Stumped? Try the Quad Cities, that combination of Rock Island and Moline, Illinois, and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, 170 miles northwest of Springfield.
Trekking to the cities straddling the Mighty Mississippi and nearby communities can lead you to guns used in the Battle of Little Bighorn, a lock and dam on the river, some of the world’s largest farm machinery and the History Channel stars’ stomping grounds.
If you have extra time, you can visit a pleasant botanical garden, cheer a minor league baseball team, take a paddle boat ride on the river and indulge at a vintage soda fountain.
Discover those guns at the Rock Island Arsenal, a 946-acre island in between the four cities. While the U.S. Army facility and national historic landmark is past its weapons-producing heyday, visitors can pass through a checkpoint and appreciate the Arsenal’s importance to national defense. It was established as a federal military post in 1809 and its military museum opened in 1905.
The free museum, open noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, features the story of the Army’s weapons-making facility and a collection of 1,200 small arms, including weapons from U.S. and foreign wars. Even non-gun enthusiasts will be impressed with the collection, especially the five guns identified as being used by the Sioux or Cheyenne at the Battle of Little Bighorn, Custer’s famous last stand. After a 1983 fire at the Montana battlefield uncovered ancient bullets, experts matched them with guns confiscated by the U.S. Cavalry in the Arsenal’s cache of weapons.
Near the Government Bridge connecting the island to Davenport is the free Mississippi River Visitor Center, a must-stop for anyone interested in lock-and-dam systems. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except on major holidays, the center affords a great view of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Lock and Dam 15 and the tugs and barges navigating the narrow passage. You can see the double-deck Mississippi River bridge carrying trains above and cars below. Watching the bridge swing open to let river traffic pass makes you marvel at the 1896 engineering feat.
Your jaw also might drop at the massive machines in the John Deere Pavilion in downtown Moline. The free attraction showcases the company’s tractors, combines, construction monsters and forestry equipment. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.
Visitors can climb aboard some of the machines to sit behind the wheel, view a historical tractor display and learn about innovations such as a self-guided lawn mower already in use in Europe. Children will like the discovery zone with miniature farm machinery and can buy their own next door at the John Deere Store, which is stocked with all things green and yellow.
For a different shopping experience, follow the tour buses to LeClaire, Iowa, just outside of the Quad Cities along the river east of Bettendorf. The hosts of the popular television show “American Pickers” have their home base in two buildings labeled Antique Archaeology. The small buildings are packed with people hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars, who often are on the road.
The buildings hold some of the interesting finds featured on the History Channel show, which takes the “pickers” into stuffed warehouses and outbuildings to look for undiscovered antiques. You will see old gas station signs, vintage motorcycles and odd bits of Americana, most of which carry a hefty price tag but provide fodder for tourists’ photos.
From April to September, Davenport’s Modern Woodmen Park hosts the Houston Astros’ Class A farm team, the River City Bandits, in a stadium voted the best minor league ballpark in a 2013 USA Today poll.
Several companies offer paddle boat cruises on the Mississippi, starting from ports in Moline and LeClaire. You can take a lunch, dinner or overnight cruise to relax, listen to music and see the shoreline.
Or treat yourself to homemade ice cream, a hot fudge sundae or gourmet chocolates at 1908-era Lagomarcino’s soda fountain in either downtown Moline or the quaint Village of East Davenport. A stop there is sure to be the cherry on top of your Quad Cities visit.
For more information, go to www.quadcities.com, www.arsenalhistoricalsociety.org, www.missriver.org, www.johndeereattractions.com and www.antiquearchaeology.com.
Mary Bohlen is a freelance writer and editor from Springfield and former journalism professor at the University of Illinois Springfield. She alternates writing the monthly Midwestern travel column for IT with Mary C. Galligan of Chicago.
