"I saw you took off Monday. You going anywhere?"
"Yeah, Mike and I are going through Iowa."
"Iowa? What's in Iowa?"
And that was the start of many conversations I had the week before our road trip. I would then start to list off roadside attractions we were stopping at to solidify that this trip would be fun and interesting and not just corn on top of corn. It did turn out to be a great trip! I even found some places I would love to visit again or that we drove by and we didn't have the time to fully appreciate. In 57 hours and 57 minutes, we had hit 30 (ish) attractions. So let's jump into the deets.
October 9th, 2021 we woke up early. Like, the city is silent early. We hit the road about 4:30 am, which on my watch was late. It turned out to be perfect timing to actually have sun at our first stop, The Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dysersville.
I had been to the Field of Dreams Movie Site many years ago when Netflix was doing movie showings at the movie filming sites. I got to see the baseball men and watch Kevin Costner play on stage. It is very hard for me to find evidence of this online but here is a video on Youtube someone thankfully uploaded. And one day I will add my photos when I find them.
Surprisingly, a team was already there prepping for the Saturday morning visitors. Mowing the field and grating the driveway. The field is open sunrise to sunset but the gift shop is not (as not expected to be). We were able to walk around both the baseball and corn fields.
As we hit the road, a father and son drove up and started playing catch. A great way to end our visit.
Field of Dreams Movie Site
28995 Lansing Rd, Dyersville, IA 52040
Next stop was the World's Largest Strawberry in Strawberry Point. I didn't expect this to be on the main road or so high up in the air. Here we literally parked, ran out, saw it, and ran back to the car.
World's Largest Strawberry
111 Commercial St, Strawberry Point, IA 52076
Ok. So the next stop...we drove through FOG and winding roads to get there. I saw it on roadsideamerica.com and thought it looked cool. And it was! But..didn't realize this was just literally on someone's lawn...with no place really to park or walk. So we parked in their driveway, snapped some photos and drove off. So this is my public apology for trespassing but also...this was such a cool stop! Squidward's House in Wadena.
Squidward's House
S. Mill St. Wadena, IA
Quickly, we were off to the Iowa's Largest Frying Pan in Brandon. We were pushing 10:00 AM when we arrived. This was a very different experience than Squidward's House, with a nice large parking lot to park in front of the frying pan and community center. This pan can hold 528 eggs!! For you Disney folk-it would take 11 Gastons to eat that many eggs.
Iowa's Largest Frying Pan
800-850 Main St, Brandon, IA 52210
I didn't have a pinpoint on where exactly our next stop was. I thought I did but it took us a second to find it. And on top of it, there was a parade going through town. Nonetheless, we made it to Nestle's Big Red Mug in Waverly. General consensus seems to be that it is filled with hot chocolate, not coffee. There was also a bright sign with Quiky on it so had to snap a few with him too.
Nestle Big Red Mug
We got to Clear Lake and almost had to do a double take to make sure we weren't just in Lake Geneva. It was definitely a tourist town and one I hope to return to for some camping and time on the lake. We grabbed some drinks from the Cabin Coffee there. I got the Blackberry Vanilla Dreamsicle Red Bull Infusion (quite the mouthful).
One of the spots I had saved to check out in Clear Lake was The Pyramid House. We didn't stop since someone was having a birthday party. Turns out, it is a popular Airbnb! So be sure to check it out if you are in to vacation rentals!
The Pyramid House
1102 N Shore Dr, Clear Lake, IA 50428
The only other stop I had planned for Clear Lake was a giant ice cream cone. It used to be a Twistee Treat but now is the South Shore Sweet Spot. They had wrapped up for the year so we couldn't grab any treats but it was still fun to see this American icon.
Also, peep this MASSIVE hat I got from Forever21.
South Shore Sweet Spot
5269 S Shore Dr, Clear Lake, IA 50428
The next stop was along another lake, Crystal Lake, which doesn't have a great reputation this time of year. We visited the World's Largest Bullhead. Across the road was a bit of a campground including an old train car built in 1849 which Mike had fun exploring. There was another campground just up the road I would very much like to camp at one day-Crystal Lake Park.
World's Largest Bullhead
161-177 State St S, Crystal Lake, IA 50432
The most frustrating thing about any road trip is hitting a place at an inconvenient time. Do you sacrifice hours of your day to wait for one attraction to open? This trip was all about cramming a lot into a little so we couldn't wait the two hours for Emerald's Fine Food and Libations in Algona to open. What's at this fancy restaurant? The World's Largest Cheeto. I was a little disappointed with the timing because it was one of my big ticket items when I explained to people why we were going to Iowa. Oh well.
World's Largest Cheeto
1515 N McCoy St #1240, Algona, IA 50511
Some road trips, you expect something out of a place and receive something completely different. I had added Manson to our trip due to their welcome sign showing a meteorite crashing. To explain I'll add this info from Wikipedia:
"Manson is located near the site of the Manson crater, formed by a meteorite collision that happened 74 million years ago. The crater's existence was first discovered during an oil-drilling wildcatting expedition in the 1930s. At one time, it was thought to be the biggest impact by an object from outer space in North America, until subsequent studies revealed larger examples. The impact event was also once theorized to have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs, or contributed to it as a fragment of the Chicxulub meteor, until tests by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1991 and 1992 proved that it was too old by 9 million years.
"Not much remains due to glacial till which has filled in the crater and has made it undetectable at ground level. However, due to this infilling it is one of the best preserved impact sites on Earth.
"The impact crater measures approximately 24 miles (39 km) in diameter and the city of Manson is located near the center of the impact site." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manson,_Iowa]
Now, what didn't we expect? The heavy amounts of wind that almost tipped us completely over. We had seen a ton of windmills in Iowa, but didn't really know why. Our stop here showed us pretty quickly.
"Making an Impact" sign
215 8th St, Manson, IA 50563
Sometimes when you're on a road trip, you Google a place you know you are going to...but don't verify which one it exactly is. So instead of going to the Rainbow Bridge in Lake City we ended up at the Marsh Rainbow Arc Bridge in Beaver. We made the best of the visit.
The reason for visiting Rainbow Bridge was that it is known to be haunted-by a ghost who loves chocolate. So, if you go and visit bring a chocolate bar at midnight and lay it in the middle of the bridge. 5 minutes later, you can return to an empty wrapper.
The planned stop:
Rainbow Bridge
E Jackson St, Lake City, IA 51449
The next stop was at the head of the Raccoon River Valley Recreation Trail. It is a Giant Bicycle in Perry. I honestly don't have too much more to say then that. It was a cute town, I was getting cold, and there was a cool train "skeleton" across the street that caught my eye.
Giant Bicycle
1019 Willis Ave, Perry, IA 50220
Only 20 minutes down the road was the High Trestle Trail Bridge. I hope to return one day and walk or bike the whole trail. We go there at sunset which made the experience pretty magical. The sun had set when we started to leave, but they hadn't turned on the lights. Otherwise, the bridge is supposed to light up a bright blue at night.
High Trestle Bridge
2335 Qf Ln, Madrid, IA 50156
The sun had gone down, ending our adventures for the day. As much as I wanted to continue, it is a little hard with no light to see anything. One of the few problems traveling in October.
So we got a hotel in Urbandale and rushed over to Happy Joe's, a must on our "to eat" list. We used to have one in Onalaska, but it closed a few years ago, stripping us from Taco Pizzas.
Happy Joe's
8056 Douglas Ave, Urbandale, IA 50322
Another early morning hitting the road running. Our vacation tradition has somehow become eating at Ihop. The nearest one opened at 6:00AM so we were there right after opening. I had my traditional hot chocolate.
We quickly found out that not only does Iowa have a ton of corn fields, but they also have a ton of gas stations. It's not just the number of gas stations, but the number of different gas station companies! The classic Iowa gas station is Kum and Go, so of course we fueled up in one.
I hadn't planned on stopping at a rest stop so early in the drive, but I had remembered that I saw a fun little quirk about the West-Bound Adair Rest Stop-a giant windmill blade in front of the building! And when I say giant, I guess it was giant to us, but that is a real blade used in the windmills we saw up and down the highway.
The inside of the building was pretty neat too. Tons of wind energy facts attached to the walls and a Pac Man themed warning to avoid falling asleep while driving was the attention grabbers.
Rest Stop Number 2 (Westbound)
I-80
Adair, IA
Out of all the Iowa roadside attractions, Albert the Bull is probably the most famous.
We pulled in pretty early still and a group had started to form with "Make Albert Great Again" shirts. I was instantly drawn to the Yogi Bear see saw. If you're a camper, keep in mind the campground right next to Albert!
Albert the Bull
115 Circle Dr, Audubon, IA 50025
Our next stop was at the Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid and Sculpture Garden in Kimballton. The main focus of the park is the Little Mermaid fountain. Surrounding the fountain are various mini statues of Hans Christian Anderson characters. I learned about a few that I had never heard about before! The statues each had a phone number underneath to hear the story it represented. One of the few we listened to was "The Tinder Box". Crazy story.
Little Mermaid Statue
100 Esbeck St, Kimballton, IA 51543
I grew up in small town America. Definitely not the smallest town but not the biggest either. Portsmouth calls itself the "Biggest Little Town in the U.S.". I just felt the need to stop here for their cute sign. I honestly can't find why it is called this, their population or land size or what, but it was still a neat find and fun to just drive through.
Portsmouth, IA
A 76 foot tall cornstalk should be easy to find right? Apparently not. We drove around Shelby for quite some time looking for it. I couldn't find an exact address so figured it's tall enough, we'll see it. After driving circles for about 10 minutes, we started towards I-80 hoping to see the town from a new perspective, and there it was! 76 feet is also not as high as I expected either. It stands in the Agri-Symbol Park next to a Shell Quik Pik and The Cornstalk Cafe.
Agri-Symbol Park
12 East St, Shelby, IA 51570
Ok remember when I said that Albert the Bull is one of the top roadside attractions? Well, the Volkswagen Beetle Spider is definitely up on that list. It was so much smaller than I had expected. BUT I found out that this was made by a few kids! So the size quickly didn't matter as that was super impressive to me. As we pulled up, we looked to the right and someone was burning a large pile of brush. We looked to the left and someone was carving into a log, so you could hear a loud knife scraping most of the visit. Chaotic, just as a visit to the Volkswagen Beetle Spider should be.
Someone also gave the VW a few new friends, a dragon and T-rex. Terrifiyng thinking that if this is to scale, no one would have a chance at the Volkswagen Beetle Spider. (thinking War of the Worlds sized creature)
Volkswagen Beetle Spider
649 S Chestnut St, Avoca, IA 51521
Nothing is more American West than train robberies. Or so I've heard...are we even West? We are just in Iowa, I mean Nebraska is even debatably "West" and that's more West than Iowa! ANYWAY. Jesse James and his gang committed the world's first moving train robbery near Adair on July 21, 1873. Full story provided here. A locomotive wheel was set up in 1954 to commemorate the event. We had a great time at the Jesse James Historical Site, we met a cute little moth who had been riding in the car with us, it was super windy, we balanced on the railroad tracks, and mycountyparks set up a selfie stand for us to try out!
Find the difference between these two photos:
Jesse James Historical Site
1156 Anita-Adair Road, Adair, Iowa
Adair also hosts a smiley face water tower! I don't know why every city doesn't do this.
Smiley Face Water Tower
Hillcrest St, Adair, IA 50002
The First National Bank in Stuart is known to have been robbed by Bonnie and Clyde (and Henry) in 1934. It is now a salon. Next door was a cute Kindness Rock Garden.
First National Bank-Bonnie and Clyde Robbery Site
100 NW 2nd St, Stuart, IA 50250
Not too far down the road in Dexter is where a Bonnie and Clyde shootout took place a year earlier. The marble slabs were hard to read in the sun and focused alot on the park that used to be there which included a pool.
Bonnie and Clyde Shootout
3291 Dexfield Rd, Dexter, IA 50070
Just south of the Shootout plaque is the Iowa Conservation Memorial. I had no original plans to stop here but it was a cool little stop to see and read about farming history.
Iowa Conservation Memorial
3523 Dexfield Rd, Dexter, IA 50070
After that we were back on the road to Des Moines for some unfinished business.
Cheers from Des Moines Mural
1526 Walnut St, Des Moines, IA 50309
Greater Des Moines Mural
5th Street &, Locust St, Des Moines, IA 50309
I had to see the Giant Garden Trowel near the Better Homes and Gardens test garden. Of course, I found there was a whole sculpture park right up the street but we didn't have time to stop and look at them all. Saving for next time! There was also a neat mural behind it which was perfect for the Fall season.
Giant Garden Trowel
1798 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
roadside.enthusiast of Instagram suggested we stop at RAYGUN for some fun shopping. Raygun is definitely is now on my "favorite stores" list.
RAYGUN
505 E Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
It was about time to eat and Mike's family suggested Zombie Burger + Drink Lab. As guessed, it's a zombie themed restaurant featuring burgers and shakes. I had a portabella burger (mushroom apocalapse) and Mike had the egg burger (Dawn of the Dead). We shared a plate of fries with three different toppings. We also each had to have a shake, I had the S'more and Mike had the Reeses' Puffs.
Zombie Burger + Drink Lab
300 E Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
It was a bit of driving until our next stop, and by then it was getting dark and rainy. I introduce you to the Pyramids of Avery. They sit in the Hickory Grove Cemetery. Many of the other headstones were from the 1800's and the door of the largest pyramid stood open.
In 1939, Axel Peterson was really into ancient Egypt and pyramids. So much so he had three pyramids built in preparation for when he died. They are made of sandstone and cement. The largest pyramid contains a crypt, where the man planned to have himself and his friend, Heymooler, entombed upon their deaths. Crypt roof of the largest tomb was an upside-down dump truck bed. He even planned to have benches put in there, so him and his friend could be set on the benches across from each other after their deaths, but these plans were never recognized and his friend was buried in a different cemetery while Peterson was buried in Cuba Cemetery.
It was super creepy being here, adding on a level with the sunsetting, and as we started to leave, a gun shot came from the middle of the woods.
Pyramids of Avery-Hickory Grove Cemetery
It started to pour rain. We drove into Ottumwa, which would have probably been a cool town to see in the daylight. It was certainly cool at night! Our next stop was the birthplace of organized competitive eSports. I ran out and grabbed a photo and we were off on the road again.
Birthplace of eSports Plaque
After a great stay in the AmericInn in Ottumwa we were waking up for another early start. It was still pouring rain. We drove into another gravel road, winding through forest and trying not to slide off in all the mud. In the pitch black of the early morning, we drove up to Mars Hill Church.
"Mars Hill Church was built south of Ottumwa, Iowa between 1850-1856. It is currently the largest log building in Iowa, and it's the only log cabin church still in use in the United States. Every year, the annual meeting is held on the second Sunday in June, and Iowans gather here to celebrate the history of the Church along with their faith.
"This historic church was once an active stop on the Underground Railroad, and dozens of runaway slaves hid in the woods here during their quest for freedom. The small cemetery out back is the final resting spot of at least one veteran from every single American war, and the gravesites are well tended to this day.
"Occasionally, ritual masses are held here in the dark abandoned church, with pentagrams and other evidence left behind by those who choose to worship. The spirits of those in the Graveyard, and of slaves who never made it successfully to freedom, are said to haunt the walls of the church that they knew well.
"In an odd twist, Mars Hill itself is a favorite spot for UFO hunters, and multiple sightings have been reported in the area over the years.
In 2006, a fire was set by several arsonists and it nearly destroyed the entire church. Luckily, many of the original logs and structures were saved, and the arsonists were caught and sentenced." [Onlyinyourstate.com]
Near the church is the infamous Cry Baby Bridge where at night you can hear the sound of a crying drowning baby. We thankfully didn't stop there. I don't think I could have handled two in one morning.
Mars Hill
1011 100th Ave, Bloomfield, IA 52537
We skedaddled out of Mars Hill pretty quickly. I'm really not about cemeteries let alone without sunshine. Our next stop was the American Gothic House, yes, that house! The museum portion hadn't opened yet so we checked out the exterior of the house. We used their selfie stand to perfect our own American Gothic photo. I learned that the two in the photo were based off his sister and his dentist. He promised both they wouldn't be recognized but his dentist was easily recognized.
American Gothic House
300 American Gothic St, Eldon, IA 52554
While driving through Eldon, we saw this sunflower mural. Of course I had to stop for a photo.
Sunflower Mural
531 W Elm St, Eldon, IA 52554
One of the places I was most interested and excited about stopping at was Riverside-The Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk. I pulled up the location on Maps, we drove, we parked, and wandered the quiet street over to a small yellow house that Maps had led us to. I was super confused. No signage anywhere. Maps was showing us it was behind the yellow building so we walked back there, about 6 inches deep in mud. We looked around then headed back to the safe sidewalk. I am glad I dress the way I do sometimes because its a huge beacon to people that "Hey, I'm not some weirdo walking around, I'm just a lost tourist". I reevaluated our spot on maps and found that the stone marking was up the road a bit, so we started our trek to it.
I just had to look up what happened as I write this. Apparently, the yellow house was a barbershop and the guy who suggested that Riverside be Kirk's birthplace owned the property behind it. There, he had the birthplace marking and eventually a bench for visitors to sit at. June of 2021, the monument was moved to their city hall, where we finally found it.
Across the street was the Postal Office with large displays of the Start Trek stamps released in 2016. Next door was also a car wash, with a towel dispenser we both had never seen before. I put in two quarters and nothing came out. Oh well. It would have been nice to wipe off our muddy shoes but it is what it is.
Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk
60 Greene St, Riverside, IA 52327
Down the road was the "Voyage Home Museum". It was closed so early in the morning so we just enjoyed what was outside including a bench donated by William Shatner, a Starfleet recruiting sign, and a float used in Riverside's Trekfest.
Railroad Park is host to a bronze statue of Captain James T. Kirk which we quickly got photos with. This was all such a timely visit too as we had stopped on October 11, 2021 and William Shatner went to space on October 13, 2021. We didn't last too long in the park as it continued to rain.
Bronze Statue of Captain James T. Kirk
51 W First St, Riverside, IA 52327
So, we had just visited Mars Hill Church and the Pyramids of Avery as a part of our spooky Iowa stops. I told Mike that the next one really creeped my out when I looked at the pictures online. He asked what it was and I refused to keep an element of suspense and surprise. I figured it wouldn't be super creepy compared to the other two but would definitely be eery.
It was still pouring rain as we ran out of the parking lot of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (which btw I had no clue this was going to be part of the NPS and I sorely missed out! That's what I get for not planning but will definitely do a day trip back out there). I grabbed my kind of trusty umbrella hat, scanned for her, and Mike and I dashed on over.
"THIS is what you said was going to be so spooky??"
"Well...yeah..."
"She's HOT!! Not creepy at all! Why did you say she was creepy? She's literally the Goddess of Life."
Found out pretty quick not to judge a book by its cover but that was alot of this trip.
This 8 foot bronze statue of Isis was given to Herbert and Lou Hoover by the people of Belgium in 1922, and the Hoovers placed it on the grounds of their California estate. Hoover had led the The Commission for Relief in Belgium − known also as just Belgian Relief. It was an international (predominantly American) organization that arranged for the supply of food to German-occupied Belgium and northern France during the First World War. Hoover became president in 1929. When the Hoover Birthplace opened as a presidential attraction/shrine in the late 1930s, the Hoovers insisted that the statue be moved there, facing Herbert's boyhood cottage.
Isis, Goddess of Life
210 Parkside Dr, West Branch, IA 52358
I've never heard this, but after driving through Iowa, I have to assume that most people know of Iowa due to driving on Iowa 80. Maybe they even heard this classic Iowa 80 song:
Interstate 80 is used by many truckers to transport to and from the Midwest. This led to the World's Largest Truckstop. It was a huge place with multiple restaurants and shopping, including a truckers haven of supplies. We shopped and used their massive restrooms. We were full on fuel (both human and car) and eager to get back to Wisconsin. It was a fun stop and I hope to utilize it on a future I-80 adventure.
World's Largest Truckstop
W Iowa 80 Rd, Walcott, IA 52773
One of Mike's favorite restaurants ever is Maid-Rite. There used to be one in LaCrosse (yes, this is another Happy Joe's story) but it is there no longer so we eat there in our visits to Iowa. We got our grub to go. Honestly, I have no idea how a loose meat sandwich can taste so dang good. It's almost like magic and if you ever pass one, be sure to hit it up. You won't regret it.
Maid-Rite
1675 John F Kennedy Rd, Dubuque, IA 52002
We got back home around 3:00 pm on Monday. the goal was to get back at noon, but oh well. We grabbed a Pumpkin Spice Latte from the newly opened Grace Coffee Co. in Verona to power us through the busy afternoon.
So, if you had 57 hours and 57 minutes...what would you do with it?
As always, thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please be sure to reach out to me at thetackytourist@yahoo.com or on my Insta/Facebook
Happy Trails!
~The Tacky Tourist
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