Top 2014 Midwest Wanderer Travel Experiences

Connie Attractions & Events, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota December 27, 2014April 2, 2018Art Party Studio, Bowers Harbor Inn Travers City, Buffalo Roundup, Chicago Helicopter Experience, DeSoto House Hotel, Grand Traverse Commons, Henry Doorly Zoo, Historic Park Inn, Kenosha Dragon Boat Festival, Midwest Travel, Midwest Wanderer, Mission Point Lighthouse, Pontiac Oakland Museum, Poopy's Pub n' Grub, Suzie Q Cafe, Traverse City, Village at Grand Traverse Commons 0 Comment

As another year comes to a close, we reflect on all that we’ve accomplished over the past twelve months and plan new goals for the coming year. For me, 2014 brought lots of opportunities to explore the Midwest, discovering more attractions, events and restaurants to share with you. It’s always amazing how much there is to do right here in the Midwest, from the Great Lakes to the Black Hills, from small towns to big cities. Today I’m sharing with you some of my personal “firsts” and also my top ten blog posts of the year, the ones most popular with you, my readers.

2014 New Experiences:

In March I discovered that anyone can paint—even no-artistic-talent me. At the Art Party Studio in Champaign, Illinois, bring your own wine, if you’d like, follow the step-by-step painting instructions, and every painting turns out well. If, on the slim chance it doesn’t, you can always blame it on the wine.

I tried my hand at glassblowing for the first time at The Glass Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Okay, so my turn lasted only a minute or so, since I was on a group tour and we just had a sampling. It would be fun to go back and create a “work of art” of my own.

I joined the Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau dragon boat team in the Kenosha Area Dragon Boat Festival in July. As hard as our team tried, we came in last place, but we had a great time.

Two new states were added to my list this year, Nebraska and South Dakota. I spent a couple of days exploring Omaha, including gardens, museums and shop. If you like zoos, you have to see Henry Doorly Zoo, my favorite zoo of all I’ve ever been to.

Besides the national monuments, national parks and so many other things western South Dakota has to offer, I took my first helicopter ride with the Black Hills Aerial Adventures, where I saw the Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments at eye level and the Needles Highway from a bird’s eye view.

As great as everything else was in South Dakota, the highlight was the Buffalo Roundup in Custer State Park, where I bumped along in the back of a pickup truck right in the midst of the cowboys and cowgirls on horseback rounding up around 1,100 head of bison for their annual vaccines and pregnancy tests.

The year concluded with my second helicopter tour, this time in the evening with Chicago Helicopter Experience, along the Chicago lakeshore, with a great view of the Lincoln Park Zoo and Michigan Avenue Christmas lights.

Top 10 Posts of 2014

Haunted DeSoto House Hotel, Galena IL was published in 2013 but continued to be the most popular throughout 2014.
Ghost stories are apparently popular. Bowers Harbor Inn, Traverse City: Two Restaurants and a Ghost created quite a controversy among Traverse City locals, some believing the legend and others not.
I don’t know whether it’s because of the location on Route 66 or if people are interested in car museums, but the Number 3 most popular post was Pontiac Oakland Museum, Pontiac, Illinois: Auto Nostalgia along Route 66.
Frank Lloyd Wright architecture is always popular, so I’m not surprised that Historic Park Inn: Last Remaining Frank Lloyd Wright Hotel made the list.
Billed as the biggest biker destination in Illinois and along the Great River Road, Poopy’s Pub n’ Grub, Savanna IL; Popular Even with Non-bikers, came in at Number 5.
Downtown shops in towns in southwest Michigan resort towns are always fun to explore, and Traverse City foodie fans especially liked Traverse City Shops: A Culinary Delight.
Green County, Wisconsin, celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the Cheese Days in 2014. In June I attended a press preview of the big September event and wrote about it in Cheese Days 100^th Anniversary Preview, Monroe, Wisc. The event is held every two years, so plan ahead to attend in 2016.
Published just in time for Halloween, another Traverse City supposedly haunted location came in at Number 8, Tour a Former Asylum at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, Traverse City.
Eating at a tiny ten-seat diner is fun, especially when the delicious food is served by a magician, like it is at the Suzie Q Café, Mason City Iowa: A Meal with a Dash of Magic.
Old lighthouses are fun to explore. The stories behind them are always fascinating. Another Traverse City attraction, Tour Mission Point Lighthouse, Traverse City, Michigan made the list at Number 10.

I’m looking forward to sharing more fun and interesting attractions, events and restaurants in Midwest destinations throughout 2015. If you have suggestions on Midwest places to see and things to do, don’t hesitate to share them at info@midwestwanderer.com, and I’ll help spread the word.

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Tour the Winnebago Factory, Forest City, Iowa

Connie Attractions & Events, Iowa September 3, 2014June 28, 2017Forest City Iowa, Iowa attractions, Winnebago factory, Winnebago Factory Tour, Winnebago Tour, Winnebago Tour Iowa 0 Comment

What a treat was in store for our group of travel writers. Following a gourmet picnic lunch at the Pilot Knob State Park in Forest City, Iowa, instead of hopping back into the van that had been our transportation the entire trip, we were greeted with two huge Winnebago motor homes. After oohing and aahing at the $224,000+ homes on wheels, we buckled ourselves into seats. Some sat on a sofa; I sat at the dining table. Our destination: Winnebago Industries in Forest City, Iowa, where we took the Winnebago factory tour. Read more

Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa: Remembering the Day the Music Died

Connie Attractions & Events, Iowa August 13, 2014February 3, 2017buddy holly, buddy holly crash, buddy holly crash site, buddy holly death, buddy holly plane crash, Clear Lake, clear lake iowa, clear lake surf ballroom, surf, surf ballroom, surf ballroom and museum, surf ballroom buddy holly, surf ballroom clear lake, surf ballroom ia, surf ballroom in clear lake, surf ballroom iowa, the day the music died, the surf ballroom 5 Comments

The 1940s-era L-shaped brick building in Clear Lake, Iowa, looks rather plain from the outside. The only indication of the building’s fame is a memorial marker noting the deaths of three 1950s rock-and-roll stars. The Surf Ballroom is the last place that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson played before they lost their lives in a plane crash just a few miles from the ballroom. Read more

Decker House, Mason City, Iowa: A Delightful Bed and Breakfast

Connie Iowa August 5, 2014April 4, 2018Decker House, Iowa B&B, Iowa bed and breakfasts, Mason City IA, Mason City Iowa, Mason City Iowa accommodations, Mason City Iowa hotel 0 Comment

Sweet Potato Pecan Waffles with Praline Sauce…Eggs Mornay…Orange French Toast with Blueberry Sauce. These are some of the breakfast entrees that may await you at the Decker House Bed and Breakfast in Mason City, Iowa. In the evening relax in the first floor parlor, if you’d like. And snack on cookies from the endless cookie jar, always available to guests. Read more

All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club, Charles City: The Court of Dreams

Connie Attractions & Events, Iowa July 14, 2014July 22, 2014All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club, Charles City, Charles City IA, Charles City Iowa, Iowa, lawn tennis club 2 Comments

The van we were riding in traveled down the country road past corn and soybean fields, the crunch of gravel beneath us, a trail of dust left behind. I thought we were headed to a park-like setting to visit the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club in Charles City, so when the van carrying several travel writers turned into a rural farm, I was more than a little surprised. Here in front of us next to the farmhouse was a beautifully manicured Wimbledon court look-alike.

Mark Kuhn didn’t intend for people to come from all over to play when he turned the cattle feedlot on his Iowa farm into a grass tennis court. He built it for himself, his family and friends, following a dream he had for decades.

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As a young child, Kuhn listened to the Wimbledon tournament on the BBC over his grandfather’s shortwave radio and became enthralled with it. He took up tennis, his first racquet bought for him with S&H Green Stamps, and for 40 years he talked about building a grass court on the family farm. That first racquet is still in Kuhn’s collection, along with a racquet that was used at Wimbledon over a hundred years ago.

After discussion with his wife Denise and other family members and with their blessing, Kuhn researched turfgrass management at Iowa State University and got underway with the project with much help from the family. In September 2003, 100 people attended the grand opening of the All Iowa Lawn Tennis club with an exhibition match featuring Coe College players and alumni.

Word spread about the grass court after media coverage, including a 2007 article in Tennis magazine, and people have been coming to play on it ever since. Folks from 35 different states, as well as from overseas, have played on the court, which is easier on the knees and cooler than playing on a hard surface court. The ball bounces lower and slower on a grass court, and even lower on a wet court, as we found out. Our visit followed a day of heavy rainfall.

Kuhn, a full-time farmer, spends about an hour a day on the court’s maintenance. The grass, the same type used on golf course greens, is on a base of sand and requires occasional rolling to keep it smooth, and of course, lines need to be reapplied regularly. Kuhn has attended Wimbledon twice, and is on a first-name basis with the Wimbledon groundskeeper, Eddie Seaward, who has shared maintenance secrets.

Features continue to be added to the court to make it even more Wimbledon-like from the gate to wooden net posts. The latest addition is an umpire chair.

Our group was invited onto the court to try it out. Not being a tennis player, I was thrilled that I even served the ball over the net, though I wasn’t so good when it came to hitting the ball that was served to me back over the net.

One can’t help but be reminded of the movie The Field of Dreams when visiting the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club, especially both being built on Iowa farms. It’s no surprise that it’s been dubbed “The Court of Dreams.”

The Kuhns allow tennis players to use the court free of charge, but require reservations. Visit the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club web site to request a reservation and for further details.

Disclosure: My visit to the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club was hosted by the Iowa Tourism Office, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

The Music Man Square, Mason City, Iowa: A Tribute to Meredith Willson

Connie Attractions & Events, Iowa June 27, 2014August 8, 2016Iowa, Iowa tourism, Mason City, Mason City IA, Meredith Wilson, Music Man museum, The Music Man Square 5 Comments

Seventy-six trombones led the big parade
With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand …

–Meredith Willson

Twirling a baton and marching to “Seventy-Six Trombones” in a parade when I was eight years old, I was unaware the song was from the movie The Music Man, an Academy Award winner in 1962 and prior to that, a Broadway hit. The catchy tune has stuck in my head for fifty years, but it was only this year, when visiting Mason City, Iowa, that I learned the classic musical’s fictitious River City was modeled after composer and songwriter Meredith Willson’s hometown of Mason City, Iowa, and inspired by the city’s annual North Iowa Band Festival. Mason City pays tribute to likely the city’s most famous resident with The Music Man Square, which includes a museum with a reproduction of The Music Man movie set and his boyhood home.