Lighthouse Court

I’m always on the lookout for a vintage road sign when we travel, and while the sign for the Lighthouse Court motel in Clear Lake, IA, was fairly simple, it still fit the bill!

Three Stars Plaza and the Surf Ballroom

When we drove through Clear Lake, IA, last month, we stopped at Three Stars Plaza, a very cool memorial in honor of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, which has the appearance of three records:

Why is this memorial in Clear Lake, IA? Because the night before “The Day the Music Died,” those three musicians played what would be their final concert at the Surf Ballroom before their ill-fated flight.

It was very moving to see these pieces of American pop culture and music history.

A Brief Getaway to the North–Day One

A week ago today, we left for our summer vacation on a journey north to the Twin Cities! We made some stops along the way, starting with Hannibal, MO, home of M*A*S*H‘s Colonel Potter and also known for the antics of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We took the 244 steps up to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse, where we were treated to a phenomenal view of the Mississippi River, and also saw the Tom and Huck statue:

We then made our way to Riverside, IA, the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk…I was entirely too amused by this stop!

After that, we had lunch at Joensy’s Restaurant in Iowa City, a place know for their pork tenderloin sandwiches:

Our final stop before we got to the hotel was in Clear Lake, IA, and the Three Stars Plaza and Surf Ballroom, which is where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson played their last concert before “The Day the Music Died.”

It was a long day of driving, but we finally made it to our destination outside Minneapolis, a very nice Marriott hotel with a gorgeous atrium. After we got checked in, I went for a brief swim, and then we watched the US Swimming Olympic Trials on TV.