A Slow Drive Up the Mississippi River

Let's face it. Most of us have basically become sterile travelers. We have homogenized ourselves by gorging on interstate highways, Cracker Barrel restaurants, Walmarts, and Flying J truck stops. We glance at the passing scenery at 70 MPH while cruising down the four lanes of pavement. A special treat is breakfast at the Waffle House.

Sightseeing is restricted to easy on and off exits. Each day's goal is that night's destination with the ultimate prize being: getting there. Gone is the adventure of getting there. The G.P.S. says we will arrive in five hours 32 minutes, set your watches, sit back and drive. The G.P.S. can not be wrong even if we need to speed up. Leaving the interstate for a state highway is unthinkable; to leave the interstate for a county road is insane. However, that is exactly what we did recently, left the interstate for a county road and what a discovery we made.

I exited off of the four lane road at Dickeyville, WI and took a federal highway north to Potosi where we turned onto County Road X. Our getting there goal was Wyalusing State Park and we had three days to drive the 40 miles. We were cruising at a comfortable 35 MPH, any faster and we would become a fixture in the bluffs or find ourselves floating on the Mississippi river.

Niches in the bluff afforded building spots for homes that could only line the shores of this mighty river. They have a distinct architect that can best be described as a long flowing hodge podge of materials held together by overlying boards holding on against the elements.

This can also describe the Mississippi River as viewed from the top of the Wisconsin bluffs. There is not a single channel but many connected around a hodge podge of islands. We got to see many of these views from Nelson Dewey State Park just outside of Cassville. The park was so interesting so we spent a couple of nights.

Leaving Cassville, County road X took us up and in, away from the river and through some beautiful farmland. This is the harvest season and we shared the road with a variety of farm machines which we did not mind. They were friendly and the slowness allowed us more time to soak in the scenery. Three quarters of the way from our getting there goal we began to descend, picking up speed from the descent, we blasted into the town of Bagley.

There is no main road into town or for that matter is there a main road out of town. The town sits at County road X and P. To the west are the backwaters of the Mississippi. Bagley is a quintessential river town. Bagley has a bank with a gravel drive up window, a hotel which only serves food; and several boarded up storefronts. There are two bars, one with "KAR-OKE" on Friday nights, and the Bagley Café.

The Bagley Café, actually named the Backwater Café is owned by two gentlemen who escaped the rat race of high stress business to serve food in this town of 350 people. We first stopped just for a cup of coffee but when we found one of the owners was looking to buy and restore an Airstream trailer like we have done; we knew we had to come back. We returned to eat tacos and talk. The food was great, the company wonderful. This is a family style café where everyone is family. Everyone talks to everyone else.

There are still many Bagley cafés across this country but you have to get off the interstate to find them. In fact the true Bagley cafés can only be found on the insane county roads. Give it a try on your next trip, I promise you will have an adventure.

A follow-up on the Bagley Café. We returned the following year on a Friday night with our mouths watering for their delicious fish fry. I parked the motor home in the gravel lot adjoining the bank next to the café and we walked down the street to the locked doors. There was no sign in the window but looking inside it was apparent that the Bagley Café had succumbed to some business failing disaster. We walked a little further down the street to the hotel, which only served food, and had our dinner there. It was good not spectacular. The owner said the two men from the café had returned to the big city. We were sad.