On the last few days of a road trip that took us over 13,000 kilometres, the kids needed a break. We needed a break from the constant cycle of setting up camp, breaking down camp, driving a long distance. That break came in the Quad Cities Area.
No more magical scenery. No more crowded national parks. We simply wanted a hotel with a pool and a shopping mall nearby. But, there was magical scenery. There always is. The world is full of magical scenery.
Quad Cities and the Mississippi River
There was a print on the wall beside the check-in desk at our hotel. It was an night image of a bridge crossing a large river. I assumed that because we were a few minutes away from the Mississippi River that the bridge was local and crossed that river.
The response from the girl at the checkout when I asked if the bridge was nearby? “No. We don’t have anything that beautiful around here.”
It turns out, she was wrong, blinded by the ‘grass is always greener’ effect. There is a historic bridge that crosses from Illinois to Iowa in the Quad Cities that is, in fact, quite beautiful. Especially at night.
Rock Island Centennial Bridge
The Centennial Bridge opened in July, 1940 as a toll bridge. The bridge joins Rock Island, Illinois with Davenport, Iowa. Even at this relatively early stage in the Mississippi River’s journey to the Gulf of Mexico, the bridge needs 4,447 feet or 1,355 metres to cross this famous body of water.
The lighting that sparkles on all the spans of the bridge was an afterthought. It was added in 1988.
The images in this article are taken from the Rock Island side of the Mississippi with views of downtown Davenport, Iowa. Davenport is the largest of the Quad Cities with a population around 100,000. The whole QC area comes in at around 400,000 inhabitants. Davenport was incorporated in 1839.
Modern Woodmen Park
The bright white lights you see near the Davenport end of the bridge belong to the historic Modern Woodmen Park. This is a baseball stadium the currently houses the Quad City River Bandits. The River Bandits are the single ‘A’ affiliate of the Houston Astros.
Modern Woodmen Park opened in 1931 and now has a capacity of 4,000. The baseball stadium underwent renovations in 1989 and 2004.
Behind the camera in these shots is Rock Island, Illinois. At 40,000, it’s quite a bit smaller than Davenport. There is a lovely walkway along the Mississippi River that allows this view.
We stayed in nearby Moline, Illinois. Downtown Moline is the home to the World Headquarters of John Deere. There office building contains a museum of both classic John Deere machinery and their latest and greatest product.
For sports fans, nearly across the road from the John Deere HQ is the i wireless Center. The arena is home to the Quad City Mallards, a hockey team that competes in the ECHL. The Mallards are an affiliate of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. Opened in 1993, the venue seats over 9,000 for hockey.
Upstream from the Centennial Bridge is lock and dam number 15. This opened in March, 1934 and is the largest roller dam in the world. In 2004, the dam was added to the National Registry of Historic Places.
The images here are slightly on the blurry side. Not only were the distances a little great for long exposure but the immense humidity meant the lens was constantly fogging up.
My personally experience with the Quad has been a stop over on the way to Denver. Still the mighty river left one hell of an impression.
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