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    Black Hawk County Freedom Rock

    5.0 (1 review)

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    Brucemore - Some highlights from inside, but there's so much more!

    Brucemore

    4.4(17 reviews)
    55.3 mi

    I thought I had written a review of Brucemore but hadn't so this is a little late. I took my mom…read more(who had always wanted to go) there in early June. I honestly wasn't excited about going but definitely was wowed. It's worth the price of admission. We had a great tour guide and it was just two of us. Tours are every hour. They definitely have a script but once our guide got warmed up, he shared a lot of information and stories with us. Gardens and property are nice to walk through as well. We were told they didn't have a gardener at the moment but the gardens still looked good. There's a pet cemetery on the property. (The last property owners had lions and monkeys and German Shepherds and other animals throughout their tenure.) Go see it after the tour so you know what you're looking at. Also know that there are some private homes now in in the carriage house and servants' houses so don't explore too much. Very interesting history. Don't miss the basement. (Also know that there are four flights of stairs and no elevator so plan accordingly if needed.)

    Wow! What a cool place. The outdoor part of the property is huge and beautiful for walks or taking…read morein nature but the tour of the mansion is something you don't want to miss. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and the house was so well restored with so much of the original furniture and character from the three eras of Brucemore. So impressed and very grateful to have had the experience.

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    Brucemore
    Brucemore
    Brucemore - Sub 3 2025 this blue festival 2025

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    Sub 3 2025 this blue festival 2025

    Where The Music Died - 2025

    Where The Music Died

    4.9(17 reviews)
    67.3 mi

    This Iowa landmark is one of 4 (that I remember) that requires a drive in the country, while…read moreenjoying the vast stretches of rural beauty. The other 3 are the Estherville Meteorite, the highest point in Iowa (Hawkeye Point at 1670 feet), and the Field of Dreams baseball diamond. 75 years after that fateful plane crash, folks are still coming to the informal shrine to "Where the Music Died". They come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They turn into the small parking lot, not knowing for sure why they're doing it. We arrived as innocent as children, longing for the past. People will come, Ray. OK, that's from Field of Dreams, but it fits. After a brisk walk of about 1/2 mile starting from the big glasses, what I found was a stainless steel guitar and a set of three stainless steel records marking the exact spot where the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, & JP ''The Big Bopper'' Richardson came to rest following their final concert at the Surf Ballroom in nearby Clear Lake. A second monument was erected on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy honoring their pilot, Roger Peterson. Waylon Jennings was also at the Surf that day, but gave up his seat to Richardson, and took the bus. When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said in jest, ''Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up'' and Jennings responded, also in jest, ''Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes''. This would haunt Jennings for the rest of his life. Dad stayed in the car while I completed my lone pilgrimage. The visit was short, the day was cool, and this fan monument was insightful and worth the trip to this lonely stretch where unfortunate history was made. I hope that any person reading this review has a chance to visit here and the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, which is the site of Buddy Holly's last performance.

    Took a detour of the road during my travels today and visited the Buddy Holly Crash Site. Popular…read morespot to stop and view the crazy tragedy that occurred on 2/3/59. The trail head to the crash site (which is located in a corn field) is marked by a large pair of Buddy-Holly type glasses. You can park on the side of the road, and then walk through the corn field on a well-travelled path to the crash site, which has some fan-made memorials there. I placed my sunglasses in the middle of the bridge of Buddy Holly's glasses in the photo attached. True artists and RIP to all that past that day. RIP Highly recommend checking out this spot. Pretty cool to see.

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    Where The Music Died
    Where The Music Died
    Where The Music Died - Memorial at crash site

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    Memorial at crash site

    Lincoln Highway Iowa Seedling Mile - Sign indicating the start of the seedling mile.

    Lincoln Highway Iowa Seedling Mile

    4.5(2 reviews)
    61.5 mi

    The Lincoln Highway was America's first coast-to-coast highway. "Founded" by the Lincoln Highway…read moreAssociation in 1913, it was comprised of extant roads that were marked to show automobilists the way. In the early years, when the Lincoln Highway was being built, if any part of the road was paved at all, it was paved with gravel or macadam. The Portland Cement Association members and Lincoln Highway Association provided states with enough paving material to build one mile of concrete demonstration highway, out in the country, to demonstrate to motorists what a good road could be like. Called "Seedling Miles," the demonstration sections were built out in the country, so if anyone wanted to see what the paved highway of the future would be like, they were forced to drive across lousy roads in order to experience the concrete Seedling Mile. Iowa had only one Seedling Mile, this one on Mount Vernon Road between Mount Vernon (home of Cornell College) and Cedar Rapids. Iowa has now signed the historic highway. You can follow the historic route from the Mississippi River at Clinton to the Missouri River at Council Bluffs by following the signs. As much as this section of highway is historic in nature, I only gave it four stars because you aren't driving on the original concrete from 100 years ago. Linn County tore it up and replaced it a few years ago, but they did put up a monument. Originally, they placed a monument about 4-1/2 miles of east of here but after loud protest from Lincoln Highway enthusiasts, a duplicate marker was placed at the western portal of the Seedling Mile. (The original, misplaced tombstone marker, is located with a kiosk and reproduction bridge in Cedar Rapids, at Lincoln Heights Drive SE. It's a street that was the original route of the Lincoln Highway. It's a loop that avoided a steep hill that has since been cut down that Mount Vernon Road follows.) When you're on this stretch of Mount Vernon Road, you are traveling a section of the most historic highway in the United States, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2013.

    Very understated piece of historical Americana. It's hard to find but once you do pull off the road…read moreand take a few minutes to read the tourism sign. The area could use some weed removal but it's essentially a piece of concrete road.

    Photos
    Lincoln Highway Iowa Seedling Mile - Looking east along the Seedling Mile from the west portal. Note the pavement change to concrete. The monument is to the left.

    Looking east along the Seedling Mile from the west portal. Note the pavement change to concrete. The monument is to the left.

    Lincoln Highway Iowa Seedling Mile - The monument is on the north side of the road, you have to look sharp to see it.

    The monument is on the north side of the road, you have to look sharp to see it.

    Lincoln Highway Iowa Seedling Mile - Looking west along the Seedling Mile from the east portal.

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    Looking west along the Seedling Mile from the east portal.

    Black Hawk County Freedom Rock - landmarks - Updated May 2026

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