Lots of celebrating around here

By B.J. Smith
For Iowa.com

People are festive way up in Northeast Iowa. Jubilant, too.

They celebrate a German Fest, fall and winter festivals, arts and crafts festivals, a strawberry festival and a bluegrass festival. There’s a Trader’s Jubilee, and a popular Heritage Days celebration in little Osborne.

The biggest of Clayton County’s small towns, historic Guttenberg, grew up along a big limestone bluff on the Mississippi River. It’s named for Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of moveable type, but it somehow picked up an extra “t.” A replica of Gutenberg’s Bible is displayed at the Guttenberg Public Library.

If you visit Guttenberg, take your walking shoes and take the walking tour and explore the two-mile river walk. For a close look at Mississippi River catfish without getting your feet wet, stop in at the Guttenberg Aquarium and Fish Management Station.

A bit farther north along the Great River Road, you’ll find still more history in the river towns of McGregor and Marquette (once known as North McGregor). Popular attractions in the area include Pikes Peak State Park, Effigy Mounds National Monument and the Lady Luck Casino.

Travel west along Highway 18 and you’ll soon come to Monona, the “Garden City of Iowa.” Schedule a stop at the Monona Historical Museum and don’t miss the Butterfly Trail.

While the Mississippi River is a big draw for tourists, so are two other rivers that cut through Clayton County: the Turkey and the Volga. The town of Elkader straddles the Turkey River, which is popular for canoeing and tubing as well as fishing. Volga City, on the Volga River in the Volga Valley, boasts of great smallmouth bass fishing as well as the largest grove of white pines in the state.

And where else would you expect to find “the world’s largest strawberry” if not in Strawberry Point? For free strawberries and ice cream, be there on Sunday of the second weekend in June.

Source: Clayton County Development Group

Cities in Clayton County

Edgewood pop. 923
Elkader pop. 1465
Elkport pop. 88
Farmersburg pop. 300
Garber pop. 103
Garnavillo pop. 754
Guttenberg pop. 1987
Luana pop. 249
Marquette pop. 476
McGregor pop. 871
Millville pop. 23
Monona pop. 1550
North Buena Vista pop. 124
Osterdock pop. 50
Postville pop. 2273
St. Olaf pop. 136
Strawberry Point pop. 1386
Volga pop. 247

Source: Iowa League of Cities