Coincidentally last week I wrote about the I&M canal bike path being washed out and not being repaired for 3 years along with the closing of the Vermillion River to rafters, kayakers, hikers and anglers. While the subject of the state of recreation in the Illinois Valley is still very much in the news, I still cannot think of anything more relevant, especially at this time of year in what should be the height of our "tourist season"  I took a trip this weekend and got to see first hand how important this really is.

Rita and I went to see a concert in Decorah Iowa. Several weekends ago there was an article in the Chicago Tribune travel section about how charming this town was for a weekend retreat. Decorah is about 100 miles northwest of Dubuque in "the drift less area". There are only two-lane country roads to get there and the largest city nearby is Rochester, Minnesota a little over an hour away.
 
The historic and scenic similarities between Decorah and the Illinois Valley are pretty amazing. Decorah is considerably smaller, at 9000 people. I feel we are both in the most beautiful parts of our respective states. Decorah has a river that runs through it, the Upper Iowa, similar to our Vermillion river. The topography immediatly around Decorah is much like Starved Rock. They are in the process of completing a 12 mile bike ring around the city and have many other trails available to locals and tourists. They also have a half a dozen companies that rent bikes, kayaks, canoes and intertubes. Every time I crossed a bridge you could see a gaggle of people floating down the river. Their downtown is charming and thriving with about a dozen really nice blocks of stores and restaurants and a 4 star hotel, The Hotel Winneshiek.


After seeing this Midwestern success story I started to wonder. Which came first the recreation or the 4 star hotel (FYI the hotel came last). A drive thru downtown one cannot help but realize every third car has either bikes, canoes, or kayaks strapped to the top of them. While we are in the process of closing and neglecting our amazing recreational assets, here is a town in the middle of nowhere that is thriving because they know how to use theirs.  We should take a lesson from what is a very successful small community and rebuild and promote our natural resources rather than leave them in disrepair or close them as we have been doing. - Ray
Decorah Tourism
Hotel Winneshiek
Decorah Outdoor Activies

With all of the hype about green tea lately we made a few discoveries about White tea.  White tea has long been used in China and only recently in the west. It is from the same plant that produces black, green and oolong tea  however, it does not have a fermentation process like most other teas.  Picked very early in the season, it is said the best white teas come directly from the bud and are naturally sweet. The health benefits of drinking tea are plentiful, however, White tea is known to have even larger health benefits.  It contains large amounts of polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants. - Ryan