Vacation Report part 2

7-13-11 reminiscing brain

The other “new” adventure I had during my vacation week in my hometown was a trip over to Decorah Iowa to see the famous eagle’s nest. I have been watching the Decorah Eagle Cam on the Internet since the end of March and have grown fond of this eagle family as the three eggs were hatched, and the young eagles now are flying out of the nest. My friends Steve and Vanni also have been viewers of the eagle cam, so they, along with Greg and I, made the trip.

Decorah is only one hour east of Charles City and was a fun drive over seeing the beautiful Iowa country side along the way. Decorah is in the part of Iowa totally different from the flat farmland where I grew up. Decorah is rather hilly with limestone bluffs. I knew the eagle’s nest was located close to a fish hatchery, but I didn’t have any idea that it basically was just across the street.

For those of you who have watched the eagle cam, you will recognize the white barn in the back center of this picture, which is sometimes seen when the camera is focused out towards the branch  the eagle like to hang out on. We were happy to see all three babies, which are not babies anymore….. and we also saw one parent. In the foreground is the fish hatchery, which was interesting to learn about and we saw some really beautiful trout of various size.

Another pleasant surprise was the wonderful restaurant (Hart's Tea and Tarts) we lucked out finding on main street Decorah… this was a delightful tea room with delicious food! If you are in Decorah look for it on the south side of the street towards the east end of Main Street, I believe. Eating there was worth our trip alone and the eagles were the icing on the cake! A trip to Decorah might have to become an annual summer activity.

Here are a few other views around the fish hatchery; the bluffs to the east and the small park there.

NOTE: Ann's guest blog tomorrow....