Dubuque – Valerie's Voice

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church

Recently on a road trip to Dubuque, my friend and I decided to begin our day in church. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, built in 1896, is on the National Register of Historical Places for its architecture, its history in the region, and its Tiffany glass. We were interested in seeing the Tiffany glass.

Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1933) was a world renown artist. He created his own unique glass, which he used to make spectacular windows, lamps and more.

A classic Tiffany iris, as part of one window.

His windows are made of multi-layers of glass, with iridescence/opulence qualities and deep, rich colors.

“Tiffany believed that this new material (his new creation and technique) … enabled form to be defined by the glass itself rather than by painting onto the glass.” The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art

There is much to learn about this artist’s glass and his magnificent works. Click here for more information: Tiffany Glass.

To see this display of Tiffany windows in St. Luke’s was a treat. The church is open to the public for viewing the Tiffany windows during the week, and offers weekly church services on Sunday.

There was a short 11-minute video clip we watched as we sat surrounded by these beautiful glass windows.

The windows had been meticulously restored a few years ago at the cost of $40,000 per window.

This is one of the three Tiffany lamps in the church.

There were also three Tiffany glass chandeliers in the church. There were even Tiffany glass windows in the restrooms!

In the Midwest, there are only a few places that have Tiffany glass windows. We were grateful one of those places was Dubuque, Iowa.

My favorite window: *The Good Shepherd*.

As we left the sanctuary, we noticed a sign that read, “If you think our windows are beautiful…you should meet our people!”

What a pleasant way to start our day.

More Photos from Dubuque

Dubuque is Iowa’s oldest city. It was founded in 1833, 13 years before Iowa became a state. The French-Canadian fur trader names Julien Dubuque was instrumental in settling the area, thus its name.

The city has designed a lovely river walk in Port Dubuque, along the Mississippi River. On my recent trip there, my friend and I walked along it several times.

The River Walk along the Mississippi River.

We also sat on benches and watched a lot of river traffic…barges, tugboats, speedboats, etc. I always enjoy watching the “boats go by.”

This recreational boat looks so small next to a long barge and tugboat, on the Mississippi River.

The Shot Tower is located one end of the river walk. It is a national landmark, being one of only a few remaining historic shot towers in the United States.

A visual of how the shot tower made lead shots.

I recently learned what a shot tower is, and found it interesting. According to the plaque, “The Shot Tower was constructed in 1854 to manufacture lead shot ammunition. Molten lead was poured from the top of the tower and passed through a series of sieves to form the shot into its proper size. The shot then landed in a tank of cold water at the bottom of the tower.” Thus, making the ammunition.

There are 30 murals around town, resulting from an event called “Taking it to the Streets”. We noticed several of the murals. I assume there would be a map at the chamber of commerce so one could locate all of them and learn about them. We did not look into this, but there was one mural directly across from our hotel. It was titled Solidarity. It was painted by 75 volunteers, painting side-by-side in one- hour shifts, on this paint-by-number style public art piece; 105’ long X 25” tall.

We walked by the Town Clock. This Town Clock was originally erected in 1873 on top of a building on Main Street, then the clock was moved to the Town Clock Plaza in 1971, where it is today. The clock supposedly maintains accurate time within half second. It stands 110’ tall.

The Grand Opera House, still offering live performances (pre and post Covid of course.)

We also walked by the Grand Opera House which was built in 1890. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Closer look at the Grand Opera House stone design.

A super moon was scheduled to rise on our last night in Dubuque, so we purposely went to find a bench on the river walk to sit and watch the full moon rise over the Mississippi River. It did not disappoint!

The full, super moon rising over the river.

We had a wonderful time in this historic river town…There is so much more this city has to offer. We’ll be back.

Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Garden

It may not be very big – 52 acres – but it’s overflowing with beauty…the Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Garden.

My friend and I met in Dubuque, Iowa for our annual get together. Dubuque is a lovely river town. It has a scenic river walk along the Mississippi River, a wonderful botanical garden and thrift stores.

Dubuque met our criteria for a meeting place: water, gardens and thrift & antique stores.

The day we went to the botanical garden was dreamy. An ideal temperature, bright blue skies with no clouds in sight.

One of the garden sculptures: Germination.

Dubuque is five hours farther south than Northfield, and there were many plants blooming in Iowa that were not blooming in Minnesota yet. There were peonies and lupines and iris’ in their full array.

In the botanical garden there was an herb garden, a shade garden, an English garden, a Japanese garden, a prairie garden, a rose garden (not in bloom yet), annuals, perennials, peonies, iris’ and lupines, a children’s area, sculptures, trees, lots of benches and green, green, grass.

So much packed into those 52 acres.

The arb is convenient and close to town. And has free admission.

They also boast the arboretum & garden is run entirely by volunteers. It’s a young arboretum…established in 1980.

We spent our morning meandering, and sitting on the benches, and smelling the flowers, enjoying ourselves in this beautiful setting, marveling at God’s creation.

The Tin Man in an annual garden, with more displays in other annual beds featuring characters from The Wizard of Oz.

And we were grateful.

Out with the old, in with the…old

My picnic basket fell apart. I had it for many years, and used it a lot. It was a durable, wicker basket; deep, with a strong handle and flaps over each topside opening. Eventually the top flaps broke off but it was still a sturdy, useable basket. During the pandemic this past year I kept the basket stocked, and in the car, ready for any opportunity we might have for eating a meal outdoors. It was stocked with hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, flatware, drinking cups, paper plates, napkins, and a tablecloth.

My beloved picnic basket – it served us well for many years.

I took it along on a recent trip to Iowa to meet up with a friend for a few days. As I put it in the car I felt the handle (which had already been fixed once with wire) was loosening up. But I still put it in the car. Then while there, I took it out of the car and the handle broke completely. The picnic basket was no longer functional.

But the timing was good. My friend and I like to frequent thrift stores so it was the perfect time to look for a new-to-me picnic basket, and we were successful in finding one.

When I got it home I cleaned it off and set it in the sun to disinfect, and now it’s ready to “carry on” the task of holding our picnic goods for many more years, I hope.