BURLINGTON, IOWA

Burlington is a small town in southeastern Iowa, located right on the banks of the Mississippi River. At the junction of US 34 and US 61, it has population of about 27,000, making it the smallest town with a full-season professional minor-league baseball team. The downtown area lies right beside the river, which makes it a candidate for flooding - in fact, when we were there, the auditorium and train station were both partially underwater. As you can see in the picture, the water has broken its banks and the train tracks are completely underwater.

Don't let this minor inconvenience stop you from visiting Burlington. It is actually a very picturesque town, with the downtown core separate from the main thoroughfares and shopping malls. US61 is the main north-south road. If you turn east from US61 on Agency Road, just south of US34, you will enter downtown after a couple of minutes.

The one sight that we recommend is Snake Alley, which is really 6th Avenue, just north of Washington. It is a road with 4 half curves and two quarter curves that was initially built to allow horses and carts to negotiate a rather steep hill. At the top you can see the farms in the distance beyond the town - it is a charming view. Of course, there's lots more to see, but we went there to see the Bees, Burlington's A-ball team. Click on the ballpark link above for info on Community Field.

Snake Alley