Magic ensues.
You don’t really see the baseball field as you approach, and
then there it is! Surrounded on three
sides by tall cornstalks, with a beautiful, traditional farmhouse along the
back side, it truly is a sight. Everyone
who approached (including us) seemed to relax and smile and exchange
glances: “Is this for real?” It is.
We hung around for a while, following the basic rituals: standing
at home plate, going through the bases, walking to the corn and stepping inside
and emerging, the way the players did in the movie. (And how eerie it was to watch people do
that; they really did seem to come from nowhere…that corn is
all-encompassing!) We didn’t bring any
balls or bats, but plenty of people did, so we watched kids and adults goof
around on the field. Then we bought a
ton of souvenirs.
I’ve heard that the owners have recently sold the field (and
who can blame them?) and that there are plans for a hotel and ballfields and
tournaments, etc…which I hope doesn’t work out.
The place is perfect as is.
To top off the visit to Dyersville, we popped into Country
Junction restaurant, lured by a sign that said, “Iowa’s Best Pie.” As far as I can tell, that’s no false
brag. I had sour cream raisin with
meringue—still slightly warm from the oven—and Steve had blueberry with ice
cream. Oh, that was heaven, too!
Yesterday we drove up and across Iowa, to Lake Okoboji,
where Steve has a business meeting. On
the way we stopped in Mason City for “the nation’s second best pork tenderloin”
at Susie Q Café. (I love that
modesty!) These were amazing pork tenderloins—not
the “meat as big as your head” school, but a meaty, crisp, thickly battered
delightful sandwich. (We ordered ours “spic
and span,” which meant it came with everything.) Seven seats…and how funny that we chatted
with one of the other customers who was originally from Northern Virginia, our
neck of the woods!
Mason City is the home of Meredith Willson, the author of
The Music Man, so we stopped by his boyhood home, which has been beautifully
restored and learned about his early life…I didn’t know about his
unconventional mother and an artsy sister.
We looked through the museum, admiring the photos from the world
premiere of the movie, right in Mason City (or, “River City,” as it’s known in
the musical), complete with movie stars.
Willson had a great affection for Mason City throughout his life, and it’s
nice to see that the town is still in love with him, too. We were sorry we had to move on without doing
more than driving by the Frank Lloyd Wright house and hotel.
A quick tour of tiny Wesley, Iowa, near where my mother’s
family farm was and a stop at the beautiful church where my parents were
married…then on to Lake Okoboji—one of three blue-water lakes in the world,
spring-fed and 134 feet deep. Last night
we had a boat tour of the lake, along with an amazing show of heat lightning
flashing behind the clouds. Today…? Surely there’s something to eat here, and I
hear there’s an old-fashioned, wooden roller coaster….
