This morning we were watching who knows what cable channel, when a travel segment came on that was about the area around Dubuque. It even showed the Fourth St. Elevator, formally known as the Fenelon Place Elevator. I practically screamed "Look, sweetie--it's the Fourth Street Elevator!" I've ridden that elevator. It was originally built by a banker to get from his house on the bluff down to his bank. It burned down a couple of times, but was rebuilt and opened to the public to ride for a fee. What I remember most about it was that it was scary-steep, really creaky, and I wondered whether anyone had ever accidentally fallen out of it and gotten killed. A shot from the top overlooking downtown Dubuque had me pointing to the tv, saying "Look! There's the meatpacking district." The view is phenomenal. From the bluff, you can see the river, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Of course there were the obligatory few minutes filmed in nearby Dyersville of the farm chosen as the site for the movie "Field of Dreams." Then there was the drive over the bridge across the Mississippi into East Dubuque, IL. Though I haven't been there in a number of years, everything looks the same.

I was a little disappointed that the show didn't do a mini-feature on Epworth, which is about halfway between Dubuque and Dyersville, but wasn't surprised. Other than being where my grandmother taught school for many years, and where my grandparents retired, it's famous only for being the home of a Chicago Bear. The whole town's only a few blocks long, and all you can really see from Rt. 20 is the Seminary. There's a turn-in off the highway at the East and West ends of town, but that's it.

For ten minutes there, I got to relive memories of my youth. *sigh*