Galena, Illinois: A Trip You Both Can Love
A husband reluctant about shopping and candlelight heads to Galena for a romantic getaway with his wife -- and finds that the weekend has room for both spa treatments and kayaking.
Cruising the edge
On our last morning, Teri's making her biggest concession to my tastes. We're kayaking through the Mississippi's backwaters, plowing long Vs toward a blue heron rising on unhurried wing beats.
Teri's chatting with a Fever River Outfitters guide about kids and bird-watching. She looks calm enough, swinging her paddle in graceful dips. But I know she's cruising the far edge of her comfort zone. When I ask if she's afraid of giant mutant snapping turtles, she says, "No!" and pauses. "I'm just worried about rolling over. And I don't know what's under that water."
Still, she's out here. And trading her little black dress for a life jacket sparks my emotions more than a week of candlelight. Good relationships, after all, are about finding middle ground. And Galena turns out to be a meeting place we can agree on.
(A version of this story appeared in Midwest Living® March/April 2008.)
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