Five days in Central Western Illinois and Iowa along Mississippi. |
Jacksonville, Quincy, Keokuk, Burlington, Muscatine, Quad Cities, Bloomington. This is a trip planned for a Saturday through Wednesday starting on or after Memorial Day Weekend and before Labor Day Weekend. |
Short Summary.
| Day 1 | Springfield Jacksonville Quincy Keokuk. |
Saturday night: Keokuk,
Iowa.
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| Day 2 | Keokuk Burlington Muscatine |
Sunday Night:
In or near Muscatine, Iowa |
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| Day 3 | Wildcat Den State Park Davenport Rock Island Moline East Moline Bettendorf Peru or La Salle Starved Rock
State Park.
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Monday night: Starved Rock Nature Preserve
Or in
Peru, Illinois.
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| Day 4 | Matthiessen State Park Starved Rock State Park.
LaSalle |
Tuesday Night: Starved Rock or in
Peru, Illinois.
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| Day 5 | Bloomington, Illinois David Davis Mansion State Historic Site McLean County Museum of History Miller Park Zoo |
Wednesday night at home. |
See our list of trips. |
Full Description
| Day | weekday | Description of what we do. | Where we spend the night. | |
| Day 1 | Saturday | Drive to Jacksonville, Illinois, and have
lunch there (Lonzerotti’s). Then, visit the Governor Duncan Mansion at 1:30 p.m. Finish tour of
the mansion, continue on to Quincy. At about 3:30 p.m. take tour of the Quincy Museum. At 5:00 p.m. Dinner in Keokuk at Ogo’s.
Driving: 50 minutes to Jacksonville. To Quincy
Museum is 1 hour 25 minutes. To Keokuk is 55 minutes. Total time: about 3 hours and 15
minutes.
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Saturday night: Keokuk,
Iowa.
Grand Anne Bed and Breakfast: 816 Grand Ave., Keokuk, IA 52632
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| Day 2 | Sunday | Morning and lunch in Keokuk. Visit the
George M. Verity River Museum in the morning. Lunch in Keokuk (Wooden Nickel)
Visit the Miller House at 1:00 p.m. Depart around 1:40. Stop in Burlington to
see the Phelps House Museum (2:40), and depart around 3:20. Visit the Muscatine Art Center
(4:25). Dinner in Muscatine (Tantra Thai Bistro). Camp at Shady Creek Recreation Area.
Driving: 55 minutes to Burlington (arrive at
3:00). To Muscatine Art Center is 1 hour 5 minutes. To Shady Creek is 25
minutes. Total time: about 2
hours and 30 minutes.
Shady Creek Recreation Area. |
Sunday Night:
Shady
Creek Recreation Area between Muscatine and the Quad cities.
If
weather prohibits camping, stay at Strawberry
Farm Bed and Breakfast or else the Super 8 Motel Muscatine.
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| Day 3 | Monday | Get up fairly early and pack up the tent
and have breakfast, then take a morning hike in Wildcat Den State Park.
(8:30-9:30)
9:30. Drive to Quad Cities.
Spend much of the day in the Quad
Cities. See the Figge Art Museum
in Davenport 10:00-11:30), the Quad City Botanical Center in Rock Island
(11:40-12:30), have lunch at Acapulco Cafe or El Sabino Restaurant in Rock Island (12:40-1:30), then see the
Butterworth Center & Deere-Wiman House in Moline (1:50-3:05), The John
Deere Pavilion in East Moline (3:15-3:45), The Family Museum of Arts and
Science in Bettendorf (4:00-5:00). Either stay around in the Quad Cities to
walk around and have dinner or visit parks, or else just drive east on I-80,
stop in Peru or La Salle for dinner, and set up tent to camp in Starved Rock
State Park.
Driving: 30 minutes to Davenport, and allow about
an hour of driving for total time within the Quad Cities, plus 1 hour and 30
minutes to get to Starved Rock or Peru or La Salle. Total time in car of
about 3 hours.
Family Museum of Arts & Science
Possible places to stay:
Super 8 Motel in Peru
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Monday night: Camping
in Starved Rock Nature Preserve
If
weather doesn’t permit camping, stay in the Starved Rock Lodge or Grizzly
Jack’s Grand Bear Resort just outside Starved Rock or else the Super 8 in
Peru.
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| Day 4 | Tuesday | Spend the day hiking and admiring nature
in Matthiessen State Park and Starved Rock State Park.
Take a break for a couple hours to drive
(15 minutes) to LaSalle and visit the Hegeler Carus Mansion there.
Driving: about 40 minutes round-trip between the
State Park and Peru or La Salle, including time for driving between Starved
Rock and Matthiessen.
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Tuesday Night: Second
night either camping in Starved Rock or Matthiessen, or else staying in a
local resort or motel.
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| Day 5 | Wednesday | Depart the Starved Rock area around 11:00
a.m., and drive to Bloomington, Illinois. While there, see the David Davis
Mansion State Historic Site, the McLean County Museum of History, and the
Miller Park Zoo. Have lunch at the Grand Café in Bloomington (one of the oldest restaurants in town).
Driving: From the Starved Rock area to
Bloomington-Normal is about 1 hour and 15 minutes, and then it’s another 1
hour and 10 minutes to get to Springfield. Add about 15
minutes for driving around in Bloomington, and your total drive for the day
is about 2 hours and 40 minutes
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Wednesday night at home. |
Cost analysis
Costs. (Day, expense, Cost in 2011 U.S. Dollars, Cost in percent of median year-round full-time income) Year-round full-time income was $39,312 in 2011 (this comes from Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2011[pdf] from the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, report 1038 issued in October of 2012. Specifically, I looked at Table 1 Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, where the median weekly earnings for both sexes, total, 16 years and older is reported as $756. I have multiplied that median weekly earning by 52 to reach an estimate for the year-round worker, although median year-round workers probably averaged a bit more in their weekly pay than those who were not year-round workers, so the year-round full-time income was probably a bit more than this). Myrfti are calculated by taking the prices checked in 2012 and dividing them by $39,312, and then multiplying by 100. Something that is 350 Myrfti is 3.5% of the median year-round full-time income. If the median year-round full-time income is $39,312, a cost of 350 Myrfti is $1,376, and a cost of 100 Myrfti is $393.12. If two people go out for dinner and spend $39.31, they have spent exactly 10 Myrfti (at least in 2011 or 2012). Something that costs $3.95 is just about 1 Myrfti. In short, for two persons, this trip can cost between 3% of the median year-round income and 1.65% (296 and 165 Myrfti). In 2012 those prices in dollars were $1,165 and $647. For four persons, the costs run betwen 523 and 273 Myrfti ($2,058 and $1,074 in 2012 dollars). For a group of six persons (three adults and three teen-agers) the costs run between 758 and 379 Myrfti (7.58% and 3.79% of a median year-round full-time worker's salary, or in 2012 dollars, $2,982 and $1,489). |
| Cost Item Description | Cost in 2012 US$ | Cost in % Myrfti for U.S. | ||
| Lodging | The first night of this trip has everyone enjoying a stay in a nice bed & breakfast. After that, there are camping options for the next three nights, or inexpensive motel options for those nights, or bed & breakfast or expensive lodges or resorts for the remaining nights. With some of the motels and lodges you can have four persons in a room, but for the bed & breakfasts I have a room for each two-person pair. For the nights when camping is possible, the costs remain the same for 1-6 persons. |
Cost in 2012 US$ 2, camping: $241 4, camping: $399 6, camping: $536 |
Cost in % Myrfti for U.S. 2, camping: 61 4, camping: 102 6, camping: 136 |
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| Gas | It is 550 miles. If you have a 6-person minivan with your luggage, I'll estimate your MPG at 20. Gas costs just under 1 Myrfti per gallon in the summer (about $3.50 is the estimate I used, which was 0.89 Myrfti in 2012). | Cost in 2012 US$ $96.25 |
Cost in % Myrfti for U.S. Myrfti: 24.50 |
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| Admissions | I looked up actual admission costs. We are assuming with two persons it's just adults, with four persons it is two adults and two youth (students in K-12 who are not under 8 years of age). With six persons my assumption was three adults and three youth. Some place are free, but I figured on a fair donation to those places. Governor Duncan Mansion |
Cost in 2012 US$ 2 adults: $128 |
Cost in % Myrfti for U.S. 2 adults: Myrfti- 33 |
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| Food | For this I estimated costs per meal, looking at some actual menus, and did a most expensive estimate assuming always eating in good restaurants. Later, when figuring total costs I went with half this budget for cheap (more self-catering and eating less expensive items or eating fast food instead of real restaurant food). I also calculated 66% of the estimated meal costs for likely expenses, and 75% of estimated meal costs for eating well, but not always at the good restaurants. Meal costs in the original (most expensive) estimates per person include taxes and service tips. Here were the meals and the per person costs estimated after taxes and tips for 2012: Lunch in Jacksonville, Illinois — $22.96 |
Cost in 2012 US$ Assuming actually following the cost estimates based on eating in good restaurants most of the time 2 adults: $364 |
Cost in % Myrfti for U.S. 2 adults: Myrfti- 93 |
L
| 2 persons in 2012 dollars | 4 persons in 2012 dollars | 6 persons in 2012 dollars | 2 persons in Myrfti | 4 persons in Myrfti | 6 persons in Myrfti | ||
| Most expensive possible | $1,165 |
$2,058 |
$2,982 |
Myrfti: 296 |
Myrfti: 523 |
Myrfti: 758 |
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| Travel well, but not most expensive | $1,032 |
$1,718 |
$2,593 |
Myrfti: 262 |
Myrfti: 437 |
Myrfti: 660 |
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| Average between most and least expensive | $906 |
$1,566 |
$2,235 |
Myrfti: 230 |
Myrfti: 398 |
Myrfti: 569 |
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| Realistic cost | $823 |
$1,308 |
$1,965 |
Myrfti: 209 |
Myrfti: 333 |
Myrfti: 500 |
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| Least expensive Possible | $647 |
$1,074 |
$1,489 |
Myrfti: 165 |
Myrfti: 273 |
Myrfti: 379 |
| Travel description (all travel by driving personal vehicle) | Distance | Duration of travel | ||
| Day 1 | Drive from Springfield to Jacksonville (35 miles, 45 minutes) Drive from Jacksonville to Quincy (81 miles, 1 h 25 m) Drive from Quincy to Keokuk (40 miles, 55 minutes) |
156 miles | Right around 3 hours. | |
| Day 2 | Drive from Keokuk to Burlington (43 miles, 55 minutes) Drive from Burlington to Muscatine (52 miles, 1 h 5 m) Drive from Muscatine to Shady Creek (13 miles, 20 minutes) |
110 miles But add in a few miles for driving around Keokuk and Muscatine. |
Around 2 h 20 m. But add in some minutes for driving around in Muscatine and Keokuk. |
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| Day 3 | Drive from Shady Creek and Wildcat Den to the Quad Cities (19 miles, 30 minutes) Drive around the Quad Cities (11 miles, 55 minutes) Drive from Quad Cities to Starved Rock State Park |
124 miles |
Around 2 h 35 m. |
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| Day 4 | Drive between Starved Rock campground, the main area of the state park, and the Matthiessen State Park. Drive between the state parks and La Salle |
24 miles |
Around 45 minutes. |
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| Day 5 | Drive from Starved Rock down to Bloomington. Driving around in Bloomington Driving from Bloomington to Springfield |
143 miles |
Around 2 h 40 m. |
Return to my list of trips. or my travel page See some photographs below showing areas to visit on this trip. The photographs of Starved Rock are from October, a bit later than this trip is planned for. |
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| A mural celebrating local history in Jacksonville, Illinois | A war monument in Jacksonville, Illinois | Looking down the snake alley road in Burlington, Iowa | |
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| Saints Mary and Mathias Church in Muscatine, Iowa | A strange and rare sort of candelabra coral fungus growing in Wildcat Den, Iowa. Probably crown-tipped coral (Artomyces pyxidatus) | Wildcat Den State Park, near Muscatine, Iowa, and very near the Shady Creek Recreation Area. | |
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| Steps descending into the Wildcat Den | Trail in Wildcat Den State Park | Two boys who were very excited to visit the Family Museum in Bettendorf, Iowa | |
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| Usually in car museums children aren’t allowed to touch the old cars, but at the Family Museum in Bettendorf the children can climb on the seat or running boards. | John Deere Pavilion in East Moline, Illinois | Children are welcome to climb aboard many of the displayed machines at the John Deere Pavilion in East Moline | |
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| Starved Rock State Park | Starved Rock State Park | Starved Rock State Park | |
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| Starved Rock State Park | Starved Rock State Park | French colonial beads on display in Starved Rock State Park | |
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| Bridge in Starved Rock State Park | The Illinois River as seen from Starved Rock when looking east. | Grand Cafe in Normal, Illinois | |
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| Map of Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington | Lynx in Miller Park Zoo | Sea Lion in Miller Park Zoo | |
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| McLean County History Museum | McLean County History Museum | An advertisement |