In the morning, we headed to Des Moines, about 40 minutes drive away, and the state capital of Iowa. Our first stop was the State Capitol building, constructed in the typical neo-classical design, complete with a beautiful 23-carat, gold leaf covered central dome. Completed in 1886, visitors can climb to the top and see views of Des Moines as it's the highest point in the city, but we skipped the hike up the staircase on what was already proving to be another hot day. We walked Sheila around the grounds, and even noticed a miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty on the grounds, which was donated by the Boy Scouts of America in 1950 as part of their "Strengthen the Arm of Liberty" campaign.
There were a few nice murals in the city, and we walked through a pretty garden that's part of the World Food Prize, which is basically the Nobel Peace Prize for people working to fight against hunger. The building includes the Hall of Laureates, which recognizes these people, who have created innovations such as hybrid crops that produce twice the annual yield, and ways of improving soil for planting crops.
Zombie Burger: Yummy, But More Zombie Needed
For lunch, we ate at Zombie Burger downtown. Even though it was a weekday, we found parking easily ia couple of blocks up--and parking in the middle of the day was $1.25 an hour! So much cheaper compared to the $10 per hour or so in San Francisco.
The menu at Zombie Burger was hilarious, with names like "Juan of the Dead", "They're Coming to Get You Barbara", and "Undead Elvis" (peanut butter, fried bananas, bacon, cheese and mayo of course) for their burgers. And there were several vegetarian and vegan options for Lisette, who ordered the burger with the breaded mushroom and cheese croquette. We sat outside with Sheila who was given a little bowl of water from the staff there, which is always nice. We enjoyed the burgers, and milkshake (Michael got the chocolate Nutella marshmallow shake), although we haven't figured out why we also received a container of warm, melted cheddar cheese with our order. Was it to pour on the burger? This was a new one for us. The cheese was also good, but we didn't have much of it--we kept it though to ration to Sheila as a treat. The only other suggestion we have for Zombie Burger is that while the names of the burgers were creative, it needs to embrace the Zombie theme more with its decor! Maybe a ghoulish hand instead of a doorknob to enter, zombie outfits for staff, maybe some Frankenstein-like electric chairs to sit on inside?
Pappajohn Sculpture Park
There's a cheap pizza chain called Papa John's all over the country, but it's no relation to Pappajohn Sculpture Park, which has about 30 outdoor sculptures, including the famous "LOVE" sculpture by Robert Indiana, Keith Haring's Three Dancing Figures, and works from other famous artists including Ai Weiwei, Deborah Butterfield, and others. While we missed seeing the World's Largest Garden Gnome in Ames, Iowa, separate to the Pappajohn Sculpture Park we had a quick photo stop at the Giant Garden Trowel, positioned so that it looks ready to start digging.
The Bridges of Madison County
At the Visitor Center when we first arrived in Iowa, we'd been told about the Bridges of Madison County. While many people may immediately think of the novel and movie with the same name (it's set here), the bridges were a real part of rural Iowan history, with at least 19 covered bridges built between 1868-1889. The bridges were constructed with roofs to lengthen their lifespan, and today there are 6 bridges remaining, with 5 being the original ones from over 130 years ago.
It rained sporadically as we drove along to visit all the bridges, which had their names and the date they were completed painted on the roof. Each bridge was painted red on the outside, flanked by white fences, and paved inside. Some of the bridges were more accessible than others, with some having overgrown grass and reeds surrounding it, hindering our ability to walk up or through it, while one bridge was on a narrow road that we couldn't drive into. And of course, the bridges were surrounded by farmland, including cornfields, which we've seen steadily and rapidly grow already on this part of the trip!
As we turned the corner after visiting one of the covered bridges, we narrowly avoided an enormous tractor that was fast coming towards us. We're not tractor experts, but there are some tractors that are massively wide and tall, making it hard to avoid them as they take up both lanes!
John Wayne's Home
In the town of Winterset in Madison County is the birthplace of John Wayne, an American actor that to this day is probably one of the most famous Western movie actors. The John Wayne Birthplace & Museum includes the modest four-room house where he was born in 1907, with the museum next to including a ton of mementos from his life and career, including film posters, costumes, letters, and other memorabilia. While we didn't go inside these, there's a John Wayne statue outside, pavers that list the various movies he starred in, as well as another Iowan Freedom Rock honoring war veterans.
Big Big Chair
After driving through more cornfields and rural Iowan countryside (not much to write other than it can be a very tiring drive with little stimulation!), we struggled to find the big big chair, a massive wooden chair that's on the Wabash Trace Nature Trail. It's a hyper local landmark with not many reviews (from what we can tell, it may now be called something else, as there were votes to name it, and the leader was "Woody Chairelson"), but Lisette and Sheila walked across the road and into the trail, with people running, walking or cycling across it. There, obscured by trees which meant it couldn't be seen from the road, was the big big chair! Sheila was a happy and willing model for the photos, to give the chair scale.
The Squirrel Cage Jail
By the time we arrived at the Squirrel Cage Jail it was closed, but we still took photos outside. Otherwise known as the Pottawattamie County Jail (how fun is it to say that county name?), what's unique about it is that it was one of a number of rotary jails built in the American Midwest in the mid-19th century, and this one is the only three-story one ever made. Costing about $30,000 to build, the unique jail has three floors of pie-shaped cells inside a cage, designed to provide maximum security with minimum jailer attention. Today, there are only 3 revolving jails remaining, in Missouri, Indiana, and this one. Maybe we'll be able to visit one of the other ones as we progress our trip.
Made it to Omaha!
In the evening, we crossed over to Nebraska, state #17 for this trip! There aren't always welcome signs on the highway that we can stop at to celebrate the achievement, but we did stop at the "Welcome to Omaha" sign, above which there are two Union Pacific locomotives. The area is near Lauritzen Gardens, a pretty botanical garden in Omaha. The botanical garden was closing already, and since there weren't many places to stay overnight in the city of Omaha, we ended up driving further south to a park, but the lot was full as people were still out around sunset.
Fortunately, we noticed a nearby cinema that didn't stipulate that overnight parking was not allowed, so we stayed there for the night, leaving our stinky shoes that got saturated in Minneapolis outside. We didn't dry them out immediately (rookie mistake), so while we've put baking soda and used tea bags in them which has made them smell less, they definitely still stink! Will need to give it more of a clean at some point.
Route Map
