The Chevrolet Bolt EV is arguably the most attractive compact electric vehicle on the market today.  Chevrolet really did a nice job with the styling of this electric hatchback.  Dubuque is only about one mile away from Runde Chevrolet just across the bridge and it also happens to be the best place to check out or test drive a new Chevy Bolt.  Over the past thirty years or so, Dubuque has become well-known in the eastern Iowa area as a tourist hot spot.  A lot of this started back in the late 1980’s when the Dubuque Greyhound Racing Park opened up down by the river.  I can remember my dad taking us down there in his new Chevy when I was still in high school.  My sisters and I weren’t allowed to bet because of the strict laws against minors going anywhere near the wager windows, but it was a lot of fun watching the dogs run and watching the adult spectators become either infuriated or ecstatic depending on the race outcomes. Well when you live in the Dubuque area, like any tourist spot, you don’t really go to the tourist attractions that often.  This has been the case with me as I have lived in the Dubuque area for the past 30 years and I rarely cruise to any of the tourist bars, restaurants or gambling establishments.   However, if anyone has been in downtown Dubuque lately, it doesn’t take the eye of a hawk to notice all the changes that have taking place over the past few years.

Dubuque Day Trip

The other day I decided to take a short day trip during my lunch break to downtown Dubuque to see what it has to offer.  I grabbed a new Chevy Bolt from Runde’s inventory and headed across the Julien Dubuque Bridge over to Dubuque.  The first thing you notice when you get into an electric vehicle is how silent it is … and then you start the car and it doesn’t get any louder.  That definitely takes some getting used to, but as more EV’s become available I’m sure silent cars will become the norm. 

When I got to the other side of the river, I took a right turn and went to 3rd Street.  From there I took another right and went down the Grand Harbor area.   That area has been built up over the past handful of years with the hotel, the Grand River Convention Center, the Diamond Jo Casino, and Flexsteel to name a few.  There are always things happening in the Convention Center.  Our church sometimes has holiday services there, Runde Chevrolet has had their Christmas party there a couple times, and the Dubuque Auto Show still takes place there annually.   One thing you could miss if you’re just driving through is the Tony Roma’s restaurant in the Grand Harbor Hotel.  It’s been a while since I’ve been there, but friends have told me their food and service is still as good as when they first opened up.  And of course, the hotel still features the ever-popular Grand Harbor Waterpark where the water is always flowing and the kids are always so loud with sheer exuberance that you can’t even hear the person sitting next to you.  Ok, maybe I’m over-exaggerating a bit, but there are always a lot of loud kids in that waterpark area.  Just sayin’.

Into the Great Wide Open …

As Tom Petty was singing something about “the great wide open” on the SiriusXM radio in the new Chevy Bolt I was driving, I took a quick detour through the Dubuque National Mississippi River Museum parking lot.  That is such a large facility and they always keep it up to date with new events coming in regularly.  We’ve been there many times with our kids and with school field trips and the River Museum never fails to disappoint.  On a side note, if you’ve never driven a Bolt, I highly recommend it.  I mean some of the streets in Dubuque are a little rough especially in the winter after snowplows have been busy moving snow and taking chucks of blacktop out of the road, but this little Bolt I was driving handled all of the bumps and potholes with world class style.  Actually, a little later in this short day trip I decided to check out the power of this new Bolt by diving up one of Dubuque’s steepest hills.  Down by St. Raphael’s Cathedral just past The Barrel House restaurant, I drove straight up the West 3rd Street incline to uptown Dubuque and this little electric car handled that hill easily.  Sometimes, living in Dubuque I forget that the Diamond Jo Casino also has a full bowling alley inside.

Sight-Seeing in Downtown Dubuque

Also in this same area is the Stone Cliff Winery. This winery is in the historic stone building that once housed the Pickett’s and Star Breweries.  At this point in my tour, the Chevy Bolt radio was now playing something by the Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl was either singing about “looking to the sky to save me” or “looking to this guy to save me” … I’m not sure which it was, but I hope he gets saved by whoever or whatever.  The Stone Cliff Winery building has been completely remodeled.  On display in the lower level of the building is a pictorial history of the old Dubuque breweries with many artifacts.  When you think about it, there’s a lot of history in the Dubuque area just like there’s a lot of history with Runde Chevrolet.  Runde’s was established in 1927 as the East Dubuque Garage and 4 generations later, it is still owned by the Runde family and is still serving Dubuque and East Dubuque daily by selling and servicing new and used Chevrolet cars and trucks.

I left the new Chevrolet Bolt out in the parking lot of the winery and headed up the riverbank in direction the riverside. I saw see a couple strolling along the Dubuque Riverwalk next to the old train bridge.  The river is always so pretty and peaceful no matter what time of year it is.  It may sound weird, but I don’t think I could ever live in an area that didn’t have a large body of water nearby.   Since I didn’t have all day for this and needed to get back to work, I decided to drive the new Chevrolet Bolt leaving Dubuque on Highway 151, but before I got to the Dubuque city limits (i.e. the river) I stopped at Houlihan’s restaurant down by the Q casino and grabbed a Reuben sandwich to go – their Reubens are out of this world.  And from there it was back to Runde Chevrolet (after a quick run up and back down the West 3rd slope).  In all, I completed this round trip during my lunch hour and it was quite refreshing and I got excellent gas mileage … hah hah!  It kind of makes you feel like you’re robbing the oil companies and that’s actually a pretty nice feeling.  I will add that I really like the seats in the Bolt- very comfortable and the sound system also seems very high quality for a compact car.  So in all it was a nice trip in a nice new electric car through scenic Dubuque and then back to Runde Chevrolet to finish out the day.