2415. Visit the American Gothic House in Eldon

 Trying to find something to do between Davenport and Ottumwa, I saw that the American Gothic House was not too far outside of Ottumwa and an easy detour to get there. The hubby got to go to Trainland USA, I was going to go to the American Gothic House. 

What is the American Gothic House? It's the house that was in the "pitchfork picture" -- the painting by Grant Wood with the couple standing outside a farmhouse with stoic expression and pitch forks. Of course people want to see it and create their own picture.

The American Gothic House Center has a small museum inside the shows the life of the area during the time that American Gothic was painted as well as the history of the house and Grant Wood. It is educational but I wasn't really interested in the museum. I just wanted my picture taken in front of the house. In non-COVID years, the house would be open on Saturdays to tour as well.

After some cajoling by another (frequent) patron, the hubby agreed to hold a pitchfork and get his picture taken too. He is good at the stoic look. At one point he reaches over and fixes my pitchfork. Apparently I can't hold it straight. 

There a varying sizes of pitchforks so the entire family can hold one. Some people get creative with their poses but we stuck with the stoic look.

The hubby was reluctant at first but I think he truly enjoyed himself. He has mentioned the American Gothic house a couple times since going.

If you are ever in Southeast Iowa, I would recommend making a quick pit stop and check out the famous house and take your own pitchfork picture. In non-COVID times, there are even costumes you can wear. Then head over to Ottumwa, the Video Game Capital of the World and home to Twin Galaxies Aracde.

2418. Cross the swinging bridge in Columbus Junction

 I stumbled upon a list of road trip stops in every state on Facebook. Many of them I've heard of and some I've even been to but the one in Iowa was intriguing. Popular Mechanics claim you need to stop at the Swinging Bridge in Columbus Junction. After a some google-mapping, it turns out that we were going to be going pretty much through Columbus Junction on our way to Ottumwa. Since it was not out of the way, I decided we were going.

The swinging bridge, also known as Lover's Leap Bridge, is in Swinging Bridge Park and was originally built in 1880. After two bridges were condemned and broke, the current bridge was built in 1922 with a span of 262 feet. It was last refurbished in 1954.

There is a path through the woods to get to one end of the bridge. The hubby and I followed the path to the start of the bridge. I am not sure how high the bridge is over the valley below but from the bottom it looks like a long way. The walk is a bit buggy and the path narrow. Best to wear decent shoes.

The hubby took one look at the bridge and said "Hell, no". He doesn't like bridges. I thought it didn't look so bad. The hubby went back the path we just took and I ventured across the bridge. 

262 feet is a long way across especially when the bridge moves under you. The faster I went, the more it moved so I walked slowly. If I walked slow across it wasn't so bad. I was afraid of dropping my phone if I took too many pictures. 

I did make it all the way across. Would I do it again? Maybe. Could I cross it and then walk back over it to get back to my car? Probably. It does take a lot of nerve to get across but it was a great feeling to say that I did it. I have to admit it was probably my favorite stop on vacation.

If you don't have a fear of bridges or heights and can handle cross a suspension bridge in mid-air, it is definitely worth the stop. If not, the hike to view the bridge from below is pretty amazing. You never know what you can do until you try it. 

 I'm still not sure why Popular Mechanics claimed I needed to see this except there is a service station not far from the bridge. There are much better places in Iowa to see that don't require nerves of steel. It was free at least.

2402. See the Clark Castle in Winterset

 Someone tagged me a link on Facebook about castles in the US. I saw that there was one in Iowa near the Covered Bridges of Madison County and I was like we need to go. Castles, Covered Bridges, World's Largest Anything, Baseball landmarks, and geographical markers all rate up there as must stop. Maye it goes back to my first trip to Germany where we saw another castle on the Rhine. I love old castles and if they are not museum-isque even better.

The Clark Castle, which in my opinion is no where close to being a castle, is located in Winterset City Park. It is also known as the Clark Tower because it is really a castle tower. It was built to honor pioneers of Madison County, Caleb and Ruth Clark. 

To reach the Clark Castle, you follow a windy single lane road through the park. Visit Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge, also located in the park, on the way to the tower. You can continue to follow the road to get out of the park. 

Most castles include several towers. This is literally just the tower. It is a three story tower that you can actually climb. The climb to the second story is a up stone spiral staircase. It is too bad. The hubby can handle it. 

The climb to the top of the tower is small, steep metal staircase that wasn't too bad going up but trying to maneuver to go down was a bit tricky especially since I don't like going down anything backwards unless I have to.

You do get spectacular views from the top of the tower. I read that sunset and sunrise are great times to climb the tower for the best views. 

It was a nice quick stop while in Winterset, a bit overlooked but well worth it. If you are checking out the covered bridges of Madison County, you might as well check out the Clark Castle as well even if it to say you were in a castle in Iowa.

2398. See the Bridges of Madison County

 If the hubby says he wants to go to John Wayne Birthplace and Trainland USA, I say we are going to Bridges of Madison County. It's only fair right? 

The Bridges of Madison County are six covered bridges near Winterset, IA in Madison County which the book and movie are based off of. I always seen the sign as we drive to Arizona for the Bridges of Madison County and figured we were going this trip. Besides it is on our to see John Wayne's Birthplace.

Most of the covered bridges are down gravel roads. I asked the hubby if he wanted to see them all because of the gravel road and he said yes. When I say gravel roads, I don't mean take a county road to a gravel road and at the end of the gravel road is the covered bridge. No, the county roads are gravel roads... well maintained county roads but gravel roads nevertheless. 

The route we took was from Omaha to Des Moines (West to East) and allowed us the route with the least amount of backtracking. If you are coming from the east, just reverse the route. This makes the most sense because the first and last bridge are a bit farther away than the other four. Most of them area within 10 minutes of each other and the other two are about 15-20 from the next closest bridge. Total drive time from the first to last covered bridge with visiting all six bridges is about an hour and it is about a 37 miles trip. We did stop at John Wayne's Birthplace and the Castle Tower as we made our way through Winterset as it made logistical sense.

The Bridges in the order we visited them. Some of them are in their original location and others have been moved there. Most are original. Some of been rebuilt. 

Roseman Covered Bridge

Hogback Covered Bridge

Cedar Covered Bridge -- the only covered bridge you can drive through. The hubby was excited by this.

Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge -- This one is located in a city park. There is also a castle tower in the park we checked out. 

Holliwell Covered Bridge

Imes Covered Bridge.

The Covered Bridges is actually part of the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway. It is actually a very beautiful drive and would be gorgeous in fall.

If you are passing through Iowa and need a break form I80, definitely go check out the covered bridges. The welcome center in Winterset can give you a map and more information about the bridges. We did not stop there as I did my research ahead of time. If you like covered bridges at all, it is worth the drive to check out.

2397. Visit the Birthplace of John Wayne in Winterset

 I am not a fan of westerns. I could care less about John Wayne but when the hubby says he wants to see John Wayne's birthplace, we go to John Wayne's birthplace. The hubby does not watch movies so for him to want to go to something non-sports movie related, we better go. I don't mind stopping at birthplaces especially places that have been around for a long time. I love to see how vastly different these people lived compared to modern times and yet it is usually less than 100 years ago or so.

John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in 1907 in Winterset, IA and moved to Southern California as a young child. His birthplace home still stands today in Winterset and this is what we went to see.

The Birthplace and Museum is open seven days a week, except for major holidays from 10-5 (10-4 Dec-Feb). It is $15/adult and $8/child to visit. It is completely self guided. You start at the museum and then can walk down the block to the actual house.

The Museum is filled with artifacts from his Hollywood days and life as a movie star. There are a lot of movie posters hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. The museum is really one giant room. There is also a theater that shows a biographical film about every 15 minutes. They are building an addition so more memorabilia can be on display. I kind of wish we waited to go until the addition was done so there was more to look at.

John Wayne's birthplace is a small three room house. There is a docent inside to tell you about the house and then you can explore it. It is very humble even for a pharmacist. 

Outside his birthplace is a barn that includes the cannon that was used in the movie The Alamo. That was very cool to see.

John Wayne fan or not, his birthplace is worth checking out as he is an iconic piece of Hollywood history. You can easily do the covered bridges of Madison County and John Wayne's Birthplace in a morning.

3203. See the book mural at the Kansas City Public Library

 When I saw that the Kansas City Public Library has a giant bookcase mural on the side on their building, I knew I had to check it out. I figured the hubby would not be too thrilled with visiting a library on vacation. I just told him we were going to check it out.

Initially we went to the wrong library. I grabbed the address for the Plaza branch not the Central branch. The hubby didn't know what I meant by a mural of books and he was like there's a painting. It was a small and inside. I'm like this is not the right library. Just forget it. 

He insisted we go to the right branch. 

I am so glad he insisted we go to the right branch. It is a gorgeous mural on the outside of the parking lot that spans nearly an entire block. Even the stairs look books.

It is a quick stop and actually not out of our way to the Negro Baseball Museum after the WWI museum. 

I would definitely say to check it out when you are in Kansas City. There is a garden on the roof too supposedly. Due to time constraints, I didn't have time to explore the library or the parking lot. Maybe one day.

3210. Go to the National WWI Museum in Kansas City

 I asked the hubby what he wanted to see while we were in Kansas City -- the World War I Museum or the Arabia Steamboat Museum. I knew what my choice would be but I wanted his important. He went with the World War I Museum (not my choice).

My cousin has spent a lot of time at the WWI Museum doing various research and volunteer project. She told us we needed a good half day for the museum but could spend several days there. We realistically had about 3 to 4 hours to go through the museum. I wasn't too concerned because we went through the Country Music Hall of Fame in record time and in general, we tend to be fast museum visitors.

The museum is open daily 10-5 Memorial Day to Labor Day and closed Mondays the rest of the year as well as major holidays. Depending on what you want to see, admission is $18-$23 for an adult. $18 is for general admission and then you can add on an extra special exhibit gallery or the Liberty Memorial tower. We opted to do neither. The special exhibit was women's clothing during WWI which even I wasn't too thrilled to see. The tower was closed during to storms but the hubby wouldn't have gone up in it anyways. We could have added a virtual reality experience for about $25 each as well. I personally didn't need to experience the war up front.

You enter the main exhibit hall by walking over a poppy field which is kind of freaky since it's poppies suspended in air and the floor is see through. You can actually go down to the research level and view the poppy field from below as well which I didn't know until later.

The main gallery is split into two galleries -- East (1914-1917, pre-US involvement) and West (1917-1919, US involvement). There are several theaters and interactive areas as well.

The museum is very well done with a lot of artifacts. You can see the trenches the soldiers fought in and the weaponry used. It is actually very somber and moving at times as well. I didn't realize how old this war was until I saw the cannons. Tanks and airplanes were just in their infancy and were really being tested as methods of warfare during this war. 

Words can not describe the museum and everything that is in it. I know why my cousin said it can take hours to go through it. We did not rush through the museum but we did not pore over every single artifact either. We probably spent about an hour at the museum which is far less time than most. As the hubby said he prefers WWII as so do I. We did skip the Ellis gallery downstairs which I did not realize until we got home. 

It is definitely worth checking out when you are in Kansas City. It is ranked the number 1 attraction in Kansas City according to Trip Advisor. Just make sure you allot enough time to go through it and don't park at Union Station and walk up. That hill is a killer and the stairs are very misleading.

3201. Go to Union Station in Kansas City

 While scrolling through Twitter before we left, I noticed the Big Boy Engine would be in Kansas City while we were there. It was arriving into Union Station Monday night and leaving Wednesday morning. Even though we saw the Big Boy the other year, it's always impressive to see. The hubby agreed we should go see it again.

We parked at Union Station ($10 for 4 hours) and asked the attendant where the train was. She was kind of vague. So we went inside. The great hall of Union Station is impressive. It is your typical large city train station -- lots of marble, polished floors, high ceilings, and long hallways.

Even though we didn't find the Big Boy inside, we did stumble into a room full of model trains. I told the hubby that was too make up for the train museum in Hannibal being closed. 

I also walked out to the viewing platform where you can see the rail yard. This is where I got my first glimpse of the Big Boy.

We headed back outside and figured out how to get down below to the Big Boy. The nice thing about it being in Kansas City for a full day (and it was raining), there crowds weren't too bad yet. We were able to get up as close as they allowed us to. 

After we saw the Big Boy and spent some time at the World War Museum across the street, we were headed back to our car and the hubby was like look at that old train car. Out front of Union Station was an old boxcar. I told him it's probably from Auschwitz since there is a big Auschwitz exhibit at Union Station that we did not check out due to time restraints and not knowing about until a week before when my cousin mentioned it. I was right, it was a railcar transport from Auschwitz. I've read enough historical fiction and am familiar with using the cattle cars for transport BUT I was not prepared for how small these railcars were. I can't even begin to fathom how it would feel to be crammed inside with virtual strangers for days on end knowing you could be headed to your death. *Shivers*

Union Station is worth checking out even if it is just for the dinosaurs. 

It is short walk down the (very evil) hill from the World War I Museum. And if you ever get to see the Big Boy steam engine, I would recommend checking that out too.