Mississippi Magic
From Fulton and the Quad Cities to Hannibal and beyond, a tour of river towns offers a distinctive and rich mix of historic Americana

By Mike Michaelson

Rolling through the American heartland for almost 2,500 miles, the Mississippi River begins as a tiny fresh-water creek in northern Minnesota, destined to widen as it travels south to the Gulf of Mexico. Year after year, season after season, hard-working tugs share the river with
colorful riverboats and solitary fly-fishermen casting into backwater bays.

An interesting region to explore — among many — is the stretch of the river than runs from Fulton, Illinois, home of an authentic Dutch-built windmill, downstream to Quincy, known for its splendid architecture. Add the Quad Cities to your itinerary and take special note of local legend and iconic jazzman Bix Beiderbecke, one of America’s top cornet-players.

Near St. Louis, the Mississippi joins with the Missouri River at Hannibal, where you can enjoy the amusing folk tales of author Mark Twain. Look out over the spectacular high bluffs of nearby Alton and you may well catch a glimpse of an eagle soaring through the skies. And further south in neighboring Missouri, you’ll find wonderful diversions along a “Wine Trail,” where you can check out the picturesque German-founded river towns of Hermann and Washington and journey to the historic home where frontiersman Daniel Boone built his sprawling estate.

A TOUCH OF DUTCH
When folk in Fulton, Illinois (pop. 3,500) are ready for a good time, they’re likely to bring on traditional klompen dancers. Klompen is the Dutch word for wooden shoes, and visitors find the joyful stomping in unison of more than 200 wooden shoes a memorable spectacle and a colorful expression of Fulton’s Dutch heritage.

The first permanent Dutch settler arrived in 1835. By 1872 there were 59 Dutch families in town. Then came a massive migration as over the next two decades Fulton’s Dutch community grew to almost 200 families. Today, about 35 to 40 percent of the town’s population is of Dutch descent. (Try locating a “Van” among the expansive listings of the local telephone directory.)

For a genuine and gigantic reminder of the Dutch homeland, visit “De Immigrant,” a windmill alongside the Mississippi levee. It opened in 2001 in a ceremony attended by the Dutch Consul General. Open year-round (weekends only May-October), the windmill offers tours by volunteer millers in authentic garb. If wind conditions are favorable, they mill wheat, rye, buckwheat or corn. Stone-ground flour is available in the gift shop (where visitors can also buy “Life’s a Grind” T-shirts).

Plan a visit to Fulton during “Dutch Days Festival” (in early May) and you’ll have the opportunity to sample such Netherlands’ fare as hutspot (potatoes and cabbage) and snert (pea soup). You might also visit with one of the residents who create authentic costumes for porcelain dolls. Seamstresses spend hours researching the dress of the Netherlands and then duplicate these clothes for the dolls. The latter can bring between $400 and $600 each at auction.

Fulton’s newest attraction, opened last spring, is a collection of 21 European windmills, varying in size up to 6 feet tall and based on photography by American collectors Henk and June Hielema. Interpretive materials provide insights into windmills and their role in local cultures. Called the Windmill Cultural Center, it quickly has become a popular attraction.

GETAWAYS TIMES FOUR
European settlers seemed to have appreciated the Mississippi River — perhaps because it is so hard working, shouldering those hefty cargoes downstream. Maybe that is why the Quad Cities, though four distinct towns, have such a strong European influence. Their charms include a museum devoted to German culture, another to Belgian culture and a third — the Figge Art Museum — designed by celebrated British architect David Chipperfield and built at a cost of $468 million.

Opened in 2005 on the banks of the Mississippi in Davenport, Iowa and housed in a monolithic glass structure, the Figge Art Museum boasts nine permanent collection galleries, 7,000 square feet of space for traveling exhibitions and a 140-seat auditorium. Public spaces include a restaurant, a museum store and the multi-level “Winter Garden” with views of the Mississippi.

The other communities that make up the Quad Cities — Rock Island, Moline and East Moline, all of which are in Illinois — also are making significant contributions to the region’s growing reputation in visual arts. The arts and entertainment district in downtown Rock Island, for example, is filled with galleries, studios and public artworks and holds “Gallery Hops” two to three times a year. The bustling area is also home to dozens of unique stores, restaurants, coffee shops and entertainment venues.

Getting around the Quad Cities is, quite literally, a breeze. Hop in a Channel Cat Water Taxi and for $6 ($3 children, 2-10) you can ride all day. Set aside those big-city concerns of drivers absent of knowledge of local geography and lacking a sense of direction, these taxis stick to the Mississippi River, efficiently serving each of the Quad Cities, as well as nearby Bettendorf, Iowa (and also allows passengers to bring their bicycles along). It’s a pleasant, breezy ride that turns a journey into an outing.

QUINTESSENTIAL QUINCY
It may be surprising to discover that Quincy, Illinois (pop. 40,000) was once described by National Geographic as the “most significant architectural corner in the United States.” This refers to the intersection of 16th and Maine streets, with notable architecture on all four corners (in Greek Gothic, Victorian and Queen Anne styles).

Quincy, in fact, has five historic districts. The picturesque river town is also a prime spot to enjoy the beauty of the changing seasons. Grand old trees, predominately maples, elms and oaks, line both sides of Maine Street and provide a canopy of autumnal color.

At one time, Quincy was the second largest city in Illinois — larger than Chicago — with many wealthy citizens who built grand mansions, many of which have been well preserved. The town also saw a large influx of German immigrants as it became one of the largest brewery towns in America. These newcomers built sturdy brick homes in the brewery district. This influence can be seen with two-story buildings built close to the sidewalks in European style.

A complimentary museum pass provides free admission to numerous Quincy museums and landmarks. Architectural buffs head for the Gardner Museum of Architecture & Design, housed in an architecturally significant Romanesque building, the former Quincy Public Library.

Senator Stephen A. Douglas made his home in Quincy, and the town was the site of one of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates. Check out the monument in Washington Park of the two men frozen in a verbal joust.

Quincy is essentially a friendly kind of place, where many visitors enjoy lifting a cool, frosted mug of beer in one of its many friendly neighborhood taverns. Around the turn of the last century there were close to 150 saloons in Quincy. Then, in 1919, the ax of Prohibition fell heavily, forcing most of them to close (although some remained open as “soft drink parlors”).

A FENCE PAINTING PRIMER
“Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit.” So wrote Samuel Langhorne Clemens (a.k.a Mark Twain) in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Tom, of course, found a unique way to get Aunt Polly’s fence painted without doing a lick of work himself as he convinced friends and acquaintances to not only handle the chore but also pay for the privilege. Tom discovered that to make something coveted, one had only to make it seem difficult to attain.

Tom Sawyer’s irascible spirit and Mark Twain’s irrepressible humor live on in Hannibal, Missouri, the Mississippi river town where Clemens spent his boyhood. Each year, over the Independence Day weekend, the town comes alive with National Tom Sawyer Days. Among the popular attractions is a fence-painting contest and competitive frog-jumping.

In the town’s historic district, stop for orientation at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and adjoining museum. The neat two-story clapboard house is immaculately whitewashed, along with the famous fence that sits beside it. Fiction and history blend so well that it is not difficult to imagine the aroma of Aunt Polly’s supper cooking, or Tom stealthily purloining sugar or laying in wait to “lick” Sidney for snitching. There is an introductory video, as well, of photographs of locals who provided models for Twain’s characters.

Across Hill Street from the boyhood home is the J.M. Clemens Law Office, where Samuel’s father presided as justice of the peace in 1841. The courtroom provides the setting for the trial of Muff Potter in Tom Sawyer.

Other local attractions include one-hour sightseeing excursions and two-hour dinner cruises on the sternwheeler paddleboat “Mark Twain” and visits to the Becky Thatcher Home, where Laura Hawkins, Sam’s childhood sweetheart and the model for Becky, lived in the 1840s.

WHERE EAGLES SOAR
Alton, Illinois, which sits virtually on the doorstep of St. Louis, is not exactly “Grand Central” for eagles, but it may be the next best thing. The confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers — especially open water close to dams— creates an ideal flyway for migrating birds.

It was in 1782 that the bald eagle was officially declared the national emblem of the United States — despite opposition from Benjamin Franklin, whose personal choice was the turkey. As it turned out, Americans were poor caretakers of their national bird. By the early 1960s, illegal shooting, destruction of habitat and contamination of food sources had these magnificent birds dying off in such large numbers that the eagle was placed on the Endangered Species Act’s “threatened list.” At low ebb, numbers had been reduced to only 417 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states.

Since then, conservationists have worked hard to save the American bald eagle. Today, the eagle has flown off the “threatened list” and onto the radar of tourists looking for a meaningful ecotourism experience. Numbers in recent counts have climbed to more than 7,066 nesting pairs and more than 40,000 birds.

Each January, experts anticipate that nearly 1,000 eagles will migrate to the region, many reclaiming their winter nests along the Great River Road from Alton, through the pretty village of Grafton and in Pere Marquette State Park. Visitors can plan their own eagle-watching adventures — or join up with a group.

When eagle watchers are ready to take a break for a meal, they head for My Just Desserts, one of Alton’s most popular eateries and accomplished bakers of pies. So good are these pies, that in-the-know diners order dessert before lunch — to make sure they don’t miss out. Mrs. Ledbetter’s chocolate pie is a favorite (ask for a recipe card).

MISSOURI'S "WEINSTRASSE"
It’s a scene that could easily be California’s Napa Valley or Sonoma County at crush time. Workers are harvesting grapes and extracting juice. Picnickers are spread out on hillsides and clustered on terraces, enjoying the warm sunshine of early fall, listening to live music, sampling delicacies from gourmet picnic hampers, sipping wine and meeting friends. They’ve made the short drive from the city, convertible tops down, to enjoy wine country and the river valleys at their best.

No matter that the city happens to be St. Louis rather than San Francisco, and the valleys are those of the Missouri River, not the Russian River, this truly is wine country. With the strong German heritage of many local communities and with vineyards climbing fertile hillsides, the region also is reminiscent of the Rhine Valley. In fact, the highway connecting many of the 14 wineries clustered there — just a scant 40 miles west of St. Louis — is popularly known as the “Missouri Weinstrasse” (“Wine Road”).

Straddling the Missouri River, two picturesque highways lead travelers to small towns rich in history and winemaking heritage. Nearby are the studios and galleries of talented artisans, as well as gift boutiques gourmet food shops and attractions such as the Daniel Boone Home.

Hermann, founded in 1836 and named in honor of a German national hero who defeated the Roman legions in AD 9, is as German as the schnitzel and wurst served in its many German restaurants.

However, for a delightful culinary change of pace, stop for lunch, brunch or dinner at the Cottage Restaurant and Gallery. With colorful folk art, airy dining rooms and a terrace tucked into a limestone bluff, the stylish eatery has the look and feel of a café in California or perhaps even Provence — albeit with down home cooking.

In a region clustered with boutique wineries, Stone Hill Winery is a major player. Perched dramatically atop a hill where vineyards climb up the steep limestone bluffs, Stone Hill is the state’s oldest, largest and most widely recognized winery. Established by German immigrants in 1847, the winery was reopened in 1965 by Jim and Betty Held, who produced the first commercial wines in Missouri after Prohibition. Tours of its vast network of cavernous arched cellars are offered.

SLEEPY-TIME TOWNS
The sleepy town of Washington is home to the Missouri Meerschaum Company, manufacturer of corncob pipes (including Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s favorite model). Visit the small factory and a museum overlooking the Missouri River.

In this same region, you’ll find the town of Defiance, where the Daniel Boone Home is filled with family memorabilia. Boone’s personal powder horn is displayed, along with a replica of a flintlock long rifle.

Designed to resemble Boone’s birthplace in Pennsylvania, as well as ancestral residences in Devon, England, the blue limestone mansion, completed in 1810, was built by Boone and son Nathan.

The legendary frontiersman — known as a trailblazer, scout, trapper, surveyor, judge and West Virginia state legislator — died there in 1820 at age 86. The house is open for tours, as is adjacent Boonesfield Village, a living-history settlement comprised of five other 19th century structures, including a chapel and schoolhouse.

HELPFUL RESOURCES WHEN YOU GO
Illinois Office of Tourism - 800 26-6632, www.enjoyillinois.com

Alton Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau - 800 258-6645, www.visitalton.com

City of Fulton - 815 589-4545, www.cityoffulton.us

Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau - 800 747-7800, www.visitquadcities.com

Quincy Area Convention & Visitors Bureau - 800 978-4748, www.seequincy.com

Missouri Division of Tourism - 800 519-2100, www.visitmo.com

Hannibal Convention & Visitors Bureau - 866 263-4825, www.visithannibal.com

Hermann Chamber of Commerce - 800 932-8687, www.visithermann.com