Much earlier this summer I got to go along with my friend and her baby daughter, Zelda, on a trip back to see their family in Iowa. We drove up, down, across and back across (and not necessarily in that order) the whole state.
The first night we stayed at a cabin just on the edge of Clarinda–the birth place of Glenn Miller. (And boy are they proud of it!) It was so dark at night out in that cabin, that when I woke up from a deep sleep and opened my eyes there was no difference – eyes closed or open…not a hint of light. That was kind of cool.
Anyway, here are some memories from our trip in no particular order…
The no-so-healthy, but oh-so-tasty lunch we had in Sioux City at the Milwaukee Wiener House.
The Anamosa State Penitentiary, a maximum security prison operating since 1872, was really impressive…
But maybe that's just me. :) I'm interested in the lives of those in law enforcement and in corrections, so prison history is fascinating to me. This place is huge – it holds about 1200 inmates and employs about 350 people.
In Des Moines we visited West End Architectural Salvage, which I could have just lived in. 4 stories of random cool things…
I wondered what this typewriter was for with it's long platen. Typing posters maybe??
These tin drawers would be awesome in a kitchen or pantry…
And I don't know where I'd put this huge stained glass window, but wow it was pretty.
Speaking of law enforcement…I found a candy cop!
Maybe he's there to make sure you enjoy the candy properly. 🙂
We also stayed in a cool little town called McGregor. I loved the Paper Moon shop there…
It's part gift shop, part book store – but really I just loved the architecture. Look at those painted tin ceilings! sigh. :) The third floor housed most of the books and was so cozy…
The wooden lampshades reminded me of bee hives.
We were gone for 10 days, so that's only a tiny snippet of the many places we visited. It was a really good trip!
xo ~ k