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.

Unfortunately when I visited the visitor's center was closed, but I still had a blast! There is a…read morelot that you can park in, and then travel down a path to a bunch of informational displays about the flood in 1993 that carved out this gorge, revealing all of the fossils. Then, you proceed down the path into a gorge, keeping an eye out for fossils. I saw a bunch of fossils on the bank to my right, before I even made it to the gorge. There were a few people scattered walking their dogs, although one group was actively looking to spot fossils and had the brochure from the Army Corps of Engineers about the different fossils present. All in all, this was a great spot to spend an hour walking around. I did see evidence that people have poached fossils from here, which is a shame. Look, but don't take!

Open area with lots to look at. I'm surprised they let people walk over these fossil imprints. Much…read moreof the rock is cracked and loose. Much of the area has numbers imbedded into the ground to help you find the things.

Lovely video before the tour of the studio. This man did a lot of things!…read moreThe studio tour was informative and descriptive of the transition/creativeness of making the loft into a livable space.

Definitely wanted to share my positive experience at this amazing place. The free tour starts with…read morea well-produced video that immerses you into the world of Grant Wood: personal history, career history, accolades and awards, and great backstories to many of his iconic creations. I highly recommend you see this video before attending the art museum, because it is great reference to prime you for what you will see in person. The studio tour is great, and as you are shown all of the features of the studio and are told about its background, what truly amazes is that Wood crafted it all out of a simple, primitive hayloft -- Everything. Keep that in mind, because your respect for him will multiply exponentially. My hosts, Dan and Kevin, were both friendly, accommodating and very knowledgeable -- the passion they both have for the space is authentic and contagious. Extremely pleased I went!

What a great museum. The staff was great and I liked the movie that was shown. They have an ice…read morecream shop inside. The gifts hope was also great. Don't forget to do the house tour next door.

My mom wanted to stop here on a roadtrip she loves the music man and it was fun to see. I just…read moregreat to see set and things from the Movie.

I like to squeeze in a museum when I can in a city that is unfamiliar to me. This stop was truly on…read morea whim. My main reason for dropping by Des Moines was to see an Iowa Wild game. The following day, I had to leave the city and head back to Bloomington. I wanted to do a quick touristy visit somewhere. I did a search and found Jordan House Museum. Driving over here was enjoyable. The leaves were a gorgeous deep red in the area. I had no problem finding the museum. When you are pulling into the parking lot, you do not want to come in at full force. I didn't because I was checking the house out. The lot where you park your car is all gravel. When you walk up to the museum, it is thankfully cement. If you want a tour of the museum, you do need to book online. Even if you book online, it's based on demand. If there aren't enough folks who want to do the tour, it gets cancelled. I saw the cancellation sign on the door. Since I visited because I felt like it, I still learned a lot with the signs and information presented to me. I was not disappointed. I also like self-exploration, which may not be for everyone. Jordan House was built by James Cuttingham Jordan, who was an abolitionist. This house was a station on the Underground Railroad in Iowa. It ended up being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. James Jordan was a cattle farmer from Virginia. He settled in central Iowa in 1846. He was a businessman, organizing the State Bank of Des Moines. He helped bring the railroad to Des Moines. He ultimately ended up being a civic leader, and was elected to both the Iowa Senate and the Iowa House of Representatives. He helped move the state capital from Iowa City to Des Moines. I had no idea that Iowa City was once the state capital. Cool! There is a pathway to history in front of the main entrance of this house, where you can reserve a brick and have it dedicated to a special loved one. I spent a lot of time reading the messages on this pathway. It was highly enjoyable and moving on a Fall day. My favourite saying came from the Caruthers family: Be so awesome today that tomorrow is jealous!!! Three exclamation points. Love it! There was one other woman who had pulled into the lot next to my rental car. She did not do any self-exploration. She went to the main door, saw that the tour was cancelled, headed back to her vehicle, and left. The house is well-maintained on the outside. It has a veranda with a bunch of green chairs. The lawn was recently mowed. The small shrubs around the flags at the front were perfectly trimmed. I had a nice, off-the-cuff visit to this museum. I learned a lot and hope to do a tour inside the museum whenever I'm back in Des Moines for hopefully a longer visit. (458)

Great tour. Guide was very knowledgeable. Home has several of the original articles. We took our 3…read moreteenagers, 2 girls(12&14) and a boy (15), and they all enjoyed it. Not once did they get on their phone due to boredom.

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.

My mother and I loved everything music man in this town. We geo cached around here and had a blast…read more Mason City is a under rated gorgeous town with the history of Music man Musical

Scenic footbridge over Willow Creek named in honor of Meredith Willson. The bridge was originally…read morebuilt so people living in the neighborhoods on the south side of the creek could more easily walk to downtown (the bridge is over a block long and quite high over Willow Creek). The view is scenic with the many trees along the bank of the creek and the water flowing along. I can remember being "impressed" as a child riding across this bridge in a stroller (a cautionary note to parents). The bridge is worth a visit and was named in honor of Meredith Willson, but please note this is not the foot bridge that is an important part of the story in Willson's "Music Man." You will find a small "Till there was you" limestone bridge located in East Park (a few steps north of the site of the original band shell). Also, a little to the west of the band shell, and on the banks of Willow Creek, you will find the foundation of an old wooden footbridge that was once a popular crossing point. Willow Creek makes an attractive turn there with a view of limestone outcroppings. Willson would have been familiar with this location, and it would have been an appropriate location for such a song.