After we left sad, quiet little Stillwell we meandered through western Illinois, stopping here and there for pictures. Our destination was Fort Madison, Iowa. Owen and I had driven through there some years ago and liked it, and I'd found a really reasonably priced historic hotel overlooking the Mississippi. Sometimes something labeled 'historic' reads expensive, but this was absolutely perfect, historic indeed, but not too precious, and not too expensive, no more than you'd pay for a chain motel. I highly recommend Kingsley Inn. We had a big room with arched windows overlooking the very high river. We wandered around downtown a bit, had a drink in the bar of the hotel, and eventually curled up in our delightful room with dinner. The trains ran by in front of the hotel seemingly constantly but they weren't too loud and the sound made me happy. We woke up to a grey rainy day. We went to the Fort Diner for breakfast because it just seemed the thing to do. I had steak and eggs, no eggs, with hashbrowns. Not a perfect breakfast but you work with what you got. Life is odd but you figure it out as you go, right?
We wandered on in the rain.
It really wasn't that dark in the restaurant, but I like how the camera decided seeing the river was more important than seeing the interior. I agree, camera, I agree.
I loved the color of the table, Ernie's shirt, and the blue cup all went together. That, and the way you can see where so many knees have worn the counter.