This past weekend, my wife, Monica, and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. We took a short road trip through small towns along two Wisconsin borders. On Friday, she surprised me with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI (near Lake Geneva). I consider myself something of a minor space nerd, and I had no idea a place as cool as this was anywhere near me! Built in 1895, with dubious motivations, the Yerkes once boasted the world’s largest telescope and continues to make observations to this day. Carl Sagan did his graduate studies there, and Huygens was a resident, consulting NASA during the space race. They hold a massive collection of plate glass photos that are highly prized for comparison to modern images.
From there, we did some shopping, traveling country roads to Beloit where we visited The Rogue Bookshop. I found a copy of Edward Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies, a delightful throwback to my childhood. From there, we drove down to Rockford, IL and Maze Books, where Monica found a fantastic gift book.
We took US 20 out of Rockford, passing the turnoff to Mt. Carroll, where I first performed summer stock at Timber Lake Playhouse. Unfortunately, we were losing time, and couldn’t visit. We rolled into Galena, IL with enough time to see the Ulysses S. Grant house before stopping in at Galena Book & Paper where I found a lovely portrait of Shakespeare made from the Sonnets.
We reached Dubuque in time to watch the Capo Verde World Cup match (0-0 against Saudi Arabia). The next morning, we strolled the Farmers Market on our way to River Lights Bookstore where a visiting poet, Heidi Zull wrote a poem for our anniversary.
We followed the Mississippi up Highway 61 to Winona, MN, arriving just in time to pay our respects at Paperbacks and Pieces before settling in at Two Fathoms Brewing to watch the England match (2-0 against Panama – it’s coming home).
The next morning, we visited Pearl Street Books in La Crosse where we found more gifts before the long drive home.
At every store, I took the opportunity to introduce myself (more or less, I’m still getting used to this) and inquire about future author events. It’s early in the process–THE DUST BEHIND THE DOOR doesn’t arrive until next year, but everyone was kind, congratulatory, and enthusiastic about having me back next year. I can’t wait to revisit everyone and meet new readers. In the meantime, please click on the links provided, and show all these wonderful hosts some love!
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