Iowa Girl on the Go

In 1966, the United States was fully immersed in the Vietnam War. Anti-war protests were taking place all across the country. 1966 was also a year for race riots, mini skirts, marijuana, LSD, and psychedelic rock.

During that year, Grinnell, Iowa, was just beginning to feel the effects of this seismic shift in society. Grinnell College was a year or two away from all-out war protests and involvement in the then-still-mostly-underground drug culture.

The 1966 Grinnell College yearbook staff covered that year in stunning black-and-white photos. Photographers Henry Wilhelm, John Phillips, and others captured student life and academics at Grinnell and produced a yearbook with very few words – and, by today’s standards, very little controversy.

But the book WAS controversial. The college administration refused to publish the book. It was not until 20 years later, in 1986, when Wilhelm and fellow Grinnell alumnus Tom Lannom went to then-college president George Drake with a box of photographs and a request to finally print the 1966 yearbook.

Drake writes, “I was stunned by the beauty of the photography as well as the evidence of strong editorial judgment. Grinnell College 1966 is the best college annual I have ever experienced.”

The yearbook is now on exhibit in the Faulkoner Gallery in Grinnell’s Bucksbaum Center for the Arts. Complete pages of the yearbook are on display in their original size, running around the perimeter of the gallery. And 100 photos have been scanned, digitally remastered, and enlarged for the show.

As an old “yearbook geek,” I have a deep appreciation for the process of putting together a year in the life of a college. I think the yearbook is one of the most important historical documents a university can produce – and I think it’s a real shame that most colleges have quit publishing them due to rising costs.

This 1966 Grinnell yearbook is noteworthy not just because of its curious past but also because of the quality of its photography. These photographers captured so much more than a single year – they captured individual stories. After viewing this exhibit, I feel as though I know some of these people. I wish I HAD known them.

Not only is the photography exceptional, but the stark, simple design of the yearbook is outstanding. The type blocks are simple, the lines clean. The remastered digital photos enlarged to poster size for the exhibit contain the grain of the original black-and-white film, and that only adds to their appeal. (Read about the yearbook’s photographers here – each went on to a successful career in photography and/or journalism.)

I highly recommend a visit to Grinnell to view this exhibit. The 1966 Yearbook Project is on display in the Falconer Gallery through June 3. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., with evening hours (until 8 p.m.) on Thursdays and Fridays.

A companion exhibit is on display at the Burling Library adjacent to the Bucksbaum Center. “There’s Something Happening Here” tells the story of Grinnell’s activism from the years 1969 through 1973. The exhibit, located on the library’s lower level, contains photographs, newspaper clippings, signs, posters, artwork, and other artifacts. Don’t expect a museum-caliber exhibit from this one because it’s not. But if you’re on campus, it’s worth a stop. (Drugs! Nudity! Peace signs! What’s not to love about that?)

By a stroke of sheer coincidence, I was able to attend two performances this week that took me back to an era of early rock ‘n’ roll.

The first performance was Memphis the Musical, now playing at the Des Moines Civic Center. Memphis is the 2010 Tony Award winner for best musical and best original score. And from the looks of the promotional photos, it was one hot musical.

But, in reality, not so hot. The story of the white radio DJ in the 1950s who falls in love with the gospel and rhythm-and-blues sound of the black community – and also falls in love with a young, up-and-coming black singer – left me fairly cold. I kept thinking that somehow it should have been better, more meaningful. I didn’t find myself caring much about any of the characters, and while the music and dancing were very good, there wasn’t anything that, as the show says, “touched my soul.” The story was weak, and the music just couldn’t lift the show to a higher level.

Last night I attended a much smaller (much less expensive) show: “Rave On!”, a tribute to Buddy Holly at the Des Moines Playhouse. It had me up on my feet. In fact, it had everyone in the theater (and, mind you, the median age of the audience was 65) on their feet.

“Rave On!” stars Billy McGuigan as Buddy Holly, backed by the excellent six-piece Rave On Band. Unlike The Buddy Holly Story, a musical I’ve seen three times, “Rave On!” is not bogged down by a story line. It’s just pure fun and hand-clapping rock ‘n’ roll. McGuigan and the band performed every Buddy Holly song I’ve ever heard, and then some. Toward the end of the show, they did a rocking medley of the top songs from Holly’s era – songs by Elvis Presley, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, The Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry. And everyone sang along to  Don McLean’s “American Pie.”

It was a whole lot more fun than Memphis.

Des Moines is fortunate to be home to a number of excellent bakeries. South Union is probably the best known; you can get sandwiches on this bread all over the metro. But La Mie — ooh la la. The bakers at La Mie are masters at practically everything, from the most basic baguette to the fanciest pastry.

In my opinion, this place can do nothing wrong. I am a huge fan of their scones (especially the raisin pecan). They are the absolute best scones I’ve ever tasted. The bakers at La Mie produce amazing baguettes and ciabatta bread. Their breakfasts and lunches are delicious. I have never eaten anything there that wasn’t fabulous. I absolutely adore their vegetarian sandwich with avocado, cream cheese, and pesto on foccacia bread. Other sandwich offerings include grilled brie and provolone; tuna with carrots, almonds, and currants; and portobello with spinach, red peppers, and chevre.

Salads at La Mie are equally delicious. Here’s one: roasted beets, walnuts, and roquefort. And how about apple, avocado, and almonds with feta and dried cranberries?

Breakfast features omelettes such as fromage (roquefort and brie), fresh asparagus with brie and créme fraîche, and shaved ham with baby Swiss.

But in my opinion the star of the show here is the bread: Challah, cranberry walnut, cinnamon raisin walnut, wheat, rye, olive ciabatta, and more. La Mie’s crusty European-style artisan breads are made by hand and baked on site.

Pastries include flaky fruit, cheese, and lemon danish; buttery croissants (plain, chocolate, ham and Swiss, spinach and feta, and a to-die-for almond); cinnamon rolls, pecan rolls, puff pastries, and more.

The best time to go to La Mie is Saturday morning. I love it on Saturday morning even though I’m not a big fan of crowds. And oh, believe me, it’s very crowded. You’ll be lucky to get a table, or even a stool at the communal bar. And you’ll stand in a very long line to buy bread and pastries or order food. But it’s totally worth it. Compared to other days of the week, the bread and pastry selection is better and the vibe is pure urban Parisian.

I haven’t mentioned desserts, mostly because with all the yummy pastries, who needs ’em? But they offer French macarons, opera cake, chocolate caramel tarts, and a selection of cookies and other tarts. I’m sure they’re as good as they sound.

La Mie is located at 841 42nd Street, right off of I-235 in the Shops at Roosevelt. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

I don’t pretend to be a trivia buff. It’s a well-known fact that I dislike games, and my family knows that I’m flat-out terrible at Trivial Pursuit. My mind is not razor sharp. I prefer to think about things for awhile, mull them over a bit, consider the philosophical ramifications of my answers. And, if all else fails, look things up on the Internet.

So when I heard about Cy’s House of Trivia, an event sponsored by the Iowa State Athletics Department, six years ago, it didn’t interest me in the least — especially since I just assumed it was about sports trivia.

But I had a good friend whose team did well that first year, and she said it was a blast. She also set me straight that it wasn’t about sports and that as a team you had a few minutes to come up with answers before making a final decision. Not as bad as I had imagined.

The second year of the event, my friend David Orth asked my husband, Dave, and me to be on a team. He and his wife, Bonnie, were putting a group together with some of their friends. Dave is a trivia nut — he’s really competitive and REALLY good — so he jumped at the chance to compete. David and I were there more for the fun and, as it turns out, the bad beer.

That first year, our team started out not even knowing each other really. And we certainly weren’t in it to win. Except for Dave. By the fifth round, we were in the top three and we started getting excited that we could win this thing. We ended up in second place, and from that point on, we had a team and we were hooked on this event.

That was five years ago. Our team — made up of the Orths, Dawn Taylor, Mary Taylor, Anne Taylor, and Chris Limburg — has more or less stayed intact, and we’ve all become good friends. We get together socially now and then, and we always have a party before the trivia contest where we consume some good food and decent beer before heading over to Hilton Coliseum.

Our team’s name started out “Frequently Wrong but Never in Doubt.” That pretty summed up our attitude. Unfortunately, when we signed up for the event, the organizers told us that name was way too long, so we had to shorten it. We became Team Never in Doubt.

Over the years, we have finished in the top 12 teams each time — twice finishing in the money (top 3), rewarded by free tickets to a women’s basketball game and an embarrassing introduction at halftime at said games. I’m not saying that I’m a good luck charm or help the team in any meaningful way, but the team’s worst finish was last year (12th), the one year I didn’t participate because I was in Italy.

Competition has gotten a lot stiffer. This year’s winning team had a Jeopardy champion as one of its members. And the sheer number of teams has tripled since the first year we participated. This year, 88 groups fielded a team. We finished tied for 9th — not too shabby.

Here’s how the evening works: You show up at Hilton, find out where your team’s table is located, get a wristband, and head down to the floor. The entire floor is filled with tables of eight with an extra chair for “celebrity” participants who rotate from table to table. The first part of the evening is spent eating, drinking (the food and beer have improved considerably since that first time), filling out information sheets, doing a little trash talk with the other teams, buying mulligans for later, that sort of thing. It’s a fundraising event for the Athletics Department, so there is also the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets to win fabulous prizes like autographed footballs.

The night really begins with the introduction of the celebrity participants — mostly current ISU coaches and former star players. Last night’s event was pretty special. Head football coach Paul Rhoads, men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg, women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly, volleyball coach Christy Johnson, and basketball superstar Royce White were all among the VIPs. White sat at our table first, and I couldn’t resist getting my picture taken with him. I have to say that he seems to be a nice young man who has taken his sudden fame and success in stride.

The really important part of the evening, of course, is the trivia contest itself. It’s organized into eight rounds of 10 questions each with a break at halftime during which cheerleaders bring out pizza. Categories last night included sports mascots, math, social media, and music to name a few. Our team was not thrilled with the categories since several of them proved to elicit nothing more than wild guesses. The serious trivia types on our team like more of a challenge. I’ll take a true-false category any time — it gives me a 50/50 chance.

By the end of the evening, it was clear that we weren’t going to be the big winners. But we drank our share of beer and enjoyed the camaraderie and, in the true spirit of competition, declared that there’s always next year.

My travel schedule has me sticking close to home when it’s not flinging me across the country. So my Iowa Girl adventures are being severely curtailed.

Instead of going to Pella for Tulip Time in a few weeks (when the tulips will – sadly! – already be gone) I went to Reiman Gardens instead.

Reiman Gardens is the 14-acre botanical center located on the Iowa State campus in Ames. Right now, the gardens are exploding with color. Tulips are absolutely everywhere. Catch them soon because they won’t last long.

Next Saturday (April 14) a special LEGO exhibit will open at the gardens. Some Assembly Required will feature 27 sculptures made from nearly 500,000 LEGOS, ranging in size from 6 inches to nearly 8 feet. That exhibit will run through Oct. 28.

Other major events this summer include the Rose Fest on June 16 and the Garden Art Fair on July 8.

Reiman Gardens is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, hours are extended to 6 p.m.

I took a walk in the woods of McFarland Park north of Ames this weekend to see how the wild flowers are coming along. In a word, they are amazing. Wild ginger, trout lilies, violets, Dutchman’s breeches, bluebells (my favorite), lots of teeny little flowers that I don’t know what they’re called. Have a look:

Even my backyard looks like a park:

Hey y’all. I’m back in Iowa after a 10-day, five-state tour of the Deep South. Highlighting my travels were: three plates of fried green tomatoes, four college campuses, 18 of Savannah’s 21 historic squares, one civil rights gathering in Birmingham, pine forests in Alabama, the loveliest cemetery in the world, and bountiful spring color everywhere we went.

This trip was part of my 50-state alumni magazine project, tacked on to a magazine editors’ conference in Atlanta. So that’s where we started: Atlanta.

The capital of Georgia, Atlanta is home to 420,000 people – and a metropolitan area of more than 5.2 million inhabitants. Atlanta is not a particular Southern-feeling city. It’s sprawly and traffic-y. I stayed downtown in the Atlanta Sheraton, close enough to walk to some of Atlanta’s top attractions. I didn’t have much time to explore, but I did spend some time in Centennial Olympic Park, a 21-acre park built for the 1996 Olympic Games (above). Nearby are the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, and CNN. I visited the aquarium several years ago, and I think it is the best aquarium in the country.

I ate some very good food in Atlanta. Twice I went out with alumni who live in the area; they took me to excellent restaurants that I would have never discovered on my own (Spoon, a Thai restaurant; and Rathbun’s, serving modern American cuisine). I also went out with a group of editors to Pittypat’s Porch, a Southern dining experience for tourists just down the street from our hotel. There I ate the first of the aforementioned plates of fried green tomatoes. They were melt-in-your-mouth delicious, with just the right amount of spice.

The hands-down highlight in Atlanta was a meal at Pura Vida Tapas in the oh-so-wonderful-and-funky Virginia Highland area northeast of downtown. The last time I was in Atlanta I stayed at a small, independent hotel in this area and discovered Pura Vida on the first night. The food was divine. We ended up eating there three nights in a row. It’s there I discovered the truly well-made mojito. I also developed a bit of a crush on Raul, the bartender. Alas, I had to leave Atlanta after three nights.

While I simply could not pass up the opportunity to revisit Pura Vida (translation: “life is great”), I worried that it would have changed and that my memories of those three nights would be somehow tarnished. But I could not have been more wrong. The Cuban-inspired restaurant looked and felt exactly the same. I found my place at the bar just as before. Raul was gone, but a young bartender perfectly fit the role of Raul 2.0.

My dining companion, photographer Jim Heemstra, and I started with the malanga root chips with cremini mushroom dip and truffle oil (that’s Jim’s photo of the dish above). I don’t exactly know what malanga chips are, but I believe I ordered this dish all three nights on my previous visit. They were just as delicious and memorable this time around – presented beautifully lined up on a skinny white plate. We then ordered a tofu dish (and other mysterious but delicious ingredients) recommended by the bartender, a cheese plate, and some spiced almonds. Every bite sent me reeling. This is the best restaurant on the planet. Oh, and they still make a mean mojito.

Leaving Atlanta, we headed to Savannah, Ga. This was a bit of a gift, really, as we had scheduled a photo and interview with an alumna at CNN who cancelled just before I left Ames. Savannah is one of my favorite cities, so it was a real treat to have a few hours there before we had to get back to work.

I had visited Savannah only once before, a few years ago with my family. Dave and I had walked to all 21 historic-district squares, each one a little oasis and each one a little bit different from the others. I wanted to do that again this time, but I didn’t know if we’d have time. It turns out that we made it to 18 squares plus Forsyth Park – Savannah’s first recreational park built in the 1840s. We also visited my other favorite spot in Savannah, the astonishingly lush and beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery (below). Between the squares and the cemetery, I enjoyed a full afternoon of live oaks and azaleas, extraordinary landscape design, historic statuary, fountains, and gazeboes. If I ever go back to Bonaventure in the spring, I will remember to bring mosquito repellant.

This trip featured, for no particular reason, quite a number of alumni associated with college campuses. We started with South Carolina State in Orangeburg. From there, we traveled to Auburn, Alabama. On the recommendation of the Auburn alumni magazine editor, we stayed at the Auburn University Hotel – really a lovely place. It’s across from the campus and just down the street from enough bars and restaurants to satisfy any traveler for a week or longer.

We stayed just two nights but enjoyed The Mellow Mushroom and Amsterdam Café (where I had my third plate of fried green tomatoes – pictured at left. I failed to mention plate No. 2, served in a Savannah brewpub, because they were virtually inedible.)

Besides the hotel and restaurants, highlights of our Auburn stay were a trip to a pine forest owned by an Iowa State alumnus (above) and a visit to Tuskegee University. Tuskegee is famous for its founder, Booker T. Washington, for the scientific discoveries of George Washington Carver (also an ISU alum), and for the Tuskegee Airmen. The entire campus of Tuskegee University was designated a national historic landmark in 1965. We stopped by the George Washington Carver Museum (below), and I had a great interview with an Iowa State Ph.D. graduate who is currently on the Tuskegee faculty.

After leaving Auburn (sadly…I could have stayed much longer), we headed north to Birmingham. After our work there was finished, we visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and surrounding district, which includes Kelly Ingram Park and Sixteenth Street Baptist Church (below), both significant sites in the civil rights movement. We arrived in the park just as a civil rights meeting was ending. The meeting featured Bishop Calvin Woods, president of the Birmingham Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who actually worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The museum itself puts into context the turbulent 1960s civil rights struggle by African Americans in the South through a short film, photos, a timeline, video clips, artwork, and more. It is a sobering experience.

I could have spent much more time in Birmingham. It’s a lively city with a vibrant arts community. But we had to keep moving, so off we went toward Oxford, Miss. En route we stopped at Elvis Presley’s birthplace just for grins and to get out of the damn car to stretch our legs.

We didn’t pay the 12 bucks they wanted for an entrance fee (to what???) Basically all there is to the place is the tiny two-room home in which Elvis was born in 1935 and the church he attended as a boy (moved to the site). Yawn!

Oxford is a cool town and home to the University of Mississippi. The historic Oxford Square (below) had even more bars and restaurants than Auburn, plus a lot of (pricey) shops and THREE bookstores.

We ate at a restaurant called 208 South Lamar (left), which was nice but a little overpriced – and I think I was still hungry when I left. And I killed a bug crawling down the wall next to me, which always creeps me out at a restaurant. The next day, we walked the campus of Ole Miss (below). It’s just as pretty as you think it will be, with dogwood and azaleas blooming everywhere and lovely Southern architecture and landscaping. We went to lunch with our alumnus, who is on the faculty there, at a fun restaurant called City Grocery. I had a very good grilled vegetable sandwich so big that it made up for the smallish food served the previous night.

It was beginning to turn into the restaurant tour of the South. Between all the good food and all the sitting in the passenger seat, I think I may have put on a few pounds on this trip. After a great time in Oxford (if you don’t count the miserable night spent in the Comfort Inn, where we shared the motel with a very loud construction crew) we headed to Memphis, a quick hour-and-a-half drive north.

Memphis is an interesting city. The alumna we met with works in the criminal justice system, and she described Memphis in no uncertain terms as a high-crime city – with an active drug scene and a serious gang problem. We stayed near the river and not far from Beale Street, the Memphis equivalent of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street. Beale at night is a mix of tourists and locals, which has the potential to create a rather scary human stew. We didn’t stay long – just long enough to photograph her and fend off curious onlookers (and snap a picture of me, too, above). I will say one thing about Memphis: It has a really pretty Mississippi River Bridge.

We drove home the next morning. There’s nothing like a nice little 11-hour drive to cap off a tour of the South.