have never been here, it is a lovely place to stroll. At this point, we admit, we were just “dragging our feet” because we didn’t want the adventure to end. While walking the park, this guy came out to welcome us. And, as one can imagine, Lisa is now convinced she needs a woodchuck as a pet too.
Image is a bit blurry, he didn’t want us too close and I had to zoom way in!
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With the plan to stay on the east side of the river until we would cross in Winona, we passed through Onalaska, Wisconsin and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a photo of “Sunny the Sunfish.” That is apparently his “real” name, I didn’t make that one up.
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Our final stop would be at Lock & Dam #6 in Trempealeau, Wisconsin. This is the view looking north, up river. The folks that operate the Trempealeau Marina next door were busy getting the place in order in anticipation of the unofficial start of summer with Memorial Day coming up this weekend.
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We always enjoy visiting this Lock & Dam, it is so peaceful and today it was a great place to contemplate all we had seen over the past 19 days!
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We strolled into Trempealeau and just as we reached the riverside, this southbound freight train whizzed by. This seems like an appropriate final image for our trip. There are so many things in this one image that represent our experience on this epic voyage. The ever present Mississippi River, the Lock & Dam in the background, the memorial statue and the freight train - appropriately heading south - which we had done ourselves almost three weeks ago.
We learned so much over the past 19 days; we learned geography, we learned history, we learned about river culture, we learned about some of the wars that were fought to define the country we are today. But, most important, we learned about ourselves.
So, with this final image, we head back west toward Rochester. We have so many stories that go far beyond just what we have posted here. If anyone ever has any questions - perhaps you may want to take the trip yourself some day - we would love to chat with you.
Looking ahead, nothing is definitively planned at this time, but our next epic adventure may very well be Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles for the 100th anniversary of the route in 2026. But until then, we will be posting other adventures for sure. If you made it this far, thanks for following along, and we will see you next time.
Lisa & Kyle
