Dubuque is an exceptional small city and an interesting place to stop for a night or to stay for several days. We arrived on a Thursday, and spent the first night at the Wal-Mart Supercenter because we needed to stock up on some groceries. On Friday I visited the Diamond Jo casino in the Port of Dubuque district, and on Saturday we had a great time at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium (photo is one of the historic riverboats on display outside the museum).
Currently, the Diamond Jo Casino is a paddlewheel riverboat casino, and although it’s tied up for dockside gambling now it was one of the first to offer riverboat gaming cruises in the early 1990’s. All this will change soon, because in December 2008 Diamond Jo will open a new 35,000 square foot land-based casino across the street. Besides the casino and excellent restaurants it will offer several themed bars, an entertainment venue with nationally known live performers, and a 30 lane bowling alley. When that happens I’m not sure what will be retained from the old boat, but one thing I hope they keep is the excellent level of customer service that I observed, and this includes the slot club, dealers, security, restaurant staff, etc.
Diamond Jo can’t accommodate large RVs like our motorhome, but if you’re traveling in a Class B or pickup camper you’re welcome. I asked security, and maybe after the construction is completed they’ll have room for RV parking. He said be sure to call ahead and check. I hope they do, because the Port of Dubuque district has a lot of things to see and do.
The best location for RV casino parking is at the Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino. They have plenty of room for any size rig, and told me we were welcome to park there for 2 or 3 nights if we’d like. Note that you’ll need something to drive from here to anywhere else in the city, because it’s not walking distance. There’s a Hilton Garden hotel on the property, and several restaurants including a Houlihans. The casino has 1000 slot machines, Las Vegas style table games, and of course the dog racing if you get into that.
On Saturday we visited the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium which is right next to the Diamond Jo Casino. We highly recommend this museum and aquarium. It includes something for everyone including natural history, riverboat history, and a large and well staffed hands-on area for kids and adults alike. Outside the combination of nature, culture, and machinery continues. We toured a huge paddlewheel riverboat dredge built in the early 1900’s, and looked at several other examples of river craft. Depending on your interests you could spend from three hours to an entire day here.
What else is there to do in the area? We weren’t in town long enough to visit anywhere else, but next time we hope to walk the downtown area and visit some other attractions.
I’ll have more location reports for you in the coming weeks because I’m traveling to casinos in several states and writing about my experiences for Midwest Gaming and Travel magazine.
Happy travels, and good luck at the casinos!
Mac