on the road again

yesterday, which feels like years ago, we headed north and then west after our fllw tour. while wisconsin is beautiful, it was somewhat obscured by the rain, so we just drove as fast as we could, weather permitting. when we passed over the mississippi river into minnesota, we were greeted by some very ominous looking clouds coming over the cliffs. however, once we crossed said cliffs, the sun somewhat magically came out, much to our relief. (the picture at top was taken at the minnesota welcome center). after a few more hours of driving we decided to spend the night in none other than...blue earth, minnesota. of course, it was still daylight when we pulled into our motel at 9:30, so night at that point was a bit of a stretch. at this point we had spent most of the last three days driving, so we were pretty wiped. and minnesota, at least the rural southern part we drove through, was not too terribly exciting--much like the parts of wisconsin we had seen, though still pretty. and for the record, i did enjoy the parts of minneapolis i got to see when i spent a weekend there a couple years ago.

when we woke up in the morning, we discovered that not only does blue earth claim to be the home of the ice cream sandwich, but it is also home to a 60+ foot tall green giant. no joke--that's him to the left. we stopped for a quick gander and then, once again, hit the road. pretty soon we passed into the land where i have decided that dreams come true--south dakota. a lot of my desire to go on this road trip in the first place originated with sd--the badlands, rushmore, the black hills, and north by northwest, the great hitchcock film. we pulled into the visitors center at the first rest stop, and were greeted by a giant tipi, as wiki tells me it is now spelled. we discovered later that many of south dakota's rest areas have them--i suppose that if tourism was one of your state's largest industries that you would play it up too.

one of the first things we ran into in south dakota was just as bizarre as the jolly green giant--a rather large sculpture garden just sitting off the side of i-90. we decided to explore further, having had a review in its favor given to us by the biker couple at the b&b back in wisconsin. this is what we found:
and yes, that is a giant bull's head in profile towards the back. we wandered around a little, but not too far because we didn't want to have to pay to enter. my favorite was this fish, which was on the drive up from the highway to the rest of the pieces. this sculpture garden was outside of mitchell, and in mitchell proper we saw the under-whelming corn palace, which is decorated with corn on the outside, and has murals made of corn on the inside. originally built in the late 19th century to try and draw more immigrants to populate the region, it is little more than a hokey tourist draw. and i say that while still appreciating the history behind it and that it is frequently used as the town convention center for community events and basketball games. oh well, there you go daddy. i saw lots of dead and dried corn.


needless to say, we did little but stop and see it and then move on. we made it as far as wall, south dakota, which is as far as we were aiming to get. wall is, of course, famous for its drug store. why is this store so famous you ask? because it is. in the early 20th century the owners of wall drug realized that they did not have enough customers to keep themselves afloat, so they started to give away ice water and plastered the roads leading to wall with signs advertising this. soon their operation expanded and it became famous simply for being famous. it now occupies an entire block and sells just about anything that can pass as touristy or drug store related. it also has a good bookstore, specializing in local books, and still sells coffee for just 5 cents and gives away ice water. while almost as hokey as the corn palace, i think that wall drug is still worth a stop. if you find yourself near here, grab a coffee and watch the locals eat breakfast in the cafe and enjoy the fantastic collection of western art on the walls.

we spent the night at the sunshine inn, a nice mom and pop run motel in wall, and recommend it if you happen to find yourself here. we prepared for our day in the badlands national park, which i was very, very excited about.
this morning we started out at wall drug, where we both had 5 cent coffee and delicious gigantic cinnamon rolls. you can tell that it is early in the morning because my eyes are still practically closed. from there we headed out to the minuteman national historic park, located just a few miles from wall. for those of you in need of a history lesson, the minuteman missile system was in place for over 30 years during the cold war, serving to deter the soviets from sending any missiles our way. each one had the power of 3/4 of all of the bombs used during world war two. the stations, like the one pictured below, were scattered all across the plains states. today, this one is preserved as a historic site. the missiles were of course underground, manned by two people at all times, ready to aim their missile at a moments notice--it could have been in moscow in only 30 minutes, hence the name of the missiles. people driving by probably just thought that it was part of a power station or something. it made me glad the cold war was over--but then, are we really any less paranoid about national security today? after a quick stop, though, we were on to the badlands!

the america of frank

the hillside school at taliesin

frank lloyd wright was raised in wisconsin, and considered his family farm there home until his death in 1959. his very first building was, in fact, a commission for his aunts, who ran a school on the estate in 1889, if i am remembering correctly. called hillside, fllw rebuilt it several times, sometimes because of fires and sometimes just....because. it eventually passed into fllw's hands and became his school of architecture, and was repurposed to that effect. the school continues to operate to this day, as does the community that fllw built at taliesin. it functions as a self-sufficient community, with the students doing farm work and older architects mentoring and leading the operation, as well as bringing in commissions. it is run by a foundation, and some of the mentors, now in their 80s or as old as 97, knew fllw himself. we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so if you want to see some, find them on the internet. nearby is what is known as the romeo and juliet windmill, which he created in the 1890s as a working windmill to power the school. everyone thought it would blow down because of its strange and unconveniontial design, but it didn't. at least not until the 1990s, when it was torn down and rebuilt. even cypress only lasts so long in the wisconsin weather.

fllw built his own home surrounding the crown of a neighboring hill, almost in the shape of a c. technically the house is taliesin (tah-lee-es-zin), meaning 'shining brow' in welsh, but the name is also used to refer to the entire estate. the picture above is of the entryway, while the one to the left is of the garden leading up to the top of the hill and the wraparound of the building. he worked on this house almost continuously until his death in 1959, often expanding it or making way for such innovations as the automobile. the building also saw such tragedies as the murder of his true love along with her children and seven servants by another servant. the house also was subjected to two fires and was redone more than even hillside was. by the 1950s, he and his students were only living in taliesin in the summer months (i can't imagine trying to heat the thing), and they wintered at taliesin west in arizona.

for those of you who do not know anything about fllw, he was all about creating freedom with his buildings, as well as a connection with nature. he makes extensive use of continuous lines and large windows, which are particularly effective in the beautiful wisconsin landscape. he also employs such techniques as using the same rock floors inside and out, as well as contouring to the landscape--for example, having the roofs match the slant of the hills, or at hillside having the building literally descend with the hill. interestingly, he also does this somewhat strange (but effective) thing where he has a purposefully low ceiling at the entrance into a room (and i mean low--maybe 6 feet; apparently he was short), and then a much higher ceiling in the room proper to create a sense of tension and release. it is also quite effective is she in addition, he makes great use of indirect lighting, glass doors, and creatively placed windows to create great lighting. he wanted his architecture to be a gift to the american people, and i certainly think he succeeded.

while it was quite expensive, we really did enjoy our 2 hour tour. our guide was great--apparently besides being an expert on everything fllw and taliesin, she works on her family farm as well. the only thing which would have improved our experience would have been no rain at all (it rained, thankfully, only while we were inside) or for our host to have a stronger wisconsin accent. in the bookstore and on our tour we got to talking with this group of 4 older women from richmond. they were part of a book club who had read a couple books about fllw, and so had decided to go on a tour centered on him, going from chicago up to taliesin. they were a lot of fun--i was glad that we met them. on our way out of town we passed through spring green, where even the fire department, banks, and churches are all styled after fllw, pictured to the left. talk about an impact. after a couple of hours of driving through land that looked a lot like this (though taken at taliesin), we left wisconsin for minnesota.

ode to the plains

iowa

dear farmers of iowa and wisconsin,

thank you for preserving what rural america should be like.

sincerely,

rebecca and laura

if i could mail the above message to every farmer in these two beautiful states, i would. i never thought that i would want to spend any time at all in iowa, but i find myself actually wanting to go back. there is something incredibly peaceful about rolling hills and fields of corn, even if they are barely sprouts. in addition, every farm that we saw was taken care of with pride and love--maybe this is due to the vast numbers of germans and scandinavians who settled in the area. while the one i got a picture of is all red, not all of them were. it really was beautiful, and with the exception of some high-tech grain silos, could be exactly as it was one or two hundred years ago.

we stopped in dyersville, iowa to see our first actually planned stop--the field of dreams movie site. even today it is actually still a functioning farm, and the souvenir shop is still run by members of the family, some of whom appeared as extras in the film. apparently they get an average 65,000 visitors a year--quite a lot for a farm in the middle of nowhere, iowa. there was a family playing catch on the field, and a few more people on the sidelines. we weren't able to go into the house, seeing as how people live there, but were able to walk around. unfortunately the corn was only sprouts, but it was still pretty awesome to see--and it's free, if you find yourself in the area. of course, it helps if you go on a day as beautiful as that we happened upon.

after leaving the field of dreams we happened upon a sign on the side of the highway for trappists, so we exited to go find the abbey. called the new melleray abbey, it was set in the beautiful iowa fields in the midst of some giant trees that must have planted when the abbey was founded about 160 years ago. we went into the church, pictured, to pray, only to find that someone was apparently being given an organ lesson. this particular monastery is known for its woodworking, and they had some beautiful walking sticks, birdhouses, and caskets for sale, although the last was a bit morbid.

after another hour or so of iowa, we came to wisconsin, land of cheese and green bay packers. the southwest corner of wisconsin, as we found out later, was the only part of the state not leveled by the glacier which flattened the rest of the state and great lakes. like iowa, it was beautiful, with rolling hills which turned into bluffs pretty quickly. we headed up to spring green, near the home of frank lloyd wright, on the docket for later. a little further north is the small town of plain, population 791. here we spent the night at the bettinger bed and breakfast, pictured below.run by the very friendly elderly couple jim and marie, we really enjoyed our stay. jim particularly, had a fantastic wisconsin accent since he was born in the northern part of the state. we ate a picnic dinner which we had picked up at a local grocery, and then hit the sack. we, or at least i, woke up groggily to a house full of cheerful folk ready for breakfast--rounding out the guests were a biker couple from kansas and an attorney and his wife from michigan. we sat down to a delicious repast of asparagus crepes, fresh fruit salad, fresh sausage, fresh pineapple pound cake, and fresh rhubarb sauce (like applesauce, but made of rhubarb, which i love). just a note about food in wisconsin: our host grew his own asparagus and rhubarb, and collected wild black raspberries for the fruit salad. in addition, there was a fabulous butcher shop in town with tons of delicious looking meat cuts, and i'm not even a meat person. this morning on our way out, in addition to the butcher, we visited a local cheese-maker, and stocked up for the rest of the trip. and this is real cheese, sealed in wax. talk about legit. currently, i am sitting in the visitor's center for taliesin, wright's home. tour in a couple hours, wisconsin below.

all right, then, i'm going to hell

hannibal, mo

friday morning mum and i explored the town of hannibal, missouri, which produced sam clemens, aka mark twain. just about everything in the old downtown pays homage to its most famous son. the block on which he lived is almost perfectly maintained, down to the brick street, all of it lovingly restored by a vigorous community of retired folk. it was neat to see all of these sites because there is a direct correlation between his life in hannibal and his works--for example, next to his childhood home (at left) is the fence which inspired the story of tom sawyer convincing other boys in town to pay him to paint his own fence. today you can write your name on the fence for $10 to help pay for preservation. across the street is the home of the girl who was the model for becky thatcher, the girl on whom tom sawyer had a crush.

in addition, there are two museums, bookstores, antique shops, and restaurants all named after twain (the title of this post is a quote of his). even this coke machine had his face on it, though the glare makes it a little hard to see. while twain is most well-known for the characters of tom sawyer and huck finn, he wrote many many other books besides. i bought a copy of 'roughing it' at one of the museum shops--it is his memoirs of his travels in the west, including his time spent in various occupations out there, filled with just as many tall tales as actual facts. i hope that i get to it by the time i make it that far west.

perhaps what twain loved most was the mississippi river. not only do several of his novels involve the great american river, but he wrote a travelogue about his time on the river called 'life on the mississippi.' of the river at hannibal he said 'the extensive view up and down the river is ... one of the most beautiful on the mississippi,' and it is easy to see why. twain, perhaps correctly, bemoaned all the attention paid to the lower part of the river--the lower mississippi, while giant, sprawls, and does not even normally have real banks. the upper river, while not as wide, is equally impressive. the picture below was taken by the bank at hannibal, facing south.my personal favorite of all of twain's quotes about the mississippi is as follows, from a letter he wrote to will bowen in 1866: 'the only real, independent & genuine gentlemen in the world go quietly up and down the mississippi river, asking no homage of any one, seeking no popularity, no notoriety, & not caring a damn whether school keeps or not.' maybe this is true--there are few things as american as the mississippi. it has a gigantic effect on the entire country and its imagination. as twain also noted, the lower mississippi alone shortens itself each year--on average, over a mile per year. this is something which we cannot control, no matter how hard we try--something like how so many view americans, stubborn and determined to get their way (are they wrong?).

after wandering around the town a little more, we left hannibal, and shortly thereafter, missouri. it was a nice state: wilder than illinois to the east or iowa to the north, as you can kind of see below.

four states. one day.

indiana

bright and early this morning my mum and i left the home of our wonderful cousins. heading out of lexington we stopped at keeneland, the horse racetrack for the city, located just a little west of town. while it was empty, seeing as how the races only run there in april and october, they still train horses on the track in the early morning. we hung around long enough to see a few horses go around the track, the jockeys wearing jeans--and although the horses were certainly not going fast enough to set any new records, it was still pretty neat to see.

from lexington we headed northwest to indianapolis for a (very) brief side-trip. after driving for a few hours in countryside which looked like the picture up top, we finally arrived. it was a bigger city than either of us thought! we drove around for a few minutes trying to find the elusive war monument downtown, which is supposedly a big obelisk in the middle of town, but our search proved futile. not to be discouraged, we headed out to the racetrack, for cars this time, to see it and go to the indianapolis hall of fame. for a small museum, and for the five dollars we paid between us (with a triple a discount), it was definitely worth it. we got to see all sorts of old-fashioned cars, including the one pictured, which is a really, really old car that dates back to 1886. i'm not even sure it counts as a car--imagine driving in that. we saw everything from that to the car that danica patrick drove in her first race up here at indy, in which she placed fourth. i also got to sit in a model car, which was cool. they're really small, and hard to get in and out of: i felt like i barely fit. they also had the trophy that they give out to indy 500 winners, along with a whole bunch of other trophys, medals, and everthing else you can win in racing.
when we were done with the racetrack we headed west towards springfield, illinois. it took a few hours of driving, and it rained on us pretty hard, but we got there eventually. on our way, we stopped in montezuma, indiana at davey's restaurant for a bite to eat at one of those places where there is one waitress and one cook (it was his birthday, too). really good onion rings--we both had enough friend foods for a while. we got to springfield, the capital of illinois just barely before 5, so we had enough time to dash in the visitor's center and grab a map. we walked around town, angling toward the house that lincoln lived in before he headed to the white house. they have done a great job preserving the block he lived on, so you can really get a feel for what it was like in 1860. lincoln's house is pictued to the right, from the angle it is most frequently photographed. and the rest of springfield has been lovingly restored in this recent era of appreciating the past. even the old train depot he gave his farewell address from and the old capital building are almost prestine. i really enjoyed it--we grabbed lemonade (for me) and double chocolate mint gelato (for mum), and then hit the road again.

we rolled out of springfield about 6.30, heading for hannibal, missouri--we did gain an hour crossing into illinois, so don't be too shocked by the time we made. but first we had a couple of hours driving through the 'prairie state,' pictured below. i came to the conclusion that rural/small town indiana was nicer than its illinois counterpart, but that illinois does cities better.
by the time we crossed the mississippi into missouri, the sun was setting, creating the beautiful scene below. hannibal is north of st. louis, nestled on the hills bordering the great american river, and was called home by that of american authors, mark twain. we only decided to come to hannibal--or stop in springfield or indianapolis, for that matter--today while we were driving, and i really couldn't be happier that we did. we rolled into hannibal to the sounds of a local band playing oldies as well as new music on a street in the middle of town. since there was still enough daylight, i walked around town a little, enjoying the music and the old town. they sure are proud of their most famous son here. half the town revolves around twain--restaurants, stores, tour boats, hotels. it really is great small town, nice and quaint without being kitschy. now we are checked into our hotel, and have wandered back into town to a local wine bar with wifi. the concert just finished, so the bar is flooded with patrons over the age of 50, all of them enjoying the company of friends and family before they call it a night. what a way for my mum and i to finish our first day on the road together. tomorrow: missouri, iowa and wisconsin, and of course more driving.

the sun shines bright

the abbey of gethsemani

tuesday, the first of june, was my second full day in the bluegrass state, so-called because the kind of grass that grows here is...blue-ish. in the morning i went to the abbey of gethsemani, a trappist monastery a little over an hour outside of lexington just past bardstown. gethsemani is a trappist monastery, and is the oldest monastery in the united states still in operation: it was founded in 1848, and is still considered the 'mother house' for all trappist monasteries in the usa. its other claim to fame is that it was home to catholic thinker and writer thomas merton. like much else, it was set in the beautiful kentucky countryside. i went into the church to pray and then sat outside and read for a couple of hours. nothing like a little time in a monastery in the countryside to make one feel at peace.

after driving back to kexington, blair and i went to eat at a fantastic middle eastern restaurant for lunch. a full plate of hummus, babaganoush and falafel later, we left to go to the headly-whitney museum, again in the countryside around lexington. it is set on the former farm of george w. headley iii, who was a famous jewelry designer in the 1940s out in hollywood. he had a boutique in a big hotel in l.a., so he would put a diamond encrusted collar on his little dog, named ernie, and send it out to the pool area to mingle with rich people. apparently he got a lot of clients using this method. the museum itself was a neat collection of odds and ends (or bibelots in french) and a seashell grotto, which is building entirely decorated with seashells on the inside and looked both artistic and quite bizarre. blair and i walked around a little, enjoying the day, and then headed back home.

not that my day was over yet. once home, jack and i left to go the neighborhood pool, which was way better than my own back home. this one went to ten feet deep and had a diving board, as well as lifeguards. after two hours of water gun wars, in which i fought jack and two other little boys, i was tuckered out and we headed home to a dinner of spaghetti.
today i slept in in preparation for hitting the road tomorrow. i picked my mum up at the airport at one, and we headed directly to the woodford reserve distillery. for those of you not in the know, woodford reserve is a high-end kentucky bourbon. also, bourbon simply denotes a specific type of whiskey--it does not have to be from ky, although the water here makes it good for bourbon making. we had lunch on the porch and went on a tour of the distillery. woodford reserve is made of 68% corn, as well as a couple other things. they have to cook the ingredients for 6 hours and then ferment it for 6 days. after that it is triple-distilled in large copper contraptions, which is what sets it apart from other kentucky bourbons--i guess most are not distilled as much. it is also the official bourbon of the kentucky derby, and is used in the $1000 mint julep at the derby. at the end we got to try a little sample and bourbon balls. it was a really neat experience, and i learned a lot about how things are distilled. i wanted to buy a bottle, but i didn't have $50 to lay down on one liter of woodford perserve. now it's dinner at a mexican restaurant, visiting and sleep. here's to seeing how far we can make it tomorrow! next planned stop: the field of dreams in iowa.

my new(found) kentucky home

kentucky really does look like this

greetings from kentucky! i have really enjoyed my few days staying with cousins in the state with 'unbridled spirit,' in lexington specifically. i arrived late sunday afternoon with not too much trouble, with the exception of witnessing a mildly horrific accident in downtown lexington. monday was not only memorial day, but my birthday as well, so i woke up determined to have a fantastic day. in the morning i went a little south and west of lexington to the largest restored shaker village in the united states. now run by a non-profit organization, it was set in the beautiful kentucky countryside. it was operational as late as the 1920s, though it was at its height in the mid-19th century. today you can tour the village, have lunch on the grounds (which i did), have a meal, or even spend the night. during the civil war, the shakers were afraid that the southerners would raid the village due to their abolitionist leanings. instead, the southern commander instructed his men to leave the shakers alone. in return, the shakers fed the confederates for a few days while they stayed in the area. why can't people be that nice today?

not that i have anything to complain about here in kentucky. everyone is friendly in the southern tradition, but it is also quite different from much of the south. true to stereotype, kentucky actually is all about horses and bourbon. monday afternoon i drove into downtown lexington, where the historic translyvania university is located. it is the oldest university west of the mountains in what used to really be the west during the 18th century. founded in 1780 by the commonwealth of virginia (which va still is today, by the way). it was a pretty campus set in the midst of a beautiful neighborhood of old victorian houses and only a few blocks from 'downtown.' there really isn't much to downtown lexington--if you come to visit, i would stick to the countryside, which is mind-numbingly beautiful.

since it was my birthday, some of my family took me out to dinner at a local dive called ramsey's. it was fantastic! i had a traditional kentucky open-faced sandwich called a hot brown, though i had the veggie version. smothered in cheese, it was almost as good as my very first friend green tomatoes. i was so excited to finally try this particular dish--it is sooo southern. they're fried in cornmeal and delicious. i suggest you find someplace to try them if you haven't already (that's them to the right). to top things off, the restaurant gave me a free slice of pie for dessert. i got what is kind of the house special, what they call a 'may day pie,' so called for the may horse races here in ky. it had chocolate chips and pecans in it--i had it served warm with vanilla ice cream. scrumptious. all in all, i had a great birthday. thanks to lee, blair, caroline, emma, and jack for making my day special.