Sunday, October 28, 2018

Waverly Hills Ghost Hunt

This blog post has several sections:
1. Introduction
2. Equipment
3. Building History
4. Haunted History
5. Evidence

1. Introduction:

After our adventure at the Crescent Hotel (Crescent Hotel Ghost Hunt) we knew we would go on another hunt. We just needed to find the right location. At first I was thinking of going to Bob Mackey's haunted restaurant but then I realized how close Waverly Hills Sanatorium was to us. Louisville was only a four hour drive which would be great for an overnight hunt because we could leave our house late enough so that we wouldn't be as tired as we were at the Crescent. Although to be honest I believe something at the Crescent was draining us of energy. We should have been ok with a two hour nap and been up and walking around. Instead as my alarm went off I could barely open my eyes and hit the snooze button. Neither of us ever got up during the night either for a drink or to use the bathroom. Looking back it is odd.

Anyway there were things that we learned from the Crescent. First: that we wanted a continuous voice record of the events. The video of someone crying, "Help me" at the Crescent was getting louder. Maybe if the camera had continued recording we would have heard more. However the camera was looking for motion and since there was none it cut off. Second: we wanted to make sure that the cameras all had the time and date stamps correct. I set the time and date stamps the day before we left for Waverly. However some of the cameras didn't save it once they were turned off and since I was turning them on and off throughout the night that proved impossible. But we tried.

I already know there are lessons we have learned from Waverly. First: the recorders that we had worked, but we need to get an arm band or something that will hold them without us having them in our hands. There are times where there is static and it is probably me moving my hand over the microphone. Also whenever I had to switch a camera there is a lot of noise. Which brings me to the next thing we learned from Waverly. Second: I need to be more organized. I had all the equipment in a back pack so every time I stopped to set up equipment I had to dig to the one I needed. Now part of the problem is that because it was a group hunt I couldn't just set a camera and leave it since I didn't know everyone on the tour. Third: I needed to have just the equipment I planned on using. I had two video cameras that do not have night vision on them so they were useless in the dark Sanatorium.

2. Equipment:


I added a second hunting camera because the first one had been so successful at the Crescent. I had the mini tripods on them so that I could stand them up quickly. There were also a couple of times where, after having them sitting in a room with us, I would just pick them up and walk with them by holding the tripod. One good thing about that was, because the camera is boxed in, the screen didn't affect my eyes so they could adjust to the dark however it did affect the quality of the sound recording. The small video cameras also had night vision on them but their batteries drained very quickly. The two larger voice recorders were the ones we carried with us the entire time. The smaller one was for if we wanted to do a burst EVP session. I had a battery backup to charge equipment if needed. Finally our newest piece of equipment was the seek thermal camera. I plugged it in to the bottom of my I-phone and using my phone's camera I could take photos and video of thermal changes.

3. Building History:

Just like with the Crescent Hotel I started doing some research about the building a few weeks before the trip. Waverly is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places. Originally the property belonged to Major Thomas H. Hays, who purchased it in 1883 to build his family home. The home was far away from any school and so the Major hired Lizzie Harris as a teacher and opened a school nearby for his children and the other children in the area. Miss Harris was a fan of Walter Scott's Waverley novels and so named the school Waverley School. Major Hays liked the name and so called his property Waverley Hills.

In the late 1800s and early1900s the entire country began to experience outbreaks of Tuberculosis and Louisville's location along the Ohio River resulted in an especially devastating outbreak. In 1911 Louisville was updating the City Hospital and decided to open a separate Tuberculosis hospital. The Waverly Hills property was selected. At first an administrative building and two open air pavilions were erected which could house 40 patients deemed to be early cases. In August of 1912 the current Tuberculosis patients from City Hospital were transferred to Waverly. In December of 1912 a hospital for advanced cases was opened that could hold another 40 patients. By 1914 a "children's pavilion" was added with enough room for 50 beds. Waverly could now hold at least 130 patients and still the outbreak demanded more rooms. More buildings were added throughout the years.

In 1924 construction on the five story, 400 bed, structure that stands today was begun. A little over two years later in October of 1926 the building was opened.

Photo by Meghan Keohane

Some country wide estimates report that over 400 people died every day from Tuberculosis and Kentucky was particularly hard hit.

Kentucky TB Association Ad, 1945.

The second, third, and fourth floors consisted mostly of patient rooms with a few variations. One side of the building (seen here) had a long exterior hall. This was because one of the primary treatments for Tuberculosis at the time was fresh air. Patients' beds would be rolled into the hall, called the Solarium, and left there sometimes for months. Most rooms had two beds but some on the upper floors had up to four. On the other side of the building were private rooms and terminal rooms. Patients who were not responding to the fresh air treatments could be wheeled across the hall and given more privacy.

Photo by Meghan Keohane

On the fifth floor there were two wards. One side was for children and included an outdoor playground on the roof. The other side was for patients who suffered from Tuberculosis of the brain.

Besides fresh air and sunlight, Heliotherapy, the other main treatment for Tuberculosis was nutrition.  If those two treatments failed on the fourth floor was an operating room. To us today the treatments and operations performed on Tuberculosis patients sounds barbaric. However that is given the information we now know and medicine has made huge advancements since even the 1960s. One thing I found very important to keep in mind was that as terrible and painful as the operations sound they were done by doctors and nurses who truly believed this was the only way to try and save their patients. Some of the surgical treatments included removing ribs, inflating lungs with balloons, and the worst involved cutting open the back and sides. The surgeries had two aims. First: to try and kill the bacteria by depriving it of oxygen. Second: to give the lungs room to expand.

The first floor is where the morgue was located. In 1945 records indicate that over 162 people died at Waverly. Using that it is assumed that realistically 6,000-8,000 people died from Tuberculosis over the years the hospital was functioning, though some reports will give numbers in the tens of thousands. Nearby the morgue is a tunnel called the 'body chute' or 'death tunnel.' When the Sanatorium was first built so was the tunnel with the purpose of providing easy access for supplies to be brought inside during winter and inclement weather. Eventually however as the death numbers rose the tunnel began to serve another purpose. Rather than having hearses or ambulances pull up to the Sanatorium every other day bodies could be taken through the tunnel to the train tracks that brought the supplies.

Photo by Meghan Keohane

In the 1940s the battle with Tuberculosis took a positive turn with the discovery of streptomycin and by 1961 the Sanatorium was no longer needed. Afterwards it was used as a Geriatric Hospital for some time but has mostly sat empty. The current owners have plans to turn it into a hotel but I hope they don't. Right now they have different tour and ghost hunting options for those looking for information and at Halloween they turn the first floor into a haunted house attraction.

Now despite the fact that I did research beforehand I still signed up for the two hour ghost tour. I wanted to hear the stories from those who would know best, to make sure the info I had was correct since I saw conflicting reports. Our tour guide's name was Dale. Let me say this - I would take a tour any day of the week with him. He was so knowledgeable and personable I couldn't have asked for better. For those looking at this though let me stress this - tickets say you are not allowed to take photo or video during the two hour ghost tour. Now there were two instances when we were allowed but that was only because we were ahead of schedule on the tour. This is probably for several reasons. First: if I videoed the entire tour then someone could just watch that video instead of actually taking the tour. Second: is probably for the privacy of the tour guides and other people on the tour. Third: is because they don't want people hanging back to get a good photo and holding up the tour. All three very good reasons. If you want to take pictures and video then go on the ghost hunt. I highly recommend you go on both.

4. Haunted History:

Room 502 - As the stories go a nurse who was unmarried became pregnant with a doctor at Waverly. He refused to leave his wife and so she hung herself outside of room 502. Now there are variations. Some say she had also caught Tuberculosis from the patients and so hung herself to avoid the illness. Other reports say there had been an illegal abortion attempt, or that the baby was still-born, and out of grief she hung herself. Either way it is on record that a nurse hung herself. There are also stories (unconfirmed) that a second nurse jumped or was pushed to her death from room 502.

The fourth floor - Stories tell of shadow figures that haunt this floor. There are several different types among which is the Creeper, a hunched over figure that moves up and down the halls, walls, and ceiling. Also there are reports of the operating room door closing itself. One of the treatments basically involved cutting open the back and leaving the patient ribs exposed. The thought was it added more room for the lungs to expand. Most died during this operation and it was definitely a last ditch effort to save a life. I think this is the origin of the creeper since the hunched over figure would be the permanent position of anyone who survived this surgery.

The third floor - This one is an all over type story. Apparently a child named Timmy has been identified as haunting the location. As a result there are toy balls all over the place and at various points they start rolling around on their own. Timmy was first encountered and the name attached on the third floor but due to numerous investigations there are balls on every floor.

Photo by Meghan Keohane

2nd floor - On the second floor is a room that belonged to sisters Lois and Audrey Higgs. Audrey recovered from Tuberculosis and eventually went home. Lois, however, passed away at Waverly. There are reports by investigators of hearing Lois calling for her sister. Also on the second floor is a kitchen and cafeteria. There are reports that sometimes visitors smell bread baking and capture EVP, electronic voice phenomenon, in the cafeteria.

1st floor - Obviously the morgue and body chute have attracted a lot of attention from paranormal investigators and for good reason. Shadows seem to move and close in on people in the body chute.

Overall - Throughout Waverly people report hearing doors close, breaths, wheezing, and temperature fluctuations.


5. Evidence:

Having decided this is something we like doing and plan on continuing doing we are trying to set up good habits. It has been time consuming but I think it will be worth it. We have created a transcript of everything from the two voice recorders that we were carrying so we have a continuous 6 hour dialogue. We then took the cameras and small voice recorder to match it up with the transcript so that in that document will be every sound and occurrence that we documented.

As far as bad feelings go for the most part we were both ok. Each time we were in the operating room we both felt as if there was a pressure on our chests, with Meg being more effected then myself and on the recording you can hear her coughing. Also there was one point on the fourth floor hall when we both felt uneasy. In order to try and interact with the residents there are a series of normal questions to ask like for example, "is anyone here with us?" Well on this particular occasion Meghan asked, "Is there anything here?" It stood out because in the entire six hours that was the only time we referred to a 'thing' rather than addressing a person.

On the voice recorders we were carrying I have numerous times where we heard breaths, wheezing,  whistling, and also clicking or crackling that is similar to some of the noises made by diseased lungs. A search on youtube called the crackling sound Rales. Here is a video from youtube of the sound:


We also heard numerous doors slamming but that could have been others slamming doors so we never really spent time on that.

Meghan had one photo that was taken early in the day when the tour guide allowed us a few minutes to take photos.

Photo by Meghan Keohane

In the second window from the left and about a foot above the people standing in the fifth floor room there is what looks like half a face floating.

Floating face close up

On the fourth floor Meghan was taking multiple pictures in a row and seems to have caught shadow/mist moving.


In the picture above the hall is clear illuminated by the red of an exit light. In the picture below I have put a box around where a strange mist moves across the camera field of view. These pictures were taken one right after the other.


I also had some success with the thermal camera, though I was hoping for more it was enough to make us keep the thermal imager.

First is a video that really has nothing to do with the thermal except it caught a sigh on it that was not myself or Meghan.


The second video has a small round shape at the far end of the third floor hall that seemed to be playing with me and moving around. Now some of the movement is from me trying to center the shape in my camera and get a thermal reading but beside that it seems to bop around a little bit. It made me think of a child peering around a corner playing hide and seek.



Before the investigation the group was split in half. Our group was sent to the upper floors and then split in half further. We began on the third floor and after a little over an hour we moved to the fourth and fifth floors.

Third Floor

I have two videos of our findings from the third floor. Now nothing here will change the mind of the skeptic but I still invite you to listen/watch because it is interesting. What I consider an EVP the skeptic will say it is matrixing or pareidolia and my ears just making sense of the sounds. When I write that I see an orb to the skeptic that will be a piece of dust or insect. I realize that. Some of the EVPs are hard to hear. I don't have a good editing software so I can not remove background noise and for some of these I am listening with the volume up while wearing a head set to try and make out words. Others are more clear. One thing you will hear over and over on the videos is us asking about who is with us and their stories. To us that is the interesting part. These spirits are people who lived lives with friends and family and for various reasons are still trapped here. We wanted to make contact and learn about them.


At some point I switched cameras because my batteries kept draining and turning off. I have this short video made up of several clips.


Next is a video I made of the recordings from the third floor. The background picture is a picture I took when it is my recorder and a picture Meg took for her recorder. The video is chronological of our investigation on this floor and has title screens to give an idea of where we are in the building (day room/ halls/Solarium.) I will also have text on the screen commenting on what we are doing and warning when I hear something. Then there will be a break and I will have text that says something like, "Did you hear? Go back to listen again or keep watching for what I heard?" this gives time for people who want to go back and try and hear on their own before I write what I heard. Now just to be clear about some of the terms I use when I refer to an intelligent EVP it means I think the answer is reacting to what we have said or done as opposed to a residual EVP which could be a repeating EVP like a place memory that is repeating past events. The last note about these videos is that at times you hear other voices and that is the other people in the group. For the most part I have tried to rule out others when I point out EVPs.

Specifically about the third floor we had a good time on this floor. I don't remember feeling unwanted as we walked around the floor. We had some fun experiences and I really wish I had done more burst EVP sessions, where I ask questions and listen back right then and there because I think we have times where spirits are responding to us. Especially on this floor at one point when Meg was taking pictures. I think for the most part on the third floor the spirits were more playful and welcoming.



Fifth and Fourth Floor

After the third floor we moved to the fifth floor. There Meg stopped to read a children's story while she was sitting where the playground was located so long ago. We had mentioned as we walked on the third floor that we would be doing that for any spirits who may have wanted to listen especially since the ghost child Timmy is associated with the third floor.

As Meg was reading I had a camera set on her as well as I walked around with a different camera. As I moved around and recorded Meghan reading I kept thinking I was seeing movement in the shadows but could not catch anything on camera. I also upon playing back the recording heard phantom breathes, which actually happened throughout the night. The hand held camera had a lot of trouble. At various points the recording skips time and misses part of the story. I used this camera at the Crescent Hotel as well as on other road trips and have never had that problem before. In this next video I actually catch a small light anomaly just before the video skips time again.


Here is a longer video of Meg reading the story. During the video I call out when we hear EVPs or see something strange like an orb, small ball of light. 


Hopefully it would have been nice to any children still roaming the halls of Waverly to have a story read to them like I would assume parents and caretakers had done when they were alive. I think it was a success and some of the EVPs make me think of the way small children would just randomly call out.

After reading her story we went over to room 502 where we captured another EVP.


There was a strange moment on our voice recorder where I seemed to be confused and unresponsive to Meg asking me questions then I basically began narrating what I was doing as if filling Meg in on what had happened when she was standing next to me the whole time.

Fourth Floor

Next we went to the fourth floor where we had one of our strangest experiences but I don't have video from it. I include it in full on the fourth/fifth floor voice recordings from my voice recorder.  We were walking along the solarium and we felt as if something moved between us.  There was a bang that others in the group heard and they thought they saw something. They chased it and ended up by us. At this point I got several strange EVPs on the recorder. Also on the thermal camera I saw a cold spot on the ceiling above us as if something was absorbing the heat. Our experience corroborated what the others had seen and chased.

As I said before the fourth floor had the operating room which greatly affected Meg. As we walked around that floor shadows seemed to twist and move. I really wanted something to happen in the Operating Room but Meg could only stay in there a short time. Also there were others from the group there and I felt like I was intruding on their own investigating. Again that is part of being in a group investigation. When I go back I will probably try and return to the operating room even though it also caused me to feel as though I was having trouble breathing, but not as badly as it affected Meghan. I wanted to try and make contact with patients or even doctors who still remain. One thing that struck me as I researched the Sanatorium and old treatments for Tuberculosis was how painful and brutal some of the treatments seemed. With the knowledge that we now have of the disease the old operations seem more like torture than actual treatment. But TB was a mystery at the time and these were operations done with the thought that it was the only chance a patient had to recover if they were not doing well with the sun and nutritional treatment. Another name for TB was consumption because the disease seemed to consume the whole individual. Had we been able to spend more time in the operating room I was going to try and empathize with the doctors who took an oath to do no harm to their patients and must have, I assume, felt conflicted about the pain and damage they had to cause in order to try and save a life.  I also wanted to try and communicate with patients and did at a later point, but not as much as I originally planned, by asking if they were aware of the vaccine that had eventually been discovered for Tuberculosis and if it gave comfort that perhaps studies done on them helped save countless lives.

Here is the video of all our recordings from the fifth and fourth floors.

First Floor

After the fourth floor there was a half hour break to use the bathroom and have a drink or bite to eat. Then the groups swapped and we went to the first floor. The first floor has the morgue, body chute, and the area that is set up for their Haunted House at Halloween. I again do not have video from this area. One cool thing about the first floor was that our group stayed together a bit more and we got to know some of the others. One of the members of the group had a "spirit box" app or white noise generator on her phone and I think we managed to confirm some of what her app gave us with the EVPs we captured on this floor.

In one of the small storage rooms I kept feeling someone touching my arm like a child trying to get attention and on the recorder there are several EVPs I hear that sound childlike. It makes me want to go back to that room next time and maybe spend some more time there trying to communicate.


Second Floor

Next we went to the second floor where I wanted to go to Lois and Audrey Higgs room. This is where having multiple voice recorders really helped. On one recorder we got super excited when we thought we had an EVP of Lois saying "my sister" a different recorder debunked that as being me speaking saying "like stay still". It certainly helped us with accuracy.  We did however get our best video. Again nothing that will change someone's mind but watch this video as we capture what could be a spirit manifesting itself.


At some point we begin questioning who we may be speaking too since obviously many patients would have had that room not just Lois and Audrey. After spending a good amount of time in that room we went out into the halls to find the cafeteria. Here we continue to get some good intelligent EVPs and actually some of my favorite EVPs. We also got a bit of a jump scare. Finally we ended our night in the cafeteria where we have heard good EVPs have been captured and sometimes people smell bread baking. We didn't get much there but it was the very end of the night, practically morning.



I do know in the future I want to do more short burst EVP that we can listen back to on the spot because I think there were times where they answered and interacted but we didn't know until much later. Overall it was a great experience and I hope to add more haunted locations to future road trips.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

A Road Trip through the Cornfields of Iowa




I've wanted to hit the road and go on a road trip for a while and currently have several trips planned. For various reasons each trip had been cancelled or moved back but there was one I was determined to get in before the year was over. And it was a road trip to Iowa. Now every time people asked me where I was going they would give me a puzzled look when I answered Iowa, kind of like -why Iowa? What is there to do in Iowa?


Well the answer is there is a lot to see and do in Iowa. So much so that at some point I will have to return to the Hawkeye State for a second visit.  During the trip we even made two detours because we saw signs for things we didn't even know about.





Now the  problem with a road trip to Iowa is that from TN we had seven hours of driving before we even reached the state and another two on top of that before we reached our first destination. Here is a rough estimate of the driving time and mileage. That doesn't include stops to rest and eat or the two detours we added to the trip that took us off the path a bit but it is close enough to give an idea.


The drive to Iowa is an easy: one all wide open highway with speed limits of 65-70 miles per hour. And as we started out I realized we would probably be able to see a beautiful change in the leaves the further north we went. After all in NY this would be the time of year when, as children, our parents would get us in the car and we would drive north for 2-3 hours past pumpkin and apple picking signs to where the cool air had taken uniform green leaves and changed them in to a vibrant array of yellow, orange, red, and purple.

We left my house very early and made really good time by 7am we had driven in three different states and before 10 am we were passing St. Louis. St. Louis is a pretty town that I want to go back to as well. We had been there once before for a weekend to see friends from college get married. In that time Meghan, my Mom, and myself had squeezed in a lot of sightseeing but it all was very rushed.



For now we settled with the sights that we could see from the highway which included St. Louis' famous Arch, the new Busch Stadium, and this pretty neat Budweiser sign with a light up eagle flying proudly. It would have been even cooler at night when the light effect would have been more apparent.

Shortly after crossing into the south eastern tip of Iowa we saw a sign directing drivers to pull off at the next exit to go to the "American Gothic house." In case you don't know American Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood in 1930.



 The house, it turns out, is in Eldon, Iowa. The figures in the painting were actually modeled by Wood's sister, Nan, and his dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby. Wood said he drew the "kind of people who would live in that house."


In front of the visitor/information center was a statue recreating the depicted father and daughter who during the depression where seen as representing "the steadfast American pioneer spirit."

The painting has been one of the most parodied paintings in American culture whether in tv or movies. At the visitor center they have costumes so that visitors can dress up as the iconic figures and take their own American Gothic photo. In front of the house is a mark for where visitors need to stand to get the right angle.

After that detour we continued our path to Pella, Iowa and the Vermeer Mill. As we drove along highway 163 we saw signs in the fields along the highway about an airport that was planned for the area and the owners of the fields were clearly not in favor. Basically on both sides of the road was sign after sign saying, "Say no to the airport" and, "You can't grow corn in concrete." We figured that this was some kind of case of possible eminent domain and a little bit of research when I got home proved that. Apparently since 2012 there has been an ongoing battle over the planned South Central Regional Airport. Right now there are smaller airports in the towns of Pella (where we were going) and the town of Oskaloosa. The plan would close both of those airports and open a 583 acre airport along the highway in Mahaska county.  An agreement was signed between the two cities and the county but earlier this year the county voted to leave the agreement and stopped sending their representative to committee meetings. I assume that is due to the unpopularity of the project with the farmers who could face losing their property. Several families have joined together and hired lawyers to represent them in this battle. Looks like the latest developments would be that with the attempted withdrawal of the county no entity would be able to actually claim eminent domain for the space needed. However a recent ruling has stopped the county from withdrawing from the agreement.

This is one of the neat things about a road trip like this we got a look into that area and what people there are feeling or doing. The roadside attractions give us destinations but it is the things we find and see and the experiences that make a trip valuable. Something like this kind of experience were we get a look inside life in that area is valuable because it helps make a connection. These days social media and the internet helps us stay in touch with people better and you would think that we are more connected but that doesn't seem to be true at all. So here it is. What do I have in common with people in Iowa? Or why go to Iowa, as I was asked many times? Well the answer is I am a home owner just like these farmers. Add on to that that for them that property is also their livelihood. I can imagine the anger and fear that they would feel at the threat of losing part of their farm/home. Or maybe for some it is excitement. Not all the property owners in the area are against it some might see it as an opportunity to get fair market value for their property.

We continued on the highway to Pella and eventually the Vermeer Mill. The mill is a replica of the 1850 city mill. The top was actually manufactured in the Netherlands and can turn 360 degrees to get the blades in the wind. From ground to tip is is the tallest working mill in the US at 124 feet and the blades are 82 feet in length.


As we were approaching the mill on all the street signs were little pictures of a Danish windmill. We turned from one small street into the town square and the mill exploded into sight. At the base is a statue of  two figures skating, a gift from the Vermeer family in 2015.

Next we traveled to Des Moines along highway 80 where we passed a large wind farm and giant turbines. I know a lot of people don't like them but I find the turbines beautiful and mesmerizing; to me watching them spin at different speeds is very peaceful.

Since my Mom was with us along with her dog Domino we had found a LaQuinta Inn to stay at that night because they are good hotels and always dog friendly. We checked in and left Domino so we could get dinner and she could relax, she isn't the biggest fan of car trips. The hotel associate had recommended the Granite City Food and Brewery and so we went. We have one in TN that Meg and I have been to twice and always have had a good experience.  

They had a special Oktoberfest menu that included an amazing Bavarian Pretzel. This pretzel was huge and could easily be split between four people. We also had their Oktoberfest beer which they were quickly running out of for good reason, it was delicious!


The rest of the meal was great as well as was the service and we left to continue exploring the sites on my list. 

Next was an odd site of a "graveyard in the middle of a road." A traffic circle goes around the family cemetery.  A fence surrounds the cemetery to keep out trespassers and signs direct cars around it because apparently there has been an issue of cars driving into the cemetery and tree.



The oldest graves are from 1847 and are mostly all members of the Huston family. J.B. Huston manned the post station along stage coach route to California. Eventually the post station closed as railroads gained popularity in the 1860s. Because of the fence I couldn't get very close to the graves and their age makes them hard to read.


As we left from there to head to Adair, Iowa I warned Meg and my Mom that we may not be able to find the next attraction. Reviews that I had seen online said it was hard to find and I knew we would be getting there after dark. I had used google maps before leaving to try and pinpoint where the sites were but this one had even been hard to find on the satellite image. So I planned to go there and try but not to spend to much time looking for it.

In Adair, Iowa is a plaque that claims it is the site of the notorious Jesse James Gang's first western train robbery. Now maybe the sign is new but about a half mile before we reached the site there was a sign notating that in 1/2 mile there was a historical marker. I had seen that earlier in the drive and laughed at the sign telling us there was a sign. But it proved very useful because sure enough on the left of the road was a raised pull off that brought us straight to the Jesse James Historic Site. 



The train wheel has the marker on it and right behind it is 20 feet of the actual railroad track that the James Gang moved to stop the train on July 21, 1873.

Encouraged by our ease at finding the James Gang train robbery site we set out for the next roadside attraction. Apparently on 350th street in Brayton, Iowa there is a tree in the middle of the road. Unfortunately we could not get there. We had traveled down a few dirt roads and Meg's poor Ford C-Max was being a good sport about it but I could feel its displeasure at the gravel road. However when we reached 350th street there was a sign that read "road abandoned" and basically an enter at your own risk type message. I did turn down it and drove about ten feet however there were deep mud tracks and the fact that there had been recent rainfall making the mud worse caused me to stop and back up. It's ok. It happens sometimes. On a trip in Florida Meghan and I had gone looking for a test rocket that was supposed to be near an industrial park. However we had been unable to find it. Sometimes directions are hard to follow and unclear, or these attractions can be moved to new locations, or like in this case roads could be closed or blocked.

A little sad but pretty sure I made the right call (my Mom was certainly happy with it) we continued on to the next location on my list which would be the last one of the night. In Elk Horn, Iowa there was another Danish Windmill. Unfortunately the blades of the windmill have been taken down.

After that we returned to our hotel and found Domino patiently waiting for us.

The next morning started with breakfast at the hotel to give us a good start for what promised to be a long day. Even though the drive time was only seven hours I figured there were a couple of spots that would take longer than the normal quick roadside stops.

Our first stop was the Pappajohn's Sculpture Park in Des Moines just a few minutes from the hotel. I was going there for one statue in particular but found some of the others pretty cool and amusing. The one we went for was the Thinker on a Rock by Barry Flanagan, a take on Auguste Rodin's sculpture The Thinker. Flanagan replaces the figure of a man with a hare which is an animal that is often used to represent a trickster. Flanagan choose a hare because of its popularity in pop culture and talked about how the hare's ears become an added appendage to show its attention.


I did like him and I think he was my favorite but there were some others that I really liked.

For example this playful duo by Ugo Rondinone are actually recreations of his clay sculptures. They are 2 in a series of 12 called Moonrise. The first sculpture with the wide grin is January and August is peering out behind him photobombing.


This next one is called Decoy and part of the reason that I really like it is because I fell for it. As I was walking over looking at it I thought "what a strange place to put a sewer cap and pipe" then I got closer and saw the wood grain under the bronze. There are many ways decoy can be interpreted but to me it was finding a piece of art hidden in what at first appeared to be an everyday object. 


And the last one is Nomade by Jaume Plensa. The figure is a human made up of white letters. Plensa saw the piece as being open so that viewers can peer inside or even walk inside. He compares it to lovers losing themselves in the other and also once you walk inside it is like the figure is embracing you. In his own words when talking about the use of letters Plensa says:

"In Nomade, I was using only Latin letters, and it creates a certain mesh, like in construction. I remember talking with an structural engineer, and he said: 'Well that is the most strong way to do any structure in architecture.' To, to do a mesh like that, that all the longs are going to many directions and it's very resistant. I love it that image as a poetical metaphor. That, probably language, it's the best structure to hold us up."


Once we were back to the car my Mom pointed out the beautiful red color of some leaves on the far side of the park.



We left Des Moines to drive to Kelley, IA where two blocks beyond a water tower beside a bus stop and the tiny town's PO Boxes is a working phone and phone booth. And yes I 100% drove to Iowa to see a phone booth.




















I read reports on the internet that someone in the town sometimes monitors it because some visitors have reported being at the phone booth and getting a call from residents asking how they are doing.

However I was there very early on a Saturday morning so I figured we would not be getting any calls because if I were them I would be sleeping still. I was going to try and make a call with it but the coin slot was filled in. However it does work. I closed the phone booth and Meghan called the phone to try it out.


I know the last time I used a public phone was easily at least eight years ago and I was in Brooklyn, NY. My cell phone battery had died and I needed to call my Mom to tell her something. For the record the phone booth has a Facebook page as well.



Next we went looking for the "World's Largest Concrete Garden Gnome." It is somewhere on the Iowa State University property. However they were having an event. I pulled up to two very nice young men at the University parking lot entrance and first asked them not to laugh at me. Then I asked them if they knew where the Giant Garden Gnome was. They didn't but one did say that to our left were the gardens and perhaps it was back there but I would have needed a parking pass to get onto the property. I thanked them and as I pulled away they called out "Go Yankees!" I was wearing a 1998 World Series tee shirt which was 1: a great great year for baseball fans and 2: I now realize probably a tee shirt older than the two young men that I was talking too. We drove around the side to see if we could see it from the road. Meg and my Mom were on lookout duty while I was obviously watching the road. We made two rights passed an amazingly beautiful home and then my Mom yelled out and scared the hell out of me. However just over some bushes and beyond a black iron fence she could see the very top of the gnome's hat. It looks like they were doing a bunch of construction on the garden and I imagine it will be beautiful when they finish.

Since we were about to start north we decided to stop for gas, something I tried to do once the car started getting down to a little over 1/4 tank. We stopped at a Route 66 Fill Station. What a great gas station! They had hand sanitizer at the pumps, the attendant in the store was very pleasant, and they had a cool selection of local craft beers. I bought two six packs to bring home and try. I bring a cooler with me on road trips just so that I can get growlers or local beers to bring home. I picked these two out and bought a bag of ice to keep them cold.


The next stop was at a house in Nevada, Iowa along the Lincoln Highway. We stopped when we got to the Lincoln Highway to enjoy the view.


The Lincoln Highway was dedicated October 31, 1913. It is a coast to coast highway from Manhattan, NY to Lincoln Park, San Francisco. The highway is the first national memorial to President Lincoln predating the Lincoln monument dedication in 1922. Here is a map of the route. Lincoln Highway

Like I said before I think the wind turbines are beautiful and peaceful.  I loved looking at this one over the cornfield.


A few miles after we turned onto the Lincoln Highway we came to the house. Using a tree stump in his front yard the owner had carved a very impressive statue of President Lincoln.




















      Fantastic!

Next was a long drive north to Clear Lake, Iowa. However we made a detour before getting there. At the Dows rest stop in Franklin county along I-35 we saw a sign pointing to a Civil War Memorial in Hampton.


Outside the rest stop was a plaque with the Bivouac of The Dead quoted on it. I had first seen this poem when visiting Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, KY. (Cave Hill Cemetery Blog)


There are also small plaques that had quotes from soldiers and their families letters.

Apparently Franklin County has the only Civil War Soldier's Memorial Hall in Iowa. The building was built in 1890 in a Gothic Revival style. At the rest stop it specifically mentioned the battle of Pleasant Hill (April 9th, 1864) in  Louisiana as a site where soldiers from Franklin county lost their lives.  The building was closed so we couldn't go in.



Across the street from the Memorial Hall was the Franklin County Courthouse. 

























The large tree in front is a European Larch planted in 1876. It is now called the Centennial tree. As we were there the clock struck noon and the bells began chiming.


Near the public library across the street I saw another tree that had a beautiful yellow color.



And then we were on our way north again back on highway 35. I'm not sure what kind of concrete was used in paving it but it had an awesome red color to it. Also we noticed at all the ramps there were gates to actually close the highway in case of emergencies like inclement weather. I can't think of ever seeing anything like that before.

And so as we drove further north we began to see these awesome trees with silver leaves on them. I'm not sure what they were but we did not see them in the southern areas of Iowa. At this point we were getting close to Minnesota so I assume it is a cold weather tree and I wish I knew what it was.


We got off I-35 and began driving through small roads among corn and wheat fields. October is harvest time and every farm we passed was active with large machinery clearing fields. A few times we slowed for tractors pulling loads of their crops for storage. It was fascinating to see the hard work of the farmers. Then we reached our destination.

Meghan and I had grown up listening to music from the 50s and 60s on cd sets put out by Lifetime. One song we had loved from when we first listened to it was Chantilly Lace by the Big Bopper, J.P. Richardson. Another song I remember listening to over and over again was That Will Be the Day by Buddy Holly. And I knew that the two of them along with Richie Valens had lost their lives in a plane crash. I didn't realize it was in Iowa until I started researching this trip. But as soon as I knew that I knew we would be stopping there. On February 3rd, 1959 after playing a show in Clear Lake Buddy Holly chartered a flight for him and two others to their next show. The Big Bopper had gotten the flu so rather than take the cold long bus ride he took a ride on the plane switching with Waylon Jennings who was in Buddy Holly's band at the time. Apparently Richie Valens took the last seat after winning a coin toss with Buddy Holly's other band member Tommy Allsup. The farmer who owns the field they crashed in keeps it plowed from the road to the crash site and there is a small memorial to the artists and their pilot, Roger Peterson.


The Buddy Holly glasses mark the spot on the road to let you know where to pull over. Then a short walk brings you to the memorial.



The field was peaceful as we walked between the corn and there was a steady flow of other travelers also coming to see the memorial. When we pulled up there were already two cars there as we were leaving we passed two other groups walking over and a third car was pulling up.  As we walked I took a video of the rhythmic sound of the wind through the corn. It made me think of the pattern of rolling waves off the ocean.


I also had Don McLean's American Pie in my head as I walked around after all he is the one who named the day of that crash as 'the day the music died.' That is a song that I know every word of actually when Meg and I were teenagers we used that long song as a timing method. We would sing that song walking to work at McDonalds or on long walks when we missed a bus. We also used it at McDonalds . . . little known fact it worked almost perfectly to the amount of time the fries were in the oil so instead of listening to a timer beep I had the words to American Pie going through my mind.

There are so many references and meanings packed into the song, some have been confirmed by McLean. Other references are left open allowing anyone to analyze the song and what it means to them. This is intentional on Don McLean's part as he once said:

"You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me... Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence." 



Then it was time to turn south and east in Iowa. We had a quick stop in Strawberry Point, Iowa to see exactly what you would expect . . . .


A giant strawberry. 

They also had strawberries all around town.


Then we continued on our way to the next spot which was the one I had been looking forward to the most. See in Iowa surrounded by cornfields is a baseball field made for one of the greatest movies ever.


It was everything I was hoping for! The house, bleachers, and field were perfect. I walked up to the cornstalks and stepped into them to get a shot from them to the home plate and then walked out like the players had in the movie. I mean there isn't a bad scene in that movie and the baseball and movie fan in me was thrilled to be standing there. If you haven't seen the movie I recommend it highly. In 2017 the US Library of Congress added Field of Dreams to the National Film Registry for preservation as being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."





There are so many great quotes and scenes in this movie I couldn't narrow down any to say that is my favorite. I could go on for hours about the movie and the different characters and what each of the messages given could mean for the different characters. The movie is about bringing dreams and reality together, it is offering redemption, and about relationships between family. Visiting the field is free and attracts over 65,000 visitors a year. It was worth the whole drive just to be there.

 To end the day we had two more quick stops and then we were going to meet a friend for dinner. The first quick stop was a giant wooden nickel.


The buffalo nickel is one of my favorite coins to collect so I wanted to see this giant wood version. Also very timely it urges everyone to get out and vote. . . . so do that. Seriously. It is something that everyone should do; register to vote, pay attention, and vote. You can vote early in some states (I did this year) or mail in ballots so please please please please vote.

Last stop of the day was to see the Black Angel in Oakland Cemetery. My Mom is the one who spotted her as I drove down the main path of the cemetery. 




The black angel marks the grave of Nicholas and Terezie Feldevertova. She is striking because of her obvious dark color which has caused people to spread rumors that its color changed because it is cursed or haunted. The color change is because the angel was made of bronze in 1911and as that bronze has aged it has darkened. Also it is looking down as if peering at its visitors which has helped add to rumors of it being cursed. The reason it is staring down is because the half tree trunk next to it is the grave of Terezie's son, Eduard Dolezal, who passed away young at only 17 years old. 

We tried to meet our friend at Backpocket Brewing but their limited Oktoberfest menu did not leave many options for dinner. So Meg got a half growler with their Oktoberfest and we added that to the cooler for the trip home.


We then went across the street to the Edgewater Grill and had a great meal before heading back to the hotel exhausted.

The next day was really just the drive home with one stop. But that was a big stop. Apparently the town of Riverside, Iowa has named itself the future birthplace of James T Kirk, Captain of the Starship Enterprise. At a town council meeting on March 25th, 1985 councilman Steve Miller proposed the town name itself the future birthplace. Miller had been reading Gene Roddenberry's book The Making of Star Trek. In it Roddenberry said Kirk would be born in a town in Iowa but didn't name the town. Miller seeing his chance proactively proposed his town. It became Star Trek cannon in 2009 when the town was named in the movie.



And then we just had the long ride home which was pretty uneventful except for one stop at a gas station along the "Avenue of the Saint's." The station had on display wine bottles in the shape of musical instruments filled with 'Jazzberry' wine. They are from Stone Cliff Winery in Dubuque, Iowa. They are in the shape of a saxophone, trumpet, and guitar. My Mom picked up one of each and the saxophone is currently chilling in the fridge.


The highway nickname of Avenue of the Saints isn't just one road; it is a path that weaves through Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri connecting St. Paul with St. Louis. The highway we were on was I-61.

As we got closer to TN we did run into some pretty intense rain so we had dinner in Clarksville at Chicago Pizza for some deep dish pizza. And then our whirlwind trip through Iowa was over. We had spent the better part of three days driving through five different states and now Meg's car needs an oil change.