Iowa with the Stars - 6 Days

Depart the downriver area of Detroit and travel west to Poesta, IA. That’s almost to Des Moines. Overnight. (D)

Breakfast. Depart the hotel for a visit to the Field of Dreams and the Movie Site Farmhouse. You will pass through some serious corn fields. They are into farming. Continue to Dyersville where you will have a choice of visiting a Historical House and Doll Museum or a Farm Toy Museum. Both are remarkable. Then we will all have an English Tea together. After lunch travel to Mason IA. Frank Lloyd Wright lived here for a while and you will see some of his architecture, and you might hear about how and why he left town. There is also time to visit Music Man Square where Meredith Wilson lived. Travel to Des Moines, IA and dinner at the Machine Shed Restaurant. Overnight 3 nights in Des Moines, IA. (B,L,D)

We might be too early for Breakfast as we see the Morning Ascension at the Balloon launch in Indianola, IA. This is the National Balloon Classic in Indianola. It is so much closer to us than Albuquerque and it costs a lot less. This annual hot-air balloon Festival hosts competition and races for over 100 balloon pilots and more than 75,000 spectators. Prepare to be awestruck as dark skies come alive with a mystical glow during Dawn Patrol. After the Ascension, make a stop at the Balloon Museum and learn about how ballooning began hundreds of years ago. Spend a couple of hours at the hotel because this evening the Nite Glow of Balloons again is spectacular event. (weather permitting, of course.) (B)

Breakfast. If the weather was poor and they could not launch yesterday, we will try again for this morning. Our tour takes us to Winterset, IA where we pick up a local guide and enjoy the Covered Bridge Capital of Iowa. Learn about the history and the construction of the bridges, and the movie production (The Bridges of Madison County starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.) Lunch is included today at a local café. Continuing with the cinema theme, visit John Wayne’s modest four-room birthplace. Right next door is a state of the art museum boasting an astounding collection of artifacts and memorabilia from the film legend’s career. See movie posters, film wardrobes, original scripts, contracts, letters, artwork, and sculpture. Seek out his first contract to see what he was paid. Next visit the Iowa Theater on the courthouse square for a short film on other movies filmed in the area. Return to Des Moines to overnight. (B, L)

Breakfast at hotel. Depart for Matchstick Marvels Museum. A single artist is behind these large-scale models made of hundreds of thousands of two-inch wooden matchsticks. This is a jaw dropping, wow factor! Next depart for Eldon, IA where the home is that Grant Wood painted the famous “American Gothic” of a man and his daughter. I hope you will make your picture in front of the farmhouse. They have all you need for a great photo. Our lunch today is served by women of the city. After we have taken all the pictures we want, we head East toward Iowa City and the Drury Inn for Kick Back snacks, which is enough for dinner. (B,L,Snacks)

Breakfast is included. Depart for home arriving before dinner. Be sure to get phone numbers and email addresses of your new friends so you can plan another trip with Custom Holidays. (B)