Iowa Girl on the Go

Today marks the anniversary of the day one year ago when I had my “eureka!” moment and decided to start an Iowa travel blog. I was sitting at the National Balloon Classic in Indianola watching several dozen balloons take off and land on the acreage in front of me, and I thought, wow, there are a lot of really fun things to do in Iowa.

So I decided it would be appropriate to come full circle and attend the Balloon Classic again this year. I’d been thinking it would be cool to go in the morning – balloon flights are scheduled for 6:30 a.m. daily throughout the duration of the festival (July 29 – Aug. 6).

I got up this morning at 4:30 and left the house by 5 a.m. Turns out this early departure was completely unnecessary. We arrived at the festival grounds at 6 a.m., and literally NOTHING happened until almost 7:30.

Well, maybe not nothing. I got to listen to a little kid next to me singing, at around 7 a.m., a made-up song that went something like this: “When’s it gonna star-art, when’s it gonna star-art?” I hummed along with him, feeling his pain. And I got to watch four young lads on my other side enthusiastically shouting and running up and down the hill…over and over and over. Not that this annoyed me.

The start time is pretty arbitrary. I remember last year arriving at the evening balloon flight and sitting for a very long time before any balloon action began. But at least there were food vendors and a band to keep us entertained. This morning was very slow, as we watched the fog lift and waited for something to happen, balloon-wise. I wished I had my Sunday newspaper, but it hadn’t been delivered when we left the house at 5 a.m.

Finally, at a little after 7:00, the pilots got the green light from the balloonmeister and took off in their trucks. About half an hour later, balloons began to appear over the southern horizon. For the next hour, it was a spectacular show, with around 70 balloons heading back to the field in front of us to attempt to drop bean bags onto ground targets before rising back up and heading for the next target.

The Indianola Balloon Classic is a regional competition in which balloonists earn points toward their national standing. In addition to the morning balloon flights (free admission) and evening flights ($3 per person or $10 per carload), the week-long Classic features balloon rides, bands, “Nite-Glow” balloon flights, a parade, and fireworks. The festival is in its 42^nd year.

Indianola is about 12 miles south of Des Moines’ southeast side on Hwy. 69. If you go, bring a lawn chair. If you go in the morning, you might want to bring along some breakfast and a thermos of coffee because the vendors are not selling, as I imagined, breakfast burritos and mini-donuts.

RAGBRAI is a big deal in Iowa. I love reading about it in the Des Moines Register. The writers always find such interesting stories to tell, and the pass-through and overnight towns are right up my alley. It’s like a week-long fantasy blog.

This year, the ride started on Sunday and went from Glenwood to Atlantic the first day. Here’s what I missed: rhubarb custard pie in Griswold, a 32-foot-long bike made of scrap metal in Lewis, and more pie in Atlantic (sour cream raisin and chocolate peanut butter – yum).

That’s the thing about RAGBRAI (the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). It’s all about the pie. And the quirky little towns. One of the coolest things is when 10,000 cyclists gather in a town that only has 200 residents. That’s sort of amazing.

I haven’t had many first-hand experiences with RAGBRAI. For starters, I don’t bike. That’s a drawback. I also don’t love crowds as a rule. I also don’t enjoy heat. Nor do I camp. So, pretty much, I’m not a RAGBRAI kind of girl.

That said, I had a blast a few years ago doing a story about Iowa State connections to RAGBRAI in VISIONS magazine. Photographer Jim Heemstra and I spent the better part of three days following the bike ride from southwest to southeast Iowa and eating pie along the way. It was a challenge to hook up with Iowa Staters, given the spotty cell phone coverage and sheer volume of bikers who, well, all look a lot alike. But it was awesome. We got up close and personal with towns like Drakesville, Bloomfield, Keosauqua, and Bentonsport.

Three years ago, Ames was an overnight town on the RAGBRAI route. We covered that for the magazine, too. Mostly I remember it being hot and not connecting with people very easily (again). And Lance Armstrong being in Ames.

So, back to this year, which is again across the central part of the state. Monday’s route went from Atlantic to Carroll. I’m sorry I missed the Danish abelskivers in Elkhorn (described as pancake-popovers) and the Little Mermaid fountain in Kimballton. I will put that on my list for later. I also missed German potato salad and beer-sauerkraut-fudge cupcakes in Manning. (Some things are better left alone.) Also on Monday the riders experienced Templeton and its famous rye whiskey and the Santa Maria Winery in Carroll.

Yesterday, the riders came very close to Ames when they rode from Carroll to Boone. I have several people in my office who live in Boone and were very excited to be in an overnight town. The highlights yesterday were pancakes in Lanesboro and the “Twister” hill in Pilot Mound, made famous by that tornado movie.

Today, since the ride was so close, I took half a day off work to join the fun and try to find some pie. I started in Slater, where the trash cans were already overflowing with beer cans at 11 a.m. Literally the first thing I saw when I walked into town was a guy’s totally bare ass. And another guy wearing nothing but a Speedo. And there was also a very nice man with a pink beard wearing pink boas. He was a member of Team Flamingo.

There was loud music. And lots of people. And fantastic pecan pie.

Elkart had pie, too. And a nice fire station where riders could go inside and cool down. Did I mention it was hot today? I think the high ended up being 94 with a heat index of 105. The humidity was murderous. I have no idea how all those people managed to bike in that kind of heat. I was in an air-conditioned car most of the day, and I was exhausted.

White Oak was a fun stop on today’s route, with the White Oak Winery in full swing with wine, beer, games, and live music. Bondurant was too crowded, and by the time I got there I had lost my enthusiasm for finding pie. So I had a beer and came home.

The RAGBRAI riders still have three more days to go. Tonight they’re in the big city of Altoona; tomorrow they head for Grinnell, with lots of pie opportunities in Colfax. Friday they ride from Grinnell to Coralville, including a ride through the Amana Colonies. Saturday is the end of the road in Davenport, but not before riders go through Wilton, home of the famous Wilton Candy Kitchen. How did I not know about this?

I learn so much about Iowa during RAGBRAI!

While I was in northwest Iowa this weekend, I visited the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend. It was…how shall I put this? Bizarre.

When I started writing this blog last year, I put together a short list of things I really wanted to do and see in Iowa, and the Grotto was on that list. It’s very famous, so it just seems like something you should see if you live in Iowa. Kind of a bucket-list item, like the Corn Palace in South Dakota.

The history of this “miracle in stone” – considered by some the Eighth Wonder of the World according to the Grotto’s upbeat website – is this: A Catholic priest, Father Paul Dobberstein, became critically ill with pneumonia, and he prayed to the Virgin Mary that if he survived, he would build a shrine in her honor. Survive he did (not a small thing in the days before modern antibiotics), and he built a monumental structure in West Bend containing nearly 100 train-car loads of rocks, precious and semi-precious gemstones, and seashells.

Work on the Grotto complex began in 1912 and continued for 52 years, built primarily by Dobberstein and a fellow priest. The series of nine grottos each portray a different scene from the life of Christ. It’s said to be 100 feet wide and up to 40 feet high in some places.

It’s interesting, to say the least. I climbed around and took lots of pictures. You can take a guided tour, if you want (given on the hour during peak tourist season for a free-will donation). I did not find it particularly beautiful or artistic, however. It looks to me like the work of a couple of people with obsessive-compulsive disorder who have access to 100 railroad cars worth of rocks. (Oh, and there’s a gift shop and a café to go along with it.)

The Grotto is featured in the television and book series Weird U.S., if that tells you anything.

But do go, if you get the chance. And don’t forget to stop by the world’s largest popcorn ball in Sac City while you’re at it.

What could be more “summer” or more “Iowa” than a day at Arnolds Park and Lake Okoboji?

Arnolds Park is an amusement park in the town of the same name, adjacent to the lakes in northwest Iowa. It’s a little more than 3 hours from Ames (west on Hwy. 30 and north on Hwy. 71).  The amusement park, which features a roller coaster, log ride, Ferris wheel, and other carnival-type rides and games, was built in 1889.

I drove a long way to see this place and, in a way, I was disappointed. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. Maybe I’m spoiled by Disney World and Coney Island, but I thought there would be, well, more atmosphere at this place. The website sure makes it look like fun – like a nostalgic trip back to the 1950s. For one thing, it surprised me that you can just park (for free) and walk into this place without paying a dime (not that I’m complaining). It’s just sort of there, next to the miniature golf course and the lakeshore.

I was there when it opened this morning (11 a.m.) and stood in a line to buy a ticket to ride the roller coaster (its unfortunate official name is the Northwest Bank Legend Roller Coaster). The park has way too many ticket choices (single day passes, ankle bands for toddlers, meal deals, family fun packs, punch cards) and I stood behind ONE family for like 20 minutes while the way-too-helpful woman in the ticket booth helped them choose their fun for the day. (Meanwhile, the other line was lapping mine.) Finally it was my turn and she sold me seven $1 tickets so I could ride the coaster.

Inside, the park was pretty dead when I first walked in. Lots of rides had no riders on them yet, and the teenage boys running the rides looked bored out of their minds. I figured I should ride the “Legend” (built in 1927 and billed as the 13^th oldest wooden roller coaster in the U.S.) before things started getting busy.

I was first in line for the, I think, third ride of the day – so I got the front car. Like the Cyclone at Coney Island (coincidentally built the same year), this roller coaster is a lot more fun than it looks. I thoroughly enjoyed it – but not enough to spend another $7.

After the ride, I walked around and tried to find something else fun to do at the park but, besides taking pictures, I found nothing.

I’d seen a nutty bar stand across from the ticket booth, so I went there for the famous local treat. It did not disappoint.

Okojobi looks like a fun area in the summer. It’s chock-full of summer tourists, many of whom I assume own or rent lakefront property. There’s plenty to do, with sand beaches, boat rentals, jet skis, scuba diving, glass-bottom boat excursions, and various extreme water sports. I saw plenty of good things to eat and drink. It seems like a good family-vacation spot.

Just south of the Iowa Great Lakes is the town of Spencer. I was interested in this town as I drove through, because I (like most other Iowans) know about Dewey, the famous library cat who lived in Spencer.

When I read the book about Dewey, (Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron) I envisioned Spencer as a small, very agricultural, very depressed little town. To read the book, it seemed like the town was barely breathing after a series of unfortunate incidents, including fires and the farm crisis of the 1980s. Well, I found Spencer lovely and delightful and…rich-looking. So surprising! There are flower-lined boulevards, a charming downtown, a gorgeous courthouse, and beautiful historic homes.

I hoped to visit the library, but it’s closed on Sundays. I took a picture of the outside and paid a silent tribute to Dewey, a kitty I would have liked to have known.

There’s a really cool museum in upstate New York with a really bland name — the Museum at Bethel Woods. I would definitely have called it the Woodstock Museum, because that’s basically what it is: a history and reflection of the Woodstock festival and the U.S. during the decade of the sixties.

The museum is part of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, a $100 million outdoor performing arts center located 90 minutes from New York City at the site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival in Bethel, NY. To tell the truth, it’s in the middle of nowhere. But it’s such a thrill to drive on the same road that all those concert-goers drove on back in 1969…and got stuck in traffic and abandoned their cars. To see the acreage where that historic event took place is pretty cool.

Inside the museum, you can settle into a bean-bag chair and watch a surround-video multimedia presentation that takes you right into the crowd and makes you feel as if you actually attended Woodstock (and then struggle to get out of said bean-bag chair, because you’re not a teenager anymore). There’s a theatre where you can watch a 20-minute film featuring performers including Joe Cocker, Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, and all the rest. You can watch a video inside a hippie-fied VW bus. And there are lots more photos and videos and artifacts about the 1960s, the planning of the Woodstock festival, the weather during the festival, all the people who chipped in and fed 400,000 fans, the journey to Woodstock, and lots more.

In the photo: My daughter Lauren fits right in with her tie-dye skirt!

How do I love New York? Let me count the ways. I love the sea of yellow cabs, the smell of diesel, the sidewalks so crowded you can’t possibly walk. I love that you can hop on a subway train and pop back up out of the ground in 10 minutes in a whole new place. I love Little Italy and Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Statue of Liberty.

Most of all, I love Broadway. I love that pre-theatre buzz when everyone in Times Square is rushing to a show. I love coming out of the theatre three hours later and it’s still artificially light and the streets are packed and everyone is clutching a Playbill and people are singing and dancing from whatever show they just saw. I love the Broadway high that lasts for days.

My family and I go to New York every chance we get. My daughters’ 16^th birthdays? Took ‘em to New York. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Gotta see it in New York. Thirtieth anniversary? Darn good excuse to go to New York.

I think I’ve been to New York 16 times. It seems like more. I’ve seen almost 45 shows. I shudder to think how much money I’ve spent on theatre tickets. Especially now, when “premium” seats go for $250 and up.

We flew into Laguardia last Friday and immediately headed for Carnegie Deli, home of kosher sandwiches bigger than your head and $10 slices of cheesecake. I adore this place. The wait staff is rude as hell, and you sit at tables with strangers. All part of the appeal. I’ve never eaten anywhere else where the first thing they do is bring you bowls of pickles.

CONEY ISLAND

We did something on this trip we had never done – and something I’ve wanted to do for a long time: We went to Coney Island. How fun is that?

I’ve always thought of Coney Island as being just an amusement park, but it’s a beach and a neighborhood, too. In fact, we went on Saturday and the amusement park paled in comparison to the crowd on the beach. New Yorkers take their kids and their coolers and their beach balls on the N train from Manhattan to the end of the line all the way out in Brooklyn. (Note to anyone who wants to visit: It takes about 50 minutes from 49th Street.)

Most important to me was riding the Cyclone, an old wooden roller coaster built in 1927. The Cyclone and Nathan’s original hotdog stand are THE Coney Island icons. I knew I wanted to ride the coaster, but I had no idea how much fun it would be. Katie and I squeezed into one car (clearly made for people who were smaller in 1927) and took the plunge…over and over. It’s a hell of a roller coaster! Dave and Lauren opted for the Wonder Wheel (even older!), a Ferris wheel that overlooks the whole area.

Food is also a highlight in Coney Island. It reminds me a lot of the Iowa State Fair. My stomach was queasy after the train ride and the Cyclone, so I opted for an Italian ice. But you can get hotdogs, Philly cheese steaks, cotton candy…you name it.

Dave and I walked out on to the fishing pier and photographed the swimmers while Katie and Lauren went to a flea market next to the subway station. We all got sunburned. It was awesome.

THE SHOWS

I really wanted tickets to “Book of Mormon,” but I refused to pay $400 for a seat, which is what those tickets are going for right now. It’s such a popular show I figure it’ll still be there next time I go, and the tickets will be affordable. Or, it’ll tour and I can catch it in Chicago or somewhere.

So instead, we got rock-star seating for “Catch Me if You Can” and had a fantastic time. I can be cranky when I don’t like a show (just ask my family)…and we had to schlep 10 blocks to the theatre in the pouring rain, so it was a good thing this musical was one of the best I’ve ever seen. I won’t bore you with a review, but the two stars (Aaron Tveit as Frank Abagnale, Jr. – the Leonardo DiCaprio movie role — and Norbert Leo Butz as Carl Hanratty – the Tom Hanks role) were nothing short of amazing. When Butz did his Tony Award-winning “Don’t Break the Rules” number – a James Cagney-esque song and dance — I knew I was in the presence of a true Broadway legend. It gave me chills. I could NOT stop smiling.

Next night (with fewer blocks to the theatre and no rain) we saw the infamous “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” because we figured it would NEVER tour (way too dangerous) and would be a show people would be talking about for years. Not in a good way, but still. I have to say I really liked the first act. The stagecraft was gorgeous and innovative – as you’d expect from fired-director Julie Taymor.  I loved the costumes and choreography. It was a real eye-popper. The music (by U2’s Bono and The Edge) was great.

Unfortunately, there was a second act. Oh my gosh. What happened to the second act? Someone dropped the ball. The show, whose story was admittedly weak even in the first act, took a nose dive and offered neither compelling characters nor interesting special effects, but plenty of fakey chase scenes and stupid villains. It’s a real bummer when the MOST INTERESTING part of the show is when the Spider-Man character and the Green Goblin character got tangled up (or something) when they were soaring very close to our seats…well, whatever happened, they stopped the show and everyone cheered while the stage hands came out and rescued the characters from their high-wire snafu. I mean, what’s “Spider-Man” without a technical glitch?

THE REST

The girls had never walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, so we did that. Katie had never been to Little Italy, nor to the knock-off-purses-and-jewelry paradise that is Canal Street, so we did both. We got hot and tired and cranky, which always happens when my family travels together. We ate Ray’s Pizza. I went to FAO Schwarz. Dave and I ate breakfast at Zabar’s on the Upper West Side like real New Yorkers (they have the best rye bread on the planet). We shopped at Macy’s, ate bagels, bought black-and-white cookies, and had a crazy taxi driver. Why not? It’s New York.

There’s an endless array of activities this holiday weekend. I decided to stay close to home and go to the Fourth of July parade in Ames this morning. I’m pretty sure every man, woman, and child in Ames was there. The closest available parking place was on 11th Street.

My daughter Katie and her dog Charley accompanied me to the parade. We definitely should have worn sunscreen and brought bottled water. We were not prepared. Charley was very excited, since this was her first parade. She loved it when all the little kids came up and played with her. Then the parade started and all the kids went to the curb to be ready for Tootsie Rolls to be thrown. So Charley decided to take a nap under a parked car.

It was a nice parade, but I’m baffled by some of the entries. A snowplow? Why?

I liked the kids and the bands the best. And, of course, Cy.