Sister and Kedem in Decorah

Hello and welcome to the blog today!  I am posting from a beautiful room at the Hotel Winneshiek in Decorah, Iowa.  Sis is here to help celebrate last week’s birthday.  We both share the same birthday a few years apart.  It was fun to introduce her to Decorah and we experienced some of that magic I told her existed here.  She caught the largest trout of her life.  😀

The last time we went trout fishing together was when Ronald Reagan was President and gas was just 50 cents per gallon.  Sabra was a quick learner once the hook was baited!  Toward the end of the day, she pulled this lovely fish out of Trout Run Creek.  Seated on a cushion overlooking the creek, Sis suddenly yelled “Oh my God, I got one!  I gotta get up!”  She rushed over to the pole and brought this guy in.  He was one of eight trout caught today.  We only saved seven though, after giving one to a hungry little girl who begged for it!

Upon arriving at Trout Run Creek, Sis and I were approached by this beautiful cat.  It cried, purred, and offered hugs in exchange for food.  All we had was a box of Kedem tea biscuits (a sort of cookie / cracker type of thing).  The crackers been purchased at a Jewish market in Postville (about 20 minutes away).

The hungry kitty gobbled down several crackers. We took turns holding the cat who I named Kedem after the brand name of the biscuits.  Upon examination, I determined Kedem to be a girl and her belly felt like she was soon to be a mama.

About that time all heck broke loose.  I said “There’s a huge fish – look at that!”  Just below the surface of the water a large rainbow trout was swimming upstream.  I thought “Oh, I wish…” and then the pole bent over.  The fish had already been hooked!  After I’d landed the whopper, kitty Kedem immediately started trying to chew the fish’s tail.  It seemed like she was wanting one of her own.  I was happy to oblige!

There were a few smaller fish biting.  After catching a much smaller fish a few minutes later, I gave it to the kitty and she started biting the head off and eating it.  Trout is Kosher so we had a good laugh about kitty Kedem (with her Jewish name) being able to eat it.

The catch. The one on the left is mine; Sis caught the second one from the left. The others are all nicely sized, too.

Sabra and I moved to another, more isolated fishing hole.  We caught the last of the fish (including the big one Sis landed) at one of the favorite pools.  She had so much fun!

The sun set about 4:30 and we rushed across town to the other trout stream where the terrain makes it easier to clean the fish.  But there was a lesson learned – never clean fish in the dark.  I did a great job with my folding Buck fillet knife, including filleting the middle finger of the right hand.

Sis and I had a terrific meal in the lobby of the Hotel Winneshiek.  It is a fantastic old brick hotel with large, comfortable rooms.  Mine had a whirlpool tub which felt amazingly comfortable after the day of fishing in the cold.  As comfortable as it was, there’s still nothing like sleeping at home with Jesse and kitty Jen-Jen, even if one wakes up with a spool of thread, a cat toy, or some other trinket she’s brought to bed as a gift.

After the great fishing yesterday, the body is stiff and sore… I don’t think I’d opt to fish again today, if it were possible.  The weather is turning nasty with an all day rain.  We’ve got plenty of fish and plan is to spend the day shopping.  Decorah has cool places to see such as the Oneota Co-op (a vibrant, healthy food store), a kitchen store, and various many other neat shops.  They also have two busy coffee houses.  There is already talk about my sister and brother-in-law wanting to come up in May of 2016 to attend an event and, of course, to do some more fishing!  She was more excited than I yesterday and kept telling me how relaxing it is to go fishing.  That’s like preaching to the choir.

Well, with that, is’off for another day of adventures.  I’ve got some fun planned for us.  Once again Decorah didn’t disappoint.  I’ve tried to tell her many times about this unique place, the practically enchanted fishing experiences, and the warm, friendly people and such.  She got to experience it first hand.  What an awesome way to enjoy getting a year older.

With that, it’s time to crawl back in the whirlpool bathtub and relax just a little more.  Thanks for visiting today!

Brad and his sister, Sabra
Vacationing in Decorah, Iowa

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