Holiday Shopping in Galena
Like ornaments on a giant Christmas tree, fanciful 1800s homes and red brick shops decorate this town amid snow-dusted hills of northeast Illinois' Galena River Valley (85 miles west of Rockford). At holiday time, garlands of lights outline gables, steeples and rooftops of buildings that include scores of bed and breakfasts.
Though it began as a lead-mining settlement and river port, Galena was reborn as a shopper's haven during the early 1970s. Serpentine streets extend up and down along the steep hills. From Main Street, old-fashioned trolleys depart for yuletide tours, and Santa greets visitors on weekends.
From Thanksgiving Day through New Year's, different themed celebrations highlight every weekend. You can take an evening candlelight walk with a local historian portraying Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant, who lived here before he became president. Or watch as more than 6,000 luminaries light up the town.
When you're set to shop, some 100 stores and galleries, as well as a selection of restaurants, line eight-block-long Main Street. Karen's Neat Stuff entices browsers and buyers with two buildings of kitchenware, bath products, linens and Christmas decorations. Three blocks north at Twigges, you can buy gifts from around the world, including hand-painted towels and wrought-iron creations. Nearby, Poopsie's sells books, prints, lamps and art glass. Peace of the Past is one of the town's few remaining antiques shops, and The Atomic Toy Co. stocks nostalgic favorites such as metal kazoos and balsa airplanes.
The town's oldest inn, The DeSoto House, makes a convenient retreat from shopping. At this handsome three-story structure, with a graceful curving staircase in the tin-ceilinged lobby, relax over a hot toddy in the Green Street Tavern and Restaurant and plot strategy for your next shopping foray.
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