This weekend Colby and I headed down to Decorah, Iowa with another couple to see what this small town had to offer. Never heard of the place? We hadn't either, if not for my uncle who spends time in Decorah on a trout fishing trip every year.
What caught our eye (and convinced our friends to join us) is the brewery Toppling Goliath. For those beer connoisseurs out there, you have probably heard of it, but I never had. We decided to give the town, and brewery, a shot and headed down for a long weekend of beer and exploration.
Below is what we did and where we went as well as where we stayed and what we would recommend. Leave us a comment if you have been and if we missed any must-sees!
STAY:
Hotel Winneshiek is a boutique hotel right on Decorah's main road, Water Street. We would highly recommend as we were close to everything and only had to drive once the whole weekend. The bar opened at 5:00pm and we enjoyed cocktails while getting recommendations from the bartender.
The hotel is dog friendly (a must for us on road trips) and very beautiful inside. It is a small, older hotel so naturally the walls were a little thin and the rooms were not super updated. Hotel Winn had a ton of charm and was close to most things we wanted to do, so we would stay here again in the future.
VISIT:
Basically the reason why we went to Decorah in the first place so definitely is a must visit.
TG is a few minutes away from the main drag in Decorah, but not far at all. The building is huge, the beers are fantastic and the food is good as well.
We didn't realize that it was a big beer release weekend at TG and got to taste an amazing stout, Mornin' Delight, but were not able to purchase to bring home with us. Typically when COVID-19 is not a factor, TG throws a big release party all weekend with music, food, and of course great beer. All of our servers were very knowledgeable and super nice- they had to put up with us a few beers in :)
Our favorite beers (beer list found here)
Colby: Mornin' Latte, King Sue, Dolphin Sparkles
Laurie: Mornin' Latte, Dragon Fandango, Naughty 90
If you love creative, crazy flavored beers, this is the place for you.
We had to wait a bit to get a table but it was totally worth it. Pulpit Rock is dog friendly (not sure about indoors, only outdoors was open due to COVID) and many people had their pups under their tables, hanging out with them.
The types of beer sounded so weird, but we gave them a shot anyway. PR wasn't doing tap beer at the time so we committed to cans. Our favorites ended up being Banana Straws, Salty Dog, and Blustery. Banana Straws honestly tasted like a strawberry banana smoothie.
We were pleasantly surprised with Dixie's! It is on a busier road (across the street from Pulpit Rock and next to a Pizza Ranch) so we had low expectations. Dixie's is so cute and the beer garden makes you feel like you are no where near a road.
Our server was super friendly and there were SO many beers on tap. We could have stayed here way longer than we did, and will definitely be back during our next trip.
We went here multiple times since it was only a block from our hotel and loved it. T Bocks is a typical sports bar but you could tell that a lot of the locals hang out here. We ordered wings and onion rings to snack on and both were really good. This is a great spot if you are just looking to kill some time and relax with a cocktail or a cold beer.
If you are looking to do a little hiking while in Decorah, there are trails and a waterfall just a few minutes from the main street. We did not go up into some of the more advanced trails, but we did check out the ice cave and then headed over to the waterfall.
Another great spot that we discovered was the Courtyard, about a block from T Bocks. This outdoor area was tucked away off the street and had cheap drinks and was a great place to stop for a drink before dinner. The guys got beers (local) and the ladies shared a $14 bottle of wine. Check this place out if you want somewhere to just relax and have a good time.
This was our dinner spot and we are so glad we checked it out. We had to wait but the host got us all (GIANT) margaritas and we just hung out until there was room for us. The food was good, the service was great, and the margs did their job. We ended up shutting down the place at 10:00pm.
A couple things to note about Decorah:
Almost all the shops close super early- some at 2:00pm on Saturday and others around 4:00pm. We unfortunately missed most of the shops but there seemed to be a lot of unique spots.
Restaurants and bars also close early. We walked our dog at 10:00pm on Friday night after TG and there wasn't a soul in sight. We noticed most places closed around 8:00pm.
There really are not a lot of places to stay near the main road outside of Hotel Winn. Hotel Winn was sold out when our friends tried to book there so be sure to book early!
If you are looking for a good spot to take a road trip (only about 2.5 hours from Minneapolis) and love a good small town feel and great beers, we would highly recommend checking Decorah out.
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