Galena | Small Towns Girls Trip with Moscato, Retail Therapy and a 9-Foot woman

Travel

Jun 27

Written By Andrea | Chapter 50

Small Towns Galena Illinois girls trip, travel shenanigans

The Town You’ll Want to Come Back to…

Over and over again.

With that headline, I feel like I should lead with the town’s 9-foot woman that we strolled past on an evening walk.

The small town of Galena shuffles you back to a lost era with an apothecary shop, historic downtown, wine Wednesday, annnnnnnd…

A 9.5-foot tall statue of Julia Grant on a hill…in front of the Grants’ home {Ulysses S. Grant museum}. A statue of a woman that size isn’t a sight you witness every day – or ever, possibly. On all these perfect summer nights, have a walk around the property and see Julia for yourself.

{Inside tours are Wednesday through Sunday from 9-4pm with a $5 donation.}

Historic 9.5-foot first ladies aside, this MidLife Travel Shenanigan comes to you on a girls’ trip to Galena, Illinois.

That means no golfing, no beers for us, and no boy stuff. What these 3 days did give was a lot of shopping, wine tasting –full glasses of multiple “tastings”– wee bit of women’s history –refer to the opening paragraph– massages, antiquing, and A LOT of laughs!

While Any-Towns USA can bring you this girls’ trip getaway of fun, Galena always reminds us that Illinois is not one long cornfield of flatness, and has serious nostalgic factor.

Wine Wednesday

We didn’t plan it this way, but the wine fairies were guiding us to downtown Galena on Wednesday afternoon for Fried Green Tomato’s Wine Wednesday.

And with taking the Irish Cottage shuttle, neither of us had to rock-paper-scissors to see who was the DD that night.

Another glass? YES, PLEASE!

Fried Green Tomatoes isn’t a tapas restaurant…

…Unless you make your meal out of the appetizer menu –which we did–

Recommendations::

Charcuterie Board
Pesto Bruschetta
Steak Martini
Shrimp Salad
Wine {no wrong choice here}

Sneak in a Nature walk

We walked to Thunder Bay Falls that starts a day fresh in nature. If you’re classifying waterfalls, this one goes under “mini”; Still pretty, easily walkable, and water-fallie.

One directional tip:: Make sure to Google the directions yourself. When they say “You can’t miss it”, clearly they’ve never met the directionally challenged world geography teachers.

HOWEVER, let the record show:: There was no “really big blue sign” to turn at Bob!

We drove by twice just to be sure we hadn’t missed this obvious big blue sign.

We included one more trip into nature on the last day too. We made it about 12-minutes before turning back. A stray sock, one leg of a pair of pants, and my itching head, convinced us we had become one with nature long enough.

Yes. When I walk in the woods, I’m convinced a tick will find my exposed skin and take up residence. Equal to that paranoia is passing a pair of one-legged pants and wondering, “HOW!” besides a wild, rabid animal tearing them off an unsuspecting and less-paranoid person on a hike.

Time to turn back and walk across the parking lot and open grassy area of the hotel for our Apple-watch steps today. My legs may be short, but I like two of them.

Massage Morning

If you’re on a girls’ trip, a massage is a must.

I thought I’d had it all with massages over the years. But Galena Day Spa surprised me with peppermint hands.

Before the masseuse worked her magic hands into my stressed chicken-wings and rubber-band hamstrings, she placed her hands over my nose with magic peppermint fairy oil and had me take three deeeeep breaths.

I know it was magic fairy oil, because I didn’t even care that I was going to have the donut-hole-pillow-marks tattooed on my face the rest of day. I CAN BREATHE facedown on the massage table for the first time ever!

If you’ve never had donut-hole-pillow-massage-markings after laying facedown on the table…

Did you really have a massage?
Tell me the name of your masseuse - PLEASE?!

Galena Day Spa was almost perfect.

Just one little quirk, hiccup, underwhelming piece to the after-massage.

Instead of a massage only, we treated ourselves to a little extra with chocolate and champagne in their tranquil spa room following our peppermint-smelling-rub-down.

“Your post-massage indulgence awaits!”

Our hearts skip a beat in anticipation. Would it be a platter of luscious chocolates? Perhaps a sweet flute filled with exquisite champagne?

After our massage experience we aimed too high.

In the dimly light room –yes, tranquil achieved– were two Dixie cups of champagne and a mini sachet bag of leftover Halloween candies {two Dove chocolate hearts, one Andes after-dinner mint and Brach’s caramel marshmallow blob that’s always the first piece traded when you dump out your trick-or-treat bag at the end of the night.}

We blinked four times in disbelief, half-expecting Ryan Reynolds to pop out and laugh along with us. But no, it was real. Those were our luscious chocolates. Ahhhh, the sweet mysteries of spa life!

There is never a dreary intermission in any MidLife Travel Shenanigan. The towns we travel to and the fun people to laugh along with.

Shop Through Others “Antiques”

“If you find something in the shop, it’s an antique, if not, then it’s a junk store” or is it, “one person’s junk is another person’s treasure”?

Elizabeth Illinois, about 12-minutes from Galena, has a 3-story antique shop that’s worth the pull-off.

I’m more of a speed-antique shopper, where Suz is a nooks-n-crannies antique-er. She was looking for specifics and I was, well, just looking. Antique shops for a MidLifer is also a walk down memory lane with typewriters, film cameras, a wall of CD’s, and that retro ice chest that Joanna Gaines just made popular again in her new Target line.

If you’re heading back the Chicago way, break up your drive with a stop in at The Grand Antique Company for a 3-story walk down memory lane, and a few treasures.

If you want to getaway from MidLife for a few days, grab your Bestie and see Galena through our eyes. {I’ll spare you our midnight Reel watching hysterics.}

P.S. Most of the Main Street shops close at 5pm weeknights, so if you need some Reel material for your evening let me know. 😉

Where to Eat::

Fried Green Tomatoes:: Wine Wednesday + we made our meal out of the appetizer and shrimp salad section
Vinny Vanucchi’s Little Italy:: At peak times, reservations are a good idea
Bread & Vine:: Their sweet treats are deliciously shareable. And by “share”, I mean everyone should get something different to share – DO NOT just buy one.
Any one of the coffee shops on Main Street

Where To Stay::

Favorite Shop Stops::

Galena Apothecary:: All the things you’d want for or from your most style-worthy friend {+ cutest scarves}
Elle & Beck’s:: Lifestyle Boutique and Coffee & Gelato Bar
Galena River Goods:: Women’s clothing {Men’s too, but…girls’ trip, remember?}

Massage::

Galena Day Spa {Returning for the massage, passing on the chocolates}

Take a trip to Galena for its small town charm and lackadaisical moments in time. With only a 3-day girlaway, we didn’t get to everything on our list {wineries and bike touring}. But we’ll be back.

Visit Galena website updates their upcoming events, and the @visitgalenaorg Instagram page shares the fun you could have - for when to go.

Cheers to your Galena Travel Shenanigans!

Tooting my own horn still isn’t natural to this 70’s baby. If you have a friend who likes travel shenanigans in Chapter 50 who might like this, please pass along…Email the link, Pin it, tweet it, Facebook it. Better yet, Scroll down and click into the Mid Life Refresh Newsletter and NEVER MISS A TRAVEL-STYLE BEAT ⬇↓⬇

View on for two more Mid Life Shenanigans {small towns + big city –life’s not either or–}::

Glamping {Perfect summer weekend in nature with a cushioned bed, indoor plumbing, & no ticks}
Polar opposite to quiet nature or small town…Weekend in New York City

What’s your favorite part of small towns?

💖xo Andrea

🏡Navigating small towns one stop at a time
💃🏼Reminding you that MidLife is where your at
🍷I tell myself I’m wine tasting towards sommelier status {no idea if that’s a thang}
✈️Stop by each week for new Travel Shenanigans and the stylish ways of a 50-something life
😵‍💫Queasy at the sight of vitamin jars stuffed with cotton {at every age}