While at first I thought there wouldn't be enough to keep us entertained here down-home, where the prairie grasses wave and the gently rolling hills offer little hope for dramatic, breathtaking views, our schedule quickly filled up. I found there wasn't enough time each day to fit in all the little attractions and quirks that our corner of the Midwest has to offer. I jotted down a few of our adventures over the past week and a half here for you all in an attempt to share the joy that this corner of Iowa brings us.
Wednesday, June 13th~
Addie and I picked Katie up from the airport...a small airport sprawled amidst the cornfields. Mom and Dad were watching the boys (I wasn't sure how well that many little boys in an airport would go down) so we stopped by there on the way home to collect them. Katie came bearing gifts! Besides a doll quilt my grandma made me as a child, this is the only quilt someone has made me. It's gorgeous, and I was so touched!
Friday, June 15th~
As temps soared into the 90's, we set out for the small village of Spillville (population 367), which has a great Czech heritage. It was originally named Spielville for plat maker Joseph Spielmann, but a misreading stuck and it became known as Spillville. It's home to the Bily Clocks Museum, a collection of hand-carved clocks crafted just for the love of it by brothers Frank and Joseph Bily beginning in 1913. They never sold a clock, and turned down a $1 million offer from Henry Ford to buy their "American Pioneer History" clock. Spillville is also known for their Independence Day fireworks display, and the Inwood Ballroom, opened in 1922 as a way to raise money to construct a memorial for World War I veterans. It once played host to greats such as Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Guy Lombardo, and Lawrence Welk.
Our first stop of the day was at the beautiful, historic St. Wenceslaus Church. It's the oldest surviving Czech Catholic Church in America, built in 1860. The church is dedicated to King St. Wenceslaus (the same commemorated by the Christmas carol).
After a year serving as director for the National Conservatory in New York, Czech composer Antonin Dvorak was homesick for the companionship of his countrymen. His friend, Joseph Kovarik, convinced him that the village of Spillville offered just that. In 1893, Dvorak, his wife Anna, and their six children arrived in Spillville, and spent the summer there. Dvorak spent his days refining his newly composed symphony "From the New World", exploring the countryside, and playing this very pipe organ every morning for Mass.
A sidewalk curving south around the church leads you to the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes.
From Spillville we headed to Decorah to grab some lunch at Ede's Angry Pickle. We stopped at a thrift store after lunch. I was surprised to learn that prices in thrift stores in Oregon were not so thrifty! I scored this cute little chair and footstool for only $15. Once reupholstered they will find their home in Addie's room.
We stopped by Wal-Mart after the thrift store to grab a few things to make fish tacos, guacamole, pico de gallo, and cilantro lime cole slaw for supper.
Saturday, June 16th~
The weekend Irish Fest hit our little town again. Everyone wore green, except Liam. We kicked off the festivities by watching the parade, and each boy collected pounds of candy...because why else would you watch a parade?
We made it back around 12:30 a.m., which is when I made ham sandwiches and packed a day bag for our trip in the morning.
Sunday, June 17th~
We left the house around 6:30 a.m. to make it to 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Angels' Brothers' Novitiate in Winona, Minnesota. It was Katie's first time in Minnesota.
After Mass we headed east, crossing the Mississippi into Wisconsin (another first for Katie!) and down to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse. Our first trip to the Shrine can be found in this post. Here you can see the Mother of Good Counsel Votive Chapel from the parking lot.
Tuesday, June 19th~
Eli was home from work and agreed to watch the kids so Katie and I could do a little more sight seeing. We headed back to the Mississippi River, this time to Lansing.
We stopped at Shep's on the river for lunch. I had an Island Burger and Katie had a fish wrap, and despite having a sad and frankly scary salad bar, the burger there was delicious! This picture deserves an explanation. I told Katie we had to take a picture of our food like the foodies do, (laughing) and said I was going to get a shot of her chewing. So, while trying to lean out of the shot she still managed a great pose, and I got her in the picture anyway. Yes, I'm that annoying friend!
On the way home we stopped and grabbed (non-fried) cheese curds for Katie to try, and beer from the Topling Goliath brewery in Decorah.
That evening after we got home the boys had a Little League game that did not get cancelled due to rain. It was conveniently at home, at the ball park right behind our house. Despite my parents and Eli's parents coming to watch, they lost...and then ran several laps around the field as punishment because my Liam and another boy were talking incessantly during the game.
We had a bonfire at home after the game. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Katie saw fireflies for the first time! It turns out I learned a lot about Oregon; I didn't know they didn't have fireflies!
Thursday, June 21st~
With Katie's stay quickly drawing to a close, we headed out for one last tour despite the soggy weather.
We headed west to a local haunt of mine from my childhood, Chickasaw Park. With all the rain that's been dumped on us the last couple weeks the limestone quarry was flooded and a bit hard to see, but still beautiful. My graduation pictures were taken here some 18 years ago.
From Chickasaw we back-tracked through Ionia, and passed the old Mahoney farm where my Dad and 10 brothers and sisters were raised, and where I lived with Grandma when I was 19. We headed to Nashua to check out the Little Brown Church in the Vale, made famous by the song "Church in the Wildwood", written by Dr. William S. Pitts. Settled in the midst of what was once the bustling pioneer village (and earlier, fur trading post) of Bradford, the preserved office of Dr. Pitts is one of the remaining 13 buildings you can tour behind the church. We may have attempted it if it hadn't been pouring rain.
Here is a clip of "Andy of Mayberry" singing the song, which is how Katie came to know it.
We drove around the Boat Park to look at the lake in Nashua, then grabbed some lunch and another Iowa specialty (another first for Katie) from the Hideaway in Ionia: a hodge podge. Also known as a heart attack in a sack. I guess Eli and I became connoisseurs of bar food thanks to our early 20's.
Friday, June 22nd~
The day finally came to say goodbye. I promised myself I wouldn't get all emotional and stuff, but I hate goodbyes. I held it together till we dropped Katie off at the airport! I couldn't bring myself to go inside, though. I'm happy to report that Katie made it back home safe and sound despite unexpected delays and changes to her flights. And it was a blessing we had so much work to catch up on at home with the skies finally clear. That day I managed to get the whole garden weeded and a trellis constructed for Our Lady's shrine.
Katie, if you're reading this...THANK YOU! For your friendship over the past several years...for making the long trip out here again...for listening to me ramble and probably spit out more details about things than you could process...for dealing so graciously with attitudes and temperaments and behaviors of my children (and non-stop questions about games)...for your generosity and help while here, and for keeping me company! I hope some day to be able to finally visit Oregon so you can be a tour guide.
Until next time....
Our first stop of the day was at the beautiful, historic St. Wenceslaus Church. It's the oldest surviving Czech Catholic Church in America, built in 1860. The church is dedicated to King St. Wenceslaus (the same commemorated by the Christmas carol).
After a year serving as director for the National Conservatory in New York, Czech composer Antonin Dvorak was homesick for the companionship of his countrymen. His friend, Joseph Kovarik, convinced him that the village of Spillville offered just that. In 1893, Dvorak, his wife Anna, and their six children arrived in Spillville, and spent the summer there. Dvorak spent his days refining his newly composed symphony "From the New World", exploring the countryside, and playing this very pipe organ every morning for Mass.
View from the organ's mirror, so the player would always be able to see the altar during Mass.
View from the choir loft
View of the north transept
The beautiful tile floors, and the tomb of Father Francis Mikota, 1883.
Many of the gorgeous stained glass windows hail from Europe, and cost a whopping (back then) $100+.
A mural in the cry room.
A sidewalk curving south around the church leads you to the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes.
And views of the final resting place of so many Czech faithful.
From Spillville we headed to Decorah to grab some lunch at Ede's Angry Pickle. We stopped at a thrift store after lunch. I was surprised to learn that prices in thrift stores in Oregon were not so thrifty! I scored this cute little chair and footstool for only $15. Once reupholstered they will find their home in Addie's room.
We stopped by Wal-Mart after the thrift store to grab a few things to make fish tacos, guacamole, pico de gallo, and cilantro lime cole slaw for supper.
The weekend Irish Fest hit our little town again. Everyone wore green, except Liam. We kicked off the festivities by watching the parade, and each boy collected pounds of candy...because why else would you watch a parade?
Irish Fest brings out a cast of characters. Me, Addie, and Katie with the Finnegans, shortly after Mrs. Finnegan chided me for not responding "bless you" when she said "shoe?!" while picking up Gavin's discarded shoe from our lawn.
After the parade we headed "uptown". We checked out the historic photo gallery in the Bieber building, bought T-shirts, and the boys piled into the inflatables. Katie had fried cheese curds for the first time. It must be a Midwest thing!
We enjoyed an early supper courtesy of Lynch's BBQ where Liam blissfully asked: "Katie, is this the best day of your life?"
The excitement was contagious!
The boys and I got shakes to enjoy on the walk home, and sat outside waiting for Eli to get home from work. He kindly watched the whole crew so Katie and I could go back uptown to listen to the bands.
"Selfie" from our girls night out. We enjoyed "Lawler Irish Red" beer from PIVO (Czech for "beer"), the local microbrewery in Calmar. It was delicious!
We made it back around 12:30 a.m., which is when I made ham sandwiches and packed a day bag for our trip in the morning.
Sunday, June 17th~
We left the house around 6:30 a.m. to make it to 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Angels' Brothers' Novitiate in Winona, Minnesota. It was Katie's first time in Minnesota.
Lake Winona
Conspirators....
The Pilgrim Center
Trekking up the path offered gorgeous views of the Wisconsin countryside. If only it hadn't been so hot!
The Berst crew, wired and mischievous
Kateri Tekakwitha in the woods
St. Joseph the Workman
Ceiling in the narthex of the Shrine Church. Mass was about to begin when we arrived so we chose not to go in and disturb the faithful who were there for that.
Memorial to the Unborn
We only went up the hill as far as the Memorial. Anticipating a long ride home in a blistering hot vehicle with no working air conditioning and cranky short people (including me), we turned for home early.
I love these chandeliers in the Pilgrim Center!
Heading south from LaCrosse we followed the Mississippi (on the Wisconsin side) via the Great River Road. We all crashed when we got home. (I personally chose to park myself in front of a vent blasting cold air with half a gallon of iced coffee.)
Tuesday, June 19th~
Eli was home from work and agreed to watch the kids so Katie and I could do a little more sight seeing. We headed back to the Mississippi River, this time to Lansing.
Views of the Mississippi from Mt. Hosmer
We then headed downtown to do a little shopping. We stopped at Horsefalls Variety Store and the Red Geranium before walking down to the river.
We stopped at Shep's on the river for lunch. I had an Island Burger and Katie had a fish wrap, and despite having a sad and frankly scary salad bar, the burger there was delicious! This picture deserves an explanation. I told Katie we had to take a picture of our food like the foodies do, (laughing) and said I was going to get a shot of her chewing. So, while trying to lean out of the shot she still managed a great pose, and I got her in the picture anyway. Yes, I'm that annoying friend!
The views while we ate
On the way home we stopped and grabbed (non-fried) cheese curds for Katie to try, and beer from the Topling Goliath brewery in Decorah.
We had a bonfire at home after the game. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Katie saw fireflies for the first time! It turns out I learned a lot about Oregon; I didn't know they didn't have fireflies!
Thursday, June 21st~
With Katie's stay quickly drawing to a close, we headed out for one last tour despite the soggy weather.
We headed west to a local haunt of mine from my childhood, Chickasaw Park. With all the rain that's been dumped on us the last couple weeks the limestone quarry was flooded and a bit hard to see, but still beautiful. My graduation pictures were taken here some 18 years ago.
From Chickasaw we back-tracked through Ionia, and passed the old Mahoney farm where my Dad and 10 brothers and sisters were raised, and where I lived with Grandma when I was 19. We headed to Nashua to check out the Little Brown Church in the Vale, made famous by the song "Church in the Wildwood", written by Dr. William S. Pitts. Settled in the midst of what was once the bustling pioneer village (and earlier, fur trading post) of Bradford, the preserved office of Dr. Pitts is one of the remaining 13 buildings you can tour behind the church. We may have attempted it if it hadn't been pouring rain.
Here is a clip of "Andy of Mayberry" singing the song, which is how Katie came to know it.
Can I fit through here?
We drove around the Boat Park to look at the lake in Nashua, then grabbed some lunch and another Iowa specialty (another first for Katie) from the Hideaway in Ionia: a hodge podge. Also known as a heart attack in a sack. I guess Eli and I became connoisseurs of bar food thanks to our early 20's.
Friday, June 22nd~
The day finally came to say goodbye. I promised myself I wouldn't get all emotional and stuff, but I hate goodbyes. I held it together till we dropped Katie off at the airport! I couldn't bring myself to go inside, though. I'm happy to report that Katie made it back home safe and sound despite unexpected delays and changes to her flights. And it was a blessing we had so much work to catch up on at home with the skies finally clear. That day I managed to get the whole garden weeded and a trellis constructed for Our Lady's shrine.
Katie, if you're reading this...THANK YOU! For your friendship over the past several years...for making the long trip out here again...for listening to me ramble and probably spit out more details about things than you could process...for dealing so graciously with attitudes and temperaments and behaviors of my children (and non-stop questions about games)...for your generosity and help while here, and for keeping me company! I hope some day to be able to finally visit Oregon so you can be a tour guide.
Until next time....
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