Once Upon a Time...

I started this post a really, really long time ago. Then my baby came a little earlier than I expected and I never got back to it. So, here it is. Once upon a time, Tony and I went on a little, tiny vacation...

On Sunday, July 30 at 1AM Tony informed me that we needed to take a vacation before baby arrived, and we should plan to leave after church for a miniature vacation. It's not out of the ordinary for us to be incredibly spur-of-the-moment or to be hanging out at 1AM, but this may have been slightly more crazy than usual. That's what made it so incredibly special and fun! We packed our bags right after church and hit the road for Dubuque. Dubuque?? Yes, Dubuque. We really didn't have time to go far and needed a quick escape to an Iowa town we don't frequent, so Dubuque it was.

Sunday was a steamy hot day. We arrived in Dubuque around 5 and headed straight to the river for a sunset dinner cruise. It was a gorgeous night to be on the mighty Mississippi.

After dinner we checked into our hotel and set out for a round of mini golf. Our scores were SUPER close the entire game, but Tony came out ahead. That was a lie, my score was close to double his. My h.s. golf coach would be disappointed (but not surprised). After golfing, Tony hit up the batting cages.

 

Apparently that round of put-put was just what I needed to warm up for Monday morning.  After breakfast we played a par 3 golf course - it was the BEST game of my life!! I was on the green off the tee on 2 holes. I know that shouldn't be hard for a Par 3 course, but I'm a pretty pathetic golfer. :) Plus, I had an 8 month pregnant belly in my way and I was wearing flip flops. 

My putting was obviously still horrible.

Next Stop: Crystal Lake Cave. We cooled off by heading 40 feet underground into this cave. It was fascinating and beautiful, and left us both amazed at God's creativity and incredible design for this world. The picture below is of us in what they call the "chapel". Many weddings have been held in this very spot. It didn't feel all that romantic to me, but to each their own.

Somehow we happened upon the most delicious, fun restaurant ever for lunch! We highly recommend that you give Crust a try if you're in Dubuque. It was so yummy! They bring pizza bites to your table as free appetizers. They are these delicious, fried bread thingys coated in parmesan that you dip in marinara. We split a chicken wrap of some sort that was also delicious! (Thank goodness I'm not a food blogger. I really don't have the vocabulary for that, do I?)

 Tony worked diligently throughout lunch coloring this beautiful picture for me on our tablecloth.

After lunch, we headed to the pool for a few hours. We napped, read and swam. Thankfully I have no pictures of that excursion. By that point in my pregnancy, swimsuits were not all that flattering.

That evening we walked around downtown (super happenin' on a Monday night in Dubuque ;). We really wanted to eat at L. May Eatery, but it was packed out. I wasn't into the idea of waiting forever to feed my ginormous belly, so we ended up at Olive Garden.

After a quick trip to Target to get souvenirs for our families (jk), we called it a night. We hit the road early the next morning and made it home after a quick trip to Red Band coffee in Davenport. If you haven't tried Red Band coffee, you are seriously missing out. Their New Orleans iced coffee is the very best coffee drink. It's iced coffee, whole milk and brown sugar....mmmm. Plus, they roast their own beans, which makes it extra special.

Our miniature vacation was super fast, but super special. Dubuque is really nothing to write home about, but it now holds some pretty amazing memories for us in our final month before welcoming our first babe to the world!