My Cross Country Trip, part 3
Wednesday, July 20th
After some debate the night before, and, really, nothing too interesting as far as tourist attractions in Des Moines itself, I agreed to drive some more this day so we could go see some bridges in Madison County. Winterset, IA is the county seat and therefore the place to be. The drive out there was on small county highways and we were surrounded by old houses, shopping areas, and family farms. The town square was under construction, so it wasn't too pretty, but we saw the potential. It reminded me of Arcata, CA. There really isn't too many towns/cities with a town square (and stupid one way streets around it) left in the US. Arcata has a statue of President McKinnley, Winterset has a huge, old courthouse. hhmmmm. All this talk of Arcata makes me wonder if Winterset belongs to the MainStreet organization.
We had lunch at a local pizza/pasta/ice cream shop. My pasta wasn't too bad, but it could have been better w/o the chicken and the undercooked bread. Carolyn didn't like her dish at all b/of the saltiness. I think it was due to the two kinds of olives in her veggie pasta. There was a daily newsletter on the tables. The County Faire was going on this week. A possible stop after the museum place.... This pizza place had friendly employees. They directed us to the Historical Society's house/farm/museum and gave us a better map than the one given out by the Chamber of Commerce/Visitor's Center. Carolyn wanted to walk. I didn't. I was tired and super hot. I caved b/ it didn't look too far. Well, it was. The volunteers at the center were amazed we walked that far in the heat. I know I wasn't looking forward to the trip back to the car.
The museum was kinda blah, but I was taking my time in the airconditioned building to cool off. It looked like a well-labeled second-hand store. The first section or two was about a rich, founding family of Winterset. The rest was just labeled as "item(s) donated by:". I'm sure that if I had read the little book they handed out it would have been better, but not by much. Outside was replicas of the farm. Carolyn saw it all before she went inside the museum. I had no interest. We went around the grounds of the old, rich house. The outhouse was the most of interest. It was wallpapered, had three holes on the long bench, and had the ability to be heated in the winter w/ the wood stoves in the corners. I've never seen something so elaborate.
Upon arrival at my car, I announced that I was done for the day. No Madison County Faire, no sun, no heat, and no more burnt skin. I was hot, sweaty, miserable, and cranky. Carolyn just agreed.
We saw one of the covered bridges on our way out of the area. It was the Holliwell Covered Bridge. Beautiful area. The road went off to the left of the covered bridge and across a new one. All the covered bridges are no longer in use, and only5/19 remain standing. And, why would anyone want to cover just the bridge? Saftey issue in winter or something? Well, according the the tourist info, "The bridges were covered by order of the County Board of Supervisors to help preserve the large flooring timbers which were mroe expensive to replace than the lumber covering the sides and the roof. Most of the construction work was done by farmers to pay their poll taxes. The bridges were usually named for the nearest resident."
Back in Des Moines, we walked around the closed art museum and then had dinner at a Chinese food restaurant, recommended by AAA. Not bad. A little different from home. Annoyed at the lack of vegetarian choices. Even the dishes that were under the vegetable category had some sort of meat sauce. My personal favorite was the dish with the ham. Yes, HAM. Who puts ham in Chinese food? Have I been missing out all these years? Plus, if you must add this meat, why put it in a veggie dish??
Went to a movie at the local theater. We finally agreed on "Bewitched". Not as bad or cheesy as I thought it'd be. Cheap for full-price, too. Only $7.50 for an adult. On the way home, I stopped for some frozen custard. Very rich and creamy. Thicker than ice cream. I had the day's special of vanilla with raspberry topping and hot fudge. Yummy. Here is where we met our airport experts and got directions back to our hotel. We were close already. yea!
Thursday, July 22nd
Woke up at 420am to the crash of thunder. Lots of thunder. Witnessed a massive downpour and wondered if I had left the windows cracked on my car. Upon inspection, I can say I didn't. Relief. It was a cool storm. Carolyn went back to bed, but I watched for a while. It was interesting to see lightening strike in different parts of the sky, but the thunder didn't follow. That's my experience with thunderstorms. Lightening, thunder, lightening, thunder. But, this was different.
A few hours later, we packed our stuff up and then went to breakfast. Good breakfasts. I had potato pancakes, Carolyn the blueberry. Don't mix the two. Hers were extremely sweet compared to mine.
Drove to Chicago, IL. Found our hotel and the garage to valet my car w/o any problems. The fact that my car was locked away became a minor problem:
C: Do you have.... ?
A: No, but it is in my car.
*annoyed sigh by either or both of us.
Since we got such an early start, we arrived in Chicago early enough to sightsee. We saw Buckingham Fountain and Millenium Park. We continued walking north and saw the Magnificent Mile. We didn't really shop, but it was a nice area. I saw a poster for "Wicked" and we tried to call for tickets. The lady thought I was N-U-T-S. The first show she had available with two tickets was Sept. 21st. Sadly, I had to decline, but thanked her for her time.
Had dinner at Fluky's for a traditional Chicago Hot Dog. There are two locations, so we went into the one at the mall. These hot dogs are served with mustard, relish, onion, tomato, peppers, and a side of pickle. I thought it was a good dog (w/o the relish or pickle, of course), but it wasn't the meal to end all meals. The hot dog was Ball Park size, so it explained the "doubles" and "triples" we saw on the menu. My brother will also be proud of me for eating a whole pepper. One whole one. Yep. I even have a picture of it.
Afterwards, we started to walk back towards the hotel. There was a free jazz concert in Millenium Park. We sat and listened for a while, enjoying the not too hot heat and sunset.
After some debate the night before, and, really, nothing too interesting as far as tourist attractions in Des Moines itself, I agreed to drive some more this day so we could go see some bridges in Madison County. Winterset, IA is the county seat and therefore the place to be. The drive out there was on small county highways and we were surrounded by old houses, shopping areas, and family farms. The town square was under construction, so it wasn't too pretty, but we saw the potential. It reminded me of Arcata, CA. There really isn't too many towns/cities with a town square (and stupid one way streets around it) left in the US. Arcata has a statue of President McKinnley, Winterset has a huge, old courthouse. hhmmmm. All this talk of Arcata makes me wonder if Winterset belongs to the MainStreet organization.
We had lunch at a local pizza/pasta/ice cream shop. My pasta wasn't too bad, but it could have been better w/o the chicken and the undercooked bread. Carolyn didn't like her dish at all b/of the saltiness. I think it was due to the two kinds of olives in her veggie pasta. There was a daily newsletter on the tables. The County Faire was going on this week. A possible stop after the museum place.... This pizza place had friendly employees. They directed us to the Historical Society's house/farm/museum and gave us a better map than the one given out by the Chamber of Commerce/Visitor's Center. Carolyn wanted to walk. I didn't. I was tired and super hot. I caved b/ it didn't look too far. Well, it was. The volunteers at the center were amazed we walked that far in the heat. I know I wasn't looking forward to the trip back to the car.
The museum was kinda blah, but I was taking my time in the airconditioned building to cool off. It looked like a well-labeled second-hand store. The first section or two was about a rich, founding family of Winterset. The rest was just labeled as "item(s) donated by:". I'm sure that if I had read the little book they handed out it would have been better, but not by much. Outside was replicas of the farm. Carolyn saw it all before she went inside the museum. I had no interest. We went around the grounds of the old, rich house. The outhouse was the most of interest. It was wallpapered, had three holes on the long bench, and had the ability to be heated in the winter w/ the wood stoves in the corners. I've never seen something so elaborate.
Upon arrival at my car, I announced that I was done for the day. No Madison County Faire, no sun, no heat, and no more burnt skin. I was hot, sweaty, miserable, and cranky. Carolyn just agreed.
We saw one of the covered bridges on our way out of the area. It was the Holliwell Covered Bridge. Beautiful area. The road went off to the left of the covered bridge and across a new one. All the covered bridges are no longer in use, and only5/19 remain standing. And, why would anyone want to cover just the bridge? Saftey issue in winter or something? Well, according the the tourist info, "The bridges were covered by order of the County Board of Supervisors to help preserve the large flooring timbers which were mroe expensive to replace than the lumber covering the sides and the roof. Most of the construction work was done by farmers to pay their poll taxes. The bridges were usually named for the nearest resident."
Back in Des Moines, we walked around the closed art museum and then had dinner at a Chinese food restaurant, recommended by AAA. Not bad. A little different from home. Annoyed at the lack of vegetarian choices. Even the dishes that were under the vegetable category had some sort of meat sauce. My personal favorite was the dish with the ham. Yes, HAM. Who puts ham in Chinese food? Have I been missing out all these years? Plus, if you must add this meat, why put it in a veggie dish??
Went to a movie at the local theater. We finally agreed on "Bewitched". Not as bad or cheesy as I thought it'd be. Cheap for full-price, too. Only $7.50 for an adult. On the way home, I stopped for some frozen custard. Very rich and creamy. Thicker than ice cream. I had the day's special of vanilla with raspberry topping and hot fudge. Yummy. Here is where we met our airport experts and got directions back to our hotel. We were close already. yea!
Thursday, July 22nd
Woke up at 420am to the crash of thunder. Lots of thunder. Witnessed a massive downpour and wondered if I had left the windows cracked on my car. Upon inspection, I can say I didn't. Relief. It was a cool storm. Carolyn went back to bed, but I watched for a while. It was interesting to see lightening strike in different parts of the sky, but the thunder didn't follow. That's my experience with thunderstorms. Lightening, thunder, lightening, thunder. But, this was different.
A few hours later, we packed our stuff up and then went to breakfast. Good breakfasts. I had potato pancakes, Carolyn the blueberry. Don't mix the two. Hers were extremely sweet compared to mine.
Drove to Chicago, IL. Found our hotel and the garage to valet my car w/o any problems. The fact that my car was locked away became a minor problem:
C: Do you have.... ?
A: No, but it is in my car.
*annoyed sigh by either or both of us.
Since we got such an early start, we arrived in Chicago early enough to sightsee. We saw Buckingham Fountain and Millenium Park. We continued walking north and saw the Magnificent Mile. We didn't really shop, but it was a nice area. I saw a poster for "Wicked" and we tried to call for tickets. The lady thought I was N-U-T-S. The first show she had available with two tickets was Sept. 21st. Sadly, I had to decline, but thanked her for her time.
Had dinner at Fluky's for a traditional Chicago Hot Dog. There are two locations, so we went into the one at the mall. These hot dogs are served with mustard, relish, onion, tomato, peppers, and a side of pickle. I thought it was a good dog (w/o the relish or pickle, of course), but it wasn't the meal to end all meals. The hot dog was Ball Park size, so it explained the "doubles" and "triples" we saw on the menu. My brother will also be proud of me for eating a whole pepper. One whole one. Yep. I even have a picture of it.
Afterwards, we started to walk back towards the hotel. There was a free jazz concert in Millenium Park. We sat and listened for a while, enjoying the not too hot heat and sunset.
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