Iowa has amazing rest stops. This one is very clean, modern and well lit. It has sculptural metal trusses evoking bridgework that lead to the doors. Inside there’s a floor mural and wall tiles telling the story of the Mississippi River lock and dam system. The picnic shelters have ceramic work honoring jazz great Bix Beiderbecke, a native of nearby Davenport. There’s a nice, grassy dog-walking area behind the main building that borders a field fencerow with a beautiful view of rolling hills and farms.
MC C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Glencoe, IL
Super-clean, well-supplied with TP, coffee, maps, dog walk areas, and open farmland all around! Nice spot to stop & take a driving breather.
Jerry M.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Germantown, WI
In this area, the Mississippi River flows westerly. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Army Corps of Engineers built a series of locks and dams along the upper Mississippi River in order to make a consistent 9 foot deep shipping channel. The 29 locks and dams, between the Twin Cities and St. Louis, allow river traffic to «step up» and«step down» the 430 feet that the Mississippi River drops between the source and its confluence with the Missouri River. Two of those dams, #14 and #15, bracket the Quad Cities. The importance of river traffic past the Quad Cities as well as the heritage of the Mississippi River is celebrated in this rest area. Pony trusses, representing bridges, parallel sidewalks and guide visitors to the facility. The sidewalks are cast to resemble boardwalks. The light fixtures resemble barge cleats and piers. Terra Cotta blocks outside the building tell the evolution of river traffic. Inside the building, Terra Cotta blocks demonstrate the dramatic drop of the river as traffic uses the locks to climb or descend the river stairs on the 670 mile journey between the Twin Cities and St. Louis. Terra Cotta blocks also celebrate the heritage of the area on picnic shelters on the grounds. The outer lobby of the building has a floor mural that depicts the Corp of Engineers survey marker for the rest area. The terrazzo floor mural inside the building depicts a map of the Quad Cities, including the river, the Illinois and Iowa shores, and lines show the highways. A spot on the east end of the building shows«You are here» on the line that depicts Interstate 80. Ceramic tiles depict river traffic and a historic swing bridge that once connected Rock Island to the mainland. The building opened in 2002. Interstate 80 is «The Main Street of America» and carries the most traffic of all the Interstate Highways. This rest area provides both a needed respite from the road and an educational display of the river heritage that is such a major part of the Quad Cities.
