We took a little road trip this week to Galena, IL.  It was especially fun because we were meeting up with lovely friends from Iowa and Wisconsin, and Galena was an easy drive for all three couples.

Galena is a small town on the Mississippi River on the west side of Illinois, just across the river from Iowa.  Much of the city has been preserved or restored to reflect its heyday back in the 1800s, when it was a thriving steamboat destination and had many lead mines in operation.

We planned our lodging ahead of time, and opted for a B&B package that offered one night’s stay at each of three different Bed & Breakfasts:

The Avery Guest House:

The Steamboat House

The Cloran Mansion

All three of these homes were amazing, the innkeepers were welcoming and informative, and the food was very good to excellent.

My personal favorite home was The Steamboat House.  The billiard room is pictured in the header of this post.  There was also a lovely library, a music room, and an upstairs sitting area that made for lovely gathering spots within the mansion.  The library:

Our room at the Steamboat House:

I will share a bit more about Galena in a future post, including a bit about Galena’s most famous resident:  Ulysses S. Grant.

While we were in Paducah, Kentucky, last week for the quilt show, we happened upon this motorcade (pictured below).  We had just walked past a funeral home and noticed the full-sized USA flags lining the street, and wondered what the occasion was.

As we turned the corner, we could see news crews and bystanders looking down the street at the approaching procession. We didn’t know until the next day that we witnessed the remains of William Carneal, missing in action for 70 years, being transported to the funeral home. 

Mr. Carneal went missing in Japan in 1944, and his remains were found last year by a Japanese team looking for WWII remains of Japanese soldiers. Thus began the long process of Mr. Carneal’s remains being returned to his hometown of Paducah, Kentucky.

His funeral was three days later, April 25th, the 94th anniversary of his birth. The seven Japanese men who found his remains (complete with class ring, dog tags, pocket knife, and some coins) flew to Paducah to attend his funeral.

I noticed the lead motorcycles had signage indicating they were Patriot Guard Riders (also pictured in the header).  According to their web page, they are volunteers whose mission is to ensure dignity and respect at memorial services for fallen military heroes, first responders, and veterans. They certainly were an impressive addition to the procession.