After passing through Lock and Dam #10 in Guttenberg, IA, I spotted a sandy sheltered area under this deck. I pulled in, only 7am, and tied up the boat then went into town to run through my list of things to do. I was making potatoes and eggs in the park behind the place when a balding man in his mid 60's with a bristly moustache walked up the stairs. I said good morning and spoke briefly with Mike. He introduced himself as the owner of the old fish market under which I had beached. He invited me in to check it out and show me the place. When he bought it 10 years ago, it was nothing more than the cinderblock foundation. His vision is to turn it into a bar and grill serving Cajun food. He was a collector of the eclectic as evidenced by the old items stacked up out back such as the coolest two stroke lawn mower, wooden water skis, chrome grills and more bric-a-brac. Inside, the old barn wood was rescued from a nearby tear-down. Some of the stringers are held together using old 1940's era license plates.
Mike told me he learned to cook from his father and his mother on the farm in Iowa. That helped set him up for a life of eating. As he traveled south, eventually sailing to the Caribbean, he grew a fondness for the spices and delicate balance of flavor. In Louisiana, a friend traded him some Cajun cooking lessons for his mama's fried chicken recipe and the deal was done. His passion was cooking for his friends and this bar and grill was and remains his hope for a gathering place. I hope that one day I can return for an ice cold beer and some jambalaya on the patio as the tugs lock through. I notice the seashells outside are full of perfectly round holes so I ask. He bends over, picks one up and hands it to me. "Here ya go, you're holding a piece of Guttenberg history." There was once a thriving but short-lived business in town of drilling buttons from the shells. The discarded shells were tossed generally where the fish market stands. One weekend with his girlfriend, he picked up bags of the shells and decided to concrete them into the seawall/patio he built out back. The result is a small and unique piece of folk art. |