Karl and I ran away on Sunday. His birthday was the 5th. Mine is the 14th so we took off and decided to hang out for the day and live up our common birthdays. I told Karl I was up for anything. He could plan the day…and he did. When Karl plans anything a coffee shop or brewery is always involved. I knew that but I didn’t know it would involve so many stops….
It’s okay it was a super fun day.
The morning started with a stop in Fayette at the Sweets Cafe. I told you Karl is into coffee shops and breweries. Well if the coffee shop is also a bakery, well, bonus points.
I am not a coffee drinker at all. I can’t do straight up coffee and I never could. I can do an ice coffee and actually like them and I find I can do a latte. So I got a latte and Karl got coffee then we picked out five sweet treats and got a sixth one for free.
They were all yummy looking and hard to choose from.
We were back on the road again but not without a selfie first. Here we are….
As we traveled Karl and I broke pieces of our treats from the coffee shop off and did some taste testing. I got a cranberry/orange scone that was to die for. Karl got a corn cookie. Oh my word, it was amazing!! It was totally amazing. I’d like a recipe for each so if you have one, please share.  The cookies had actual corn in them. They almost tasted like sweet corn. YUM. Anyone have a recipe for a corn cookie?? of for cranberry/orange scones. I’d love a good recipe.
Our plan was to head to Dyersville and pick up Kayla. The more the merrier!! From there we went on to Breitbach’s Country Dining in Sherrill, IA. Kramer and I always wanted to go and we heard it was beautiful and the food was great. As we wound our way there the scenery out the window got better and better.
We wanted to stop at the overlooks but decided to get to the restaurant and eat first, then check out the great views afterwards.
Breitbach’s totes the distinction of being the oldest, longest running restaurant and bar in Iowa. Although you can order off of the menu, a good majority of the people get their famous buffet. We got in on the breakfast buffet…here is what was on the Sunday dinner buffet.
The inside is gorgeous. Kramer would have loved it. There are lots of antique furniture pieces that we’d both love.
The place was very tastefully decorated for Christmas.
I’m not big into Christmas decor but I really liked this.
There was wood everywhere and I LOVED it!! There was a pretty painting at the entrance. It showed the scenic valley. Beautiful!
Here are Kayla and Karl.
Here’s Karl at the overlook.
We got a kick out of reading the sign. You can’t see it in the picture but it says that the restaurant has hosted so many people from all walks of life
from Jesse James to Brooke Shields. It was fun to read the history of the place.
The views were amazing…
Our biggest comment was that we want to come back when it’s green and lush….
…and we want to come back in the fall when the trees are turning colors. I bet it’s gorgeous!!
We could see so far…
From there we went back to Dyersville and hit up the brewery but I’ll tell you more about that in another post….and can you believe after that we saw a movie. Oh my we jammed lots of fun into one day.
If you’re ever in the Dubuque, Iowa area, the restaurant is a bit north of there but worth the drive. A fun day trip would be to go there and then drive a little further north after you eat to Guttenburg then take the car ferry across the Mississippi River to Cassville, WI.  I did a blog post about the Cassville Ferry. You can read it HERE. Making this trip would make a fun little day away kind of trip. It’s the thing Kramer and I would have loved to do.
Looks like a fun day, Jo! What a great birthday adventure!!
Kayla …and her baby bump!!!!!
What a fun outing! My Dad and I had a sweet and coffee at that bakery in Fayette when I was home this summer. Cute place. And Breitbach’s has always been a family favorite in Balltown. It was a favorite place of my Grandma Langel’s. Good food and the scenery is gorgeous. It looks like you were in some of my favorite places. I have family in Dyersville. I love Guttenberg. Beautiful river town. This post brought back lots of great memories. So glad you enjoyed yourselves and got to spend some time with kids too. Thanks for the post. Hugs!
Sounds like a very fun day. I’ve got you covered with a Cranberry Scone recipe. Let me find your email address and I’ll send it to you.
rogjok@iowatelecom.net…THANKS Robby!!
Oh you all had a very good day. Happy Birthday to you and Karl. It sounds like it would be a good tourist destination.
what a great day!!!!! Yea Karl for gettin’ Mom on the road :-)
Kayla, you’re a beautiful Mom! I hope your pregnancy is going well.
What a fun day! The buffet is super cheap!
Happy Birthday Month to YOU!
What a wonderful way to spend your day together and Happy Birthday to you both! Karl you did a great job planning the day and Kayla you are so adorable with your baby bump. I bet the scenery was great to see with all the leaves off the trees but the fall colors would be amazing. I look forward to hearing about the brewery and the movie. (p.s. years ago I was in Dyersville to see the Field of Dreams and shop the toy shop for some model tractors)
What a wonderful way to celebrate your birthdays! Happy Birthday to the both of you!
Love and prayers
I see so much of Your husband in Karl in the photo where he is reading the sign…the way he stands and the profile of the way his head is tilted.
How wonderful to have such a sweet and handsome son to spend a fun and memorable day with.
No snow Wow! Happy Birthday to you both.
Looks like an awesome day. I really like the cranberry orange scones by the Barefoot Contessa. You can find the recipe here
https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/cranberry-orange-scones
My husband loved these so much. I can’t get the link to work but at least you can find it with a quick search!