Iowa has many wonderful and unique attractions and oddities worth checking out.
As Iowans or in my case, a transplanted Iowan, there are many attractions that make great day trips or weekend jaunts. With the warmer weather we are experiencing of late, it’s time to think about a mini vacation or day trip touring our wonderful state and it’s many attractions, even the odd ones. Following are a few suggestions. For instance, Mason City, home of the Music Man, is also home to Rancho Deluxe Z: Junk Art Lot. The attraction features an off-beat sculpture garden, vintage signs, hubcaps, paintings and according to Roadside America, a Vietnam Memorial tucked into one corner. There’s hope for me yet! I am currently halfway through filling my fifth junk jar of goodies. There’s everything from keys to screws, pop bottle caps, bullet casings, buttons, washers, springs, old fuses and much more. My collection might make a unique junk jar art creation someday. Not too far from Mason City on the westside of I-35 is the town of Clear Lake, home of the Surf Ballroom, which is where Buddy Holly played his last gig in early February 1959. And just outside of town is the Buddy Holly plane crash site. Debbie and I visited the crash site 10-years ago while I was in town covering a high school playoff football game. It’s about a half-mile walk along a well-worn trail in a farm field. It’s quite a shrine to the late music icon. And located in western Iowa in the town of Audubon is Albert the Bull, a 45-ton, 28-foot-tall concrete replica of the perfect Hereford bull. Visitors can push a button and Albert will tell you his story. In 2018, Albert the Bull was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Cenex. And closer to home is the Matchstick Marvels Museum in neighboring Gladbrook in Tama County. The museum features the world’s largest collection of tiny matchstick mega-art creations by Pat Acton. The museum, which is also Acton’s home, features the USS Iowa battleship, the U.S. Capitol, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Acton orders one million matchsticks at a time for his many creations. And close by in the town of Traer is the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, which features more than 16,000 salt and pepper shakers. Debbie and I stopped to tour the museum a few years back, but it was closed that day. If you visit the museum, Roadside America recommends taking a peek in the “Slightly Risqué” closet of salt and pepper shakers. In Riverside, south of Iowa City, one can find the Star Trek Voyage Home Museum. The town is also the future Birthplace of James T. Kirk in 2228. The museum, which opened in 2008, features anything and everything Star Trek. There’s even cardboard stand-ups of Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy for photo ops, and other starship models and much more. And don’t forget to mark your calendar for June 27-29 to attend the 2024 Trekfest 39. And I can’t forget about the Villisca Ax Murder House and Museum in Villisca in the southwest part of the state. I’ve been there twice, but never toured the house. The house is where on June 10, 1912, Josiah Moore, his wife, Sarah, and six children, age 5 -12 where murdered with an ax. Today, folks can tour the house for a few dollars and groups can even book the night in the murder house. That costs a lot more and isn’t anything I’m going to be doing in my life. A place I have always wanted to visit is the Museum of Traffic Control in Pella. The museum features more than 1,700 square feet of traffic control sights and sounds. There’s even an HO model railroad display in the center of the exhibit space. Another Iowa delight is the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend. Roadside America calls the Grotto a titanic landmark to religious devotion and dogged labor. It was built by Paul Dobberstein, who as a young seminarian, fell gravely ill with pneumonia, and promised to build a shrine of precious stones to the Virgin Mary if she interceded for him. According to Roadside America, Dobberstein recovered and became a priest, and in 1898 was sent to West Bend from Germany, where he set out to build the shrine. It took him 14-years to complete the project. In Stanton, guests can find the Coffee Pot and Cup Water Towers. In 2015, the towers were taken down, but saved and mounted at ground level so coffee-lovers can pose for photos. And in Waukon, guests can find the Muffler Man and Long Horn Steer and Strawberry Point is home to a large strawberry statue. Burlington is home to Snake Alley and in Council Bluffs, one can visit the Squirrel Cage Jail, the largest revolving jail in the U.S., built in 1885. The three story jail no longer revolves, but I’m sure it is worth seeing. And there is so much more to offer in the Hawkeye State. I will share more in future columns. Enjoy the nice weather and be sure in the hustle and bustle of life to take time to enjoy each and every day. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.
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