48 Hours on Main Street (I Didn’t Plan to Buy a Lamp)

I came to Maquoketa for the caves. Everybody does. But a friend who grew up here told me to give the town itself a full weekend, and to leave room in the back of the car. I assumed that second part was a joke.

It was not a joke.

Here’s how 48 hours went, more or less in order. Almost everything is on or just off Main Street, so park once and walk.

Friday evening

A pint, a pizza and a show two doors down

I rolled in around five and went straight to Maquoketa Brewing (110 S Main). It’s the kind of taproom where the bartender asks what you usually drink and then talks you into something else. There’s draft beer, cider and wine, loaded pizzas built for sharing, and a soft Bavarian pretzel you should not try to finish alone. On Fridays there’s live music, which meant I stayed for one more than I planned.

Then I walked a few doors down to the Tiny Pond Theater (106 S Main). It’s a black box space, which means a small room, a few rows of seats and nowhere for the performers to hide. Depending on the night it could be a play, a band, improv or the theater’s own original Commedia. There’s a cafe and a little gift shop too. I won’t spoil what I saw, but I laughed loudly enough that the person next to me started laughing at me. Check the schedule before you go.

Saturday morning

Coffee first, then the Odd Shop

Breakfast was a pastry from Bakeshop on Main (107 N Main). If you want a real coffee and a look at what local farms are up to, Moore Local (605 Birch Dr) is a short drive away. It’s a coffee shop, a local foods market and a working creamery in one, so leave room in the cooler for something from the creamery case.

Then came the Odd Shop (105 N Main). It’s a vendor mall with 53 spaces under one roof: antiques, vintage and mid-century pieces, books, art and things people around here made by hand. Each booth is curated by a different person, so every few steps the whole mood changes. You move from farmhouse crockery to a wall of paperbacks to a teak credenza you are now seriously measuring with your hands.

I told myself I was just looking. Forty minutes in, I found a mid-century table lamp with a fiberglass shade that cast the warmest light I’ve seen in years. I put it down. I walked two more aisles. I went back and bought it. Plan on an hour here, and plan on going back.

A few more stops on the same blocks: Gifts on Main (108 N Main) for handmade wood and painted pieces, jewelry, engraving and personalization; Make a Splash (100 S Main) for jewelry, clothing, home decor and candles; and Max Ray Jeweler (134 S Main), family-owned since 1944, which tells you most of what you need to know.

For lunch I stayed on Main: La Casa de Pancho sits right on the corner at 100 N Main, and Hall of Fame Pizza and Wings (202 S Main) is the spot if your group just wants wings and a game on.

Saturday afternoon

Real art, a few blocks off Main

This is the part of the weekend I didn’t see coming. The Old City Hall Gallery (121 S Olive St) shows work by Rose Frantzen and Chuck Morris in the town’s former city hall. It’s a serious gallery in a small town, the kind of place you’d expect to pay a cover for in Chicago. It’s open daily, but call ahead.

Back on Main, the Maquoketa Art Experience (124 S Main) is a nonprofit that has been teaching and showing art downtown since 2008; see what’s on the walls and what classes are coming up. And if you want to see where artists actually live and work, D’Arte Manor (311 S 2nd St) is an 1882 Italianate Victorian that’s both a bed and breakfast and the working gallery of two artists.

Saturday night

Keep it local

I ended up at Bill’s Place (105 S Matteson), a gathering spot where it took about ten minutes for someone to ask where I was from and recommend three more things to do. If you’d rather sit in the dark with popcorn, the Voy 2 Theatre (207 S Main) is a downtown movie house with refreshingly cheap tickets and concessions. In summer, check the free outdoor concerts downtown.

Sunday

One more stop (and more lamps)

Before heading home I drove a few minutes out of town to Banowetz Antiques (18396 55th St). It’s been family-owned for over 50 years and is packed with vintage furniture, glassware, collectibles and, I need to warn you, an entire section of lighting. I did not buy a second lamp. I want credit for that.

Right across the road, Iowa Grape Vines Winery is a small family winery with award-winning wines and a good excuse to sit down. If you’d rather stretch your legs, the restored Hurstville Lime Kilns sit on the Maquoketa River just north of town. And the caves I originally came for? Maquoketa Caves State Park is a short drive west. Save it for next time, because there will be a next time.