Iowa is a beautiful state ... but, you should like corn, soy beans, oats and cabbage, and life on a farm if you want to live here. At least, that's what it seems driving across the state. Farm after farm after farm ... and postcard pictures of the folks who live here tending them. Really, as far as you can see in all directions, and a mostly straight highway running right through it! At least on Hwy 218 going north out of Cedar Rapids, anyway. No traffic, either. It's a beautiful state this time of the year.
The other interesting thing is we see a lot of familiar names on buildings; the corporate headquarters of this or that company. This was especially noteworthy as we passed through Elkhart, Indiana ... and also near Cedar Rapids.
These things make the trip more interesting, for sure. So, what are we doing in Clear Lake, Iowa? Well, if you haven't been here before the BIG thing to do is to visit the Surf Ballroom ... where Buddy Holly played his last concert before getting killed in the tragic airplane crash in 1959, five miles away, on his way to the next concert venue.
The thing about the Surf Ballroom that makes it worth the stop is that anybody, and everybody, who was anybody in music, since the 30's, played here ... if the walls could talk!!! This was our 2nd visit and we could both go back again today. You just can't take it all in ... and your mind goes wild with nostalgic feelings of times gone by, and forgotten tunes and music that comes rushing back. It's an experience you won't want to miss.
The Surf Ballroom is still putting-on concerts and the marque out front shows who is coming here next. I think if you lived here, this would be the center of some part of your life ... You might recognize one or two folks in these pictures.
The coat-check room, stage room (where everyone has signed the walls), the bar, and tribute rooms cause history to come rushing back ... so impressive! Louise sat in one of the booths ... Who knows, maybe Buddy Holly sat here at one point?
I'll leave this segment with the tributes to Buddy Holly, out front and in the bar of the Ballroom wall. Then, we are off to Sioux Fall, SD.
The adventure continues ...
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