Burlington, IA: Des Moines County

Welcome to part two as we breeze through Burlington! RAGBRAI has made the journey to this city before, but not like this. When you get to the Mississippi you still have one more night before getting to take a dip, because Burlington is Overnight #7 for 2019! Now that you clicked, we should get to some tasty meals.

Carb-Up/Protein-Up

Like always, we started with something light. And by light, I meant no contact sports which is why shuffle board was a great option at Parkside Brewing Company. Those pictures from above tell an amazing truth about Burlington. This town knows how to feed their guests, keep them entertained, and will keep the cold-ones comin’. And that’s just the first place in this post! If you’re enjoying the confines of nearby Crapo or Dankwardt Parks, then you will be right next to this very entertaining brewery. So, go already!

One of Burlington’s newest restaurants is bring a pizza concept to this area that can’t be matched by just anyone. Coal Haus 337 is just down the road from the main campsites and they will have the carbs and proteins ready for just one more day of RAGBRAI ahaed of you. Want to see how this pizza will look? Watch the video and start drooling in 3…2…1…

 

That’s not the only way you fill up here in Burlington. Not even close! Don’t forget to add on an energy boosting breakfast before you pile into Keokuk!

You gotta love trying the newest restaurants on your ride and you gotta love the oldies too. The Hungry Bear has been serving up these locally worshiped breakfast plates for many years and they tend to keep that habit up for RAGBRAI. And if you go here, you can say that your breakfast was on the “Sunnyside.” Cuz this place is on Sunnyside Ave. That “cracks” me up every time. Cuz eggs. Let’s get moving…..

Cool Down

You gotta be proud of the modesty at Grandpa’s Homemade Ice Cream. When it’s this good you can tell the world how much it rocks! They too are just an easy ride from the main campgrounds, and this is just how you chill out from a long ride or load up before you go. They pride themselves in the quality of their ingredients and scoop it with a lot of local pride in every cone, cup, bowl, and slurp of the straw.

Shop-Up

Downtown Burlington is loaded with shady trees and PLENTY of boutiques, shops, stores, and retailers to get cracking on that mid-summer shopping spree. Gypsi on Jefferson was one of our favorite stops and I think some of you could find a little something to get shipped back home. It would be like RAGBRAI welcoming you back with a “so glad you’re home” present….From yourself! Plenty of establishments to grab some drinky-drinks if you need to let that special pal of yours do all the shopping. Downtown Burlington gets it, folks.

Party-Up

The wind is just right for blackjack, slots, craps, roulette, and everything else that will keep your memorable night going at Catfish Bend Casino! Not the gambling type? This facility has you more than covered for that. Bring your game to KingPins and light up the RAGBRAI evening by striking out the whole time. It’s bowling! That’s a good thing! It takes some skills to hold a 10 lbs ball like that. No autographs. Seriously, no one asked me for an autograph.

Ring in the 7th overnight with the Burlington Bees! You’ve been on a bike all day and could use a couple hours on a real seat with plenty of beverages and concessions all around you. You’ve been catching rays all week long now soak in the night sky with crack of the bat. The atmosphere at Community Field is always a fun one and you’ll discover another way to support an Iowa town, this time through their local minor league team. And they’re an affiliate of the Angels, just like you, dear reader.

Rest-Up

*Our stay at the Quality Inn-Burlington was complementary and the views expressed are of our own. Now, let’s keep on gallivanting!

We made contact with the hotel room and slept the night away at the Quality Inn-Burlington, who was primed and ready for a pair of Gallivanters. This hotel is positioned at 3051 Kirkwood Street near the Burlington Bees home field, casino, aquatic park, and an easy drive to anywhere in the Burlington area.

Waiting outside our lovely room was a hot and complementary breakfast with all the coffee, waffles, and proper breakfast fixings to get our day on track. Even made it to the workout room and felt the burn. That pose I learned from my American Gladiator days. And what I mean by that is when I watched American Gladiators. Book your room now and get to Burlington this summer before, during, and after RAGBRAI on the regular!

That covers round two of our Burlington scouting mission. We say this a lot and mean it every time we do, but this is only a small sample of this great river town. The history and long standing pride of this town will be in full swing. We love our gallivants here and we look forward to more. The locals we met are very much eager to show the RAGBRAI nation how fantastic Burlington is and reasons to come back again and again.

Be sure to click here and read about all the other great overnight towns we’ve visited on this year’s route!