An Author Talk I Didn't Overly Enjoy

When I saw that Bill Stokes was going to be talking about his book that discussed the POW camps in Wisconsin, I was really interested. I knew there was a camp in the Appleton area but I wanted to learn more about it.

Well... I was greatly disappointed. He really didn't talk much about the POW camp. Sure there was some information but nothing I already knew. He did tell about one POW and how he came to meet him. I also learned that these POW weren't really treated as POWs when they went to area farms to help with the harvest. Some farmers' wives would offer the prisoners to eat lunch with the other farmhands.

Bill Stokes was very difficult to hear and maybe I just missed parts of what he was talking about but I left feeling disappointed. He didn't use a microphone and I was only in the three row. I was advised to sit closer but I thought three rows back was close enough. Maybe I should have sat in the front row.

I think being a newspaper man, he was very good at writing but public speaking might not be his forte. I am going to chalk it up to his age (over 80 crowd) that he couldn't elaborate more on his story than the basic information.

I had such high expectations for this talk and left feeling disappointed. I am sure his book Margaret’s War is very good and might even answer some of the questions I that I've been wondering.

Let's Go to Polo

The hubby has been wanting to go to Polo, IL for a while now. His baseball partner is from there and it's a middle of nowhere kind of town and the hubby HAD to go there... mainly as a joke.

So we stopped in Polo on our way back from Iowa.

There is not a whole lot in Polo. It's your typical middle of nowhere Midwestern small town.

You have a cute little Main Street which on Labor Day isn't all that happening.

You have a cafe that looks to be closed.

There is the high school where the hubby's partner played football.

That's about it.

Yup.. Been there.. done that... don't need to go back.

2392. Go to the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch

Driving back from Arizona, the hubby is like we should go there sometime meaning the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. We had a chance to go last summer but opted to hit a new county in Wisconsin instead. When planning our Labor Day trip this year, this was one of the places we needed to stop at since we were going to be in the area.

The Herbert Hoover National Historic Site is part of the National Park system and is located in West Branch, IA. It is right downtown West Branch and only a few miles off the Interstate. The historic site features his boyhood home.

There are also several neighborhood houses, a blacksmith shop, and the church/school where he attended for a bit. All these buildings are free to visit. and are self-guided. If you have time, there is also a movie in the visitor center.

Herbert Hoover's grave is short drive or walk from his boyhood home. There are two paths that lead from the parking lot to to his grave. One is steeper than the other. If you look down the hill and through the trees, you can actually see his boyhood home.

Also on the grounds is the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. We did not visit this due to time constraints. Maybe one day we will make it back to visit the library.

This is a great stop if you are in the area. You learn a lot of our 31st President and where he came from. Even if you have only 30 minutes, you can see his home and grounds plus drive up to his grave site.

AP US Mini Golf Tour 2019: Cedar Rapids, IA

What do you do in Iowa on a Sunday night? Well if you're in Iowa City not much. There's not even mini golf. We ended up driving up to Cedar Rapids to go play mini golf since no champion was crowned for 2019 yet. The hubby and I both won one round while in Arizona in March and haven't played since.

After a quick Google Search, I found some mini golf in Cedar Rapids. What would we do without Google???? Cedar Rapids was only 20 minutes away so not too far for a round of mini golf. It was that or sit in the hotel room.

We played mini golf at Waterfall National Miniature which is part of Airport National Public Golf Course in Cedar Rapids. It is actually a few nice course. It looks easy but is quite challenging. Most of the holes have a par 2 especially on the back nine.

Because it was Labor Day weekend, it was quite busy. We had to wait to play every hole. It wasn't too bad. Everyone was just waiting their turn. It was quite nice. It was useless to let someone play through since there were more people behind them. No one caught up to us though.

It was not my finest night of golf. The hubby took home the crown of Mini Golf Champ again. I would get with in a couple of shots and then have a really bad hole. There's always next year and 3 more courses to try at the place in Arizona.

2407. Have pizza in Iowa

Since we were spending the night in Iowa because we wanted to see Hoover's birthplace before heading back to Wisconsin, I figured pizza was going to be a good choice for dinner. Being the pizza snobs we are, we like to check out different pizza places as we travel. Amazingly enough we haven't tried pizza in Iowa yet.

Pizza in Iowa City was hard to come by if you wanted to avoid chains. Since are not Chicago-style pizza fans, our choices were pretty limited. I thought a college town would have a lot of pizza but apparently not so much.

We went to  A & A Pagliai's Pizza which was right on the edge of Iowa University campus. I figured it was going to be a college hangout spot. I was very surprised when we got there and there were several booths of senior citizens enjoying pizza. If the old folks go there, it must be good.

A & A Pagliai's only serves pizza and only has booths. So if you have a big group, you are going to take up several booths. There is no such thing as garlic bread or appetizers. Pizza and drinks. They keep it pretty simple. You don't even get Parmesan cheese to shake on your pizza.

The hubby was befuddled by the crust. It was nothing like he ever had before. It wasn't crispy but it wasn't chewy. It was different in a good way. The sausage was really good too.

I wish they had more than just pizza. Some garlic bread would have been nice. If we are ever passing through we would definitely stop again.

2019 Baseball Stadium Tour -- Modern Woodmen Park

When we saw that the T-Rats were closing out the season at Quad Cities and the Brewers were home against the Astros on Labor Day, it made sense that our Labor Day weekend trip was a close one.. Davenport and Milwaukee.

Quad Cities River Bandits play in Davenport, IA which is one of the four cities in the Quad Cities. They play at Modern Woodmen Park which is just south of downtown. Googlemaps actually had us going through town instead of taking the bypass around then getting off the highway. We thought that was easier after we took it getting out of town.

Modern Woodmen Park is right on the Mississippi River. Being so close to the river, it does flood from time to time and home runs could land in the river. There are several lots near the ball park. The website really didn't say where to park so we winged it and it worked out.

The stadium was built in 1931 and has gone over several names and renovations throughout the years. You can tell it's an older ballpark with the having to climb stairs to enter the stadium once you get inside. It is actually a very nice, modern stadium.

Beyond left field is a small amusement park, for a lack of better term. There is giant Bandit Ferris Wheel which if the hubby wasn't afraid of heights I would have insisted on riding. There is also an old school carousel plus a few smaller rides for kids.

The netting pretty much runs from the length of the seating area which is pretty much dugout to dugout. There is some picnic areas and grass seating along the outfield lines but the actual seats extend dugout to dugout. We sat behind the T-rats dugout and had really good seats.

It was a pretty good game with the T-Rats winning (I think). We spent most of the game talking to the bus driver who we met when the hubby went to say hi to someone he knew that is a host family.

We would definitely come back here. It's a nice park with good amenities and the food isn't bad either. Only two more stadiums left in Iowa to hit and they aren't usually home at the same time.

In case you are keeping track, I've been to 13 major league and 12 minor league parks.. the hubby is at 12 and 11. I have Fenway and Jacksonville Suns on him.

Where will our travels take us next year? Stay tuned to see where the 2020 baseball stadium tour takes us.

5235. Visit the First State Capital in Belmont

The hubby has been wanting to see the First State Capitol for a few years now. However, we never seemed to be in the area when it was open.

The First State Capitol is located in Belmont which is essentially halfway between Dodgeville and Platteville. We are usually down in that part of the state at least once year. However, the first capitol is only open Saturday and Sundays from June 1 to September 1. Hello that is baseball season. There's not usually a lot of time to plan a quick jaunt down to other side of the state.

Since Belmont is on the way to Davenport, we stopped on way down to the River Bandits game. The First State Capitol is ran by the Wisconsin Historical Society and has free admission. It is not far off highway 151, just a few miles down a country road.

There are two buildings to the First Capitol -- the Court House and the Council House. They were moved slightly from their original locations to where they sit today. The Court House tells about early Wisconsin History and the Council House is set up to look like the Council House would have been back in the mid 1800's.

While everything in the Court House is pretty much original, the desks in the Council House are reproductions as students were ruining the originals. The stove and one other piece are originals though.

I learned some interesting pieces of Wisconsin History but wasn't overly impressed by either building.

They are worth seeing but I am not sure driving the 3 hours just to see them would be worth it. If you are in the area between June and August, go ahead and check them out but don't make a special trip just to see them.