The hubs and I decided after getting back from our Florida family trip in April that we took during the week of his birthday, that we wanted to go somewhere just the two of us for my birthday to celebrate not only my birthday but our 10 year anniversary of being together and it would be a little baby moon get away before our little pumpkin joins us. Since I was going to be 30 weeks pregnant, we knew traveling far and on a plane was out of the question so we tried to find places we could drive to and ended up choosing Galena. It was only a 3 hour drive north for us and have wanted to visit for quite awhile. We found the most perfect Airbnb called Suite Victory Apt #2 on Main St hosted by Ashlee. Our host was amazing, she constantly kept in touch with updates and recommendations of all kinds. The apartment was right in the middle of Main St where everything is located just steps downstairs, the apartment was completely gutted and renovated (which they even have a book that shows all the before and afters, along with a shadowbox of items they found during the renovations) and has a parking space next to the building so you don’t have to try and find street parking. We had such a fun, relaxing time with no wild toddler to chase after or answer to and I definitely can’t wait to go back hopefully next year during some of their Fall Fest they host. It is such a beautiful place and picturesque, even before the leaves started changing colors.
Things we did (outside of shopping, of course – which they have over a 100 shops on Main St in the downtown Galena area).
Our first stop was Durty Gurt’s Burger Joynt for one of their famous burgers. We were definitely starving after being on the road for three hours and getting a late start to the day, so we started off with the Gurt’s Cheese Curds and I got their City Diner Burger and let me tell you, I scarfed it all down within minutes! Highly recommend this place for lunch. Make sure you eat earlier rather than later, unless you do late dinners like us because man was I stuff until like 8, which ended up being a perfect time for our dinner date over at Fritz & Frites Bistro. Ugh, their food and service was amazing! It’s a French & German fusion. The hubs and I shared the Onion Soup Gratinee (french onion soup is my weakness) and both got the Wienerschnitzel with a side of red cabbage – to die for! The hubs got to enjoy some of their beers and wines, while I sat back and watched (which seemed like what I did, 99% of our trip obviously with being pregnant). I did grab a few cute Fall pieces from Editrix Row, including some insanely buttery soft joggers that I’ve been wearing since I bought them that are perfect for the end of my pregnancy and for after! Checkout some of their top items on their website here and after some shopping we made a pit stop at Galena Brewing Company where the hubs got to try a handful of their award winning beers while I got a Virgin Cranberry Mule – which was so refreshing.
The next morning, we started our day off at Big Bill’s Sandwhich Shop & Coffee Bar – coffee and food was heavenly! The cutest place, with a cozy seating area with a fireplace and the staff was so nice. I did the basic Eggs Any Way and their pancakes that came with my breakfast were gone in under a minute. The rest of the day was spent walking up and down Main St doing more shopping of course and stops at Galena Cellars Winery which had live music, the hubs tried some of their wines and I even got to partake in some tastings of their non-alcoholic wines and one even was even a slushy and the Burrata they served – SO DANG GOOD, such a charming place and the staff was so personable! Bread and Vine Bakery was another pit-stop for me, their macaroons are a must buy and if I wasn’t pregnant I would have been enjoying them al fresco with one of their many glasses of wine. Speaking of wines, Champagne on Main will definitely be a place I’ll enjoy the next time were up in Galena, the place was beautiful! For dinner we went to Fried Green Tomatoes – we dined outside on their back patio and ordered the Shrimp Cocktail, I got their Famous Lasagna and the Hubs got the Chicken Piccata. Not going to lie it was still pretty warm outside at 7 when we had our reservations and being pregnant which equals to a burning inferno constantly, eating hot food outside wasn’t my smartest move. The food was so good but I totally should have made our reservations for indoors. After dinner I was so tired, full and annoyed from being so hot, I was dreading the fact we still had we had tickets for P.T. Murphy’s Magic Show but I laughed from the second I walked in through the doors and even on our walk home. P.T. who happens to be from the South Side of Chicago, had the whole audience involved the entire time and you could not figure out how he did the magic tricks even being in the front row like Kev and I were.
The whole weekend was such a nice getaway, just me and the Hubs before our newest member of the family joins us, a great way to bring in 36 and celebrate 10 whole years of Kevin & I being together. I can not wait to get back and visit hopefully next Fall. There are so many other things we could have done while visiting but the amount of things we did was just the right amount for us considering I was 31 weeks pregnant while we were there. I’m sure the next time we go we will add more sightseeing and wineries into our itinerary. If you aren’t a far drive from Chicago or even Wisconsin, I highly recommend visiting this cute little town for a couple’s getaway to eat and drink and shop ’til you drop! I checked out VisitGalena.org before our trip to get an idea of things we might want to do while there and know where we wanted to eat.
