We continued up the river road to Burlington, IA to spend a couple of days. We stayed at a cute bed and breakfast, The Squirrel's Nest. They only had two rooms, so it was perfect for us. They couldn't tell us no because we had kids since we were the only ones there! The "Nest" was a pretty sweet room. It is designed to be kind of a honeymoon suite, with an elevated whirlpool tub and an amazing view, but it turned into the Freeman Nest while we were there. Since it had a futon for Charlotte to sleep on, it was a perfect place for us to crash.
It rained almost the entire time we were there, which was kind of a bummer, but it also meant that it went from the upper 90s to the upper 70s in a matter of hours. Much more manageable then the oppressive heat we experienced in Hannibal. We tried a nearby playground our first day in Burlington, but it only lasted about 15 minutes before the rain started again.
After giving up at the park, we went to check out Snake Alley, the "crookedest street in the USA", competing with Lombard Street in San Francisco. At first we thought we couldn't drive it, but soon discovered we could, so Kirk tested his mad driving skills and took us for a ride. :)
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| Our Captain |
Like I said, the room we stayed in was pretty neat. Lots of windows and light, when it wasn't storming. The storms were pretty awful the first night we stayed there and since it was still rainy when we woke up, we didn't get to see the sun rise over the river. It cleared up for our last morning, though, and we saw a really pretty sunrise from our bed. The breakfasts were good and the proprietors were friendly. I'd recommend it to our friends traveling through Burlington. You know, since there are so many. :)
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| The view from the tub area |
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| The patio and the view. Not a bad way to wake up. |
I did a lot of research on restaurant potential for all of our stops. I think I logged a good three hours on Google, Yelp, and Facebook checking out places to eat. One that popped up in Burlington was a sushi place. The reviews were amazing and I just had to try it out. So we loaded up the girls and took Papa with us while Debbie stayed at the B&B. It was not easy to find and when we pulled up to the strip mall, the place looked like a DIVE. I was a little nervous, but Matt suggested we try it anyway. So we walked into the small, empty restaurant and had a seat. I was still apprehensive, but once our food arrived, I was no longer concerned! Charlotte was starving and a little bratty, so we ordered her some tempura vegetables. They were amazing. Matt ordered one roll, I ordered another and Kirk ordered some chicken wings. Charlotte even wanted to try some of the sushi. She ate more of it than I anticipated! I was so proud. I love that she was willing to try it and even enjoyed it a little. My little foodie. :)
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| Audrey enjoying her sushi rice. I don't know what Charlotte is doing. |
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| Mommy and her sushi girls! |
After lunch, Matt and I took the girls to an indoor water park while Kirk explored a little of Burlington on his own. Charlotte told us she had a good time, but she was a little bit of a chicken when it came to the slides. I got her to go down a few, but she kept telling us she wanted to go down the "big" slides. Um, no. You won't go down the two foot turtle slide, so no, you may not go down the huge, twisty, adult slide. But Mommy and Daddy will! The girls had fun watching us splash down from the slides. I didn't want to get my camera wet, so no pictures, but trust me, it was fun. We went to dinner at a nice little restaurant on the river and walked around a bit before turning in for the night. Before we left the next day, we went back to the park and let the girls play a little before packing them up in the car again for our trip to Nauvoo. The park was fun and a had a pretty cool view of the bridge. All in all, a fun stop.
It rained almost the entire time we were there, which was kind of a bummer, but it also meant that it went from the upper 90s to the upper 70s in a matter of hours. Much more manageable then the oppressive heat we experienced in Hannibal. We tried a nearby playground our first day in Burlington, but it only lasted about 15 minutes before the rain started again. 
After giving up at the park, we went to check out Snake Alley, the "crookedest street in the USA", competing with Lombard Street in San Francisco. At first we thought we couldn't drive it, but soon discovered we could, so Kirk tested his mad driving skills and took us for a ride. :)
Like I said, the room we stayed in was pretty neat. Lots of windows and light, when it wasn't storming. The storms were pretty awful the first night we stayed there and since it was still rainy when we woke up, we didn't get to see the sun rise over the river. It cleared up for our last morning, though, and we saw a really pretty sunrise from our bed. The breakfasts were good and the proprietors were friendly. I'd recommend it to our friends traveling through Burlington. You know, since there are so many. :)
I did a lot of research on restaurant potential for all of our stops. I think I logged a good three hours on Google, Yelp, and Facebook checking out places to eat. One that popped up in Burlington was a sushi place. The reviews were amazing and I just had to try it out. So we loaded up the girls and took Papa with us while Debbie stayed at the B&B. It was not easy to find and when we pulled up to the strip mall, the place looked like a DIVE. I was a little nervous, but Matt suggested we try it anyway. So we walked into the small, empty restaurant and had a seat. I was still apprehensive, but once our food arrived, I was no longer concerned! Charlotte was starving and a little bratty, so we ordered her some tempura vegetables. They were amazing. Matt ordered one roll, I ordered another and Kirk ordered some chicken wings. Charlotte even wanted to try some of the sushi. She ate more of it than I anticipated! I was so proud. I love that she was willing to try it and even enjoyed it a little. My little foodie. :)
After lunch, Matt and I took the girls to an indoor water park while Kirk explored a little of Burlington on his own. Charlotte told us she had a good time, but she was a little bit of a chicken when it came to the slides. I got her to go down a few, but she kept telling us she wanted to go down the "big" slides. Um, no. You won't go down the two foot turtle slide, so no, you may not go down the huge, twisty, adult slide. But Mommy and Daddy will! The girls had fun watching us splash down from the slides. I didn't want to get my camera wet, so no pictures, but trust me, it was fun. We went to dinner at a nice little restaurant on the river and walked around a bit before turning in for the night. Before we left the next day, we went back to the park and let the girls play a little before packing them up in the car again for our trip to Nauvoo. The park was fun and a had a pretty cool view of the bridge. All in all, a fun stop.
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