Leslie and David's Wanderings: 18 -19 July 2024 Iowa

David worked most of Thursday trying to finish up some of his assignments. After he finished, we headed out to find a better grocery store than the one in West Liberty. We ended up at the HiVee. It reminded us of Central Market in Texas. Our most important purchase was Keira’s dog food! She did not like what we had picked up in West Liberty. David worked a bit on Friday as well. Then, out of curiosity, we looked to see if there were any winery/vineyards nearby. Surely if there are wineries in Illinois, there would be some in Iowa. Sure enough, we were in the middle of the Heart of Iowa Wine Trail! We headed out to the nearest winery with good reviews, Covered Bridges Winery. As we headed down the road, we saw a sign for John Wayne’s birthplace! We had never associated John Wayne with Iowa! Then we saw a sign for the Cover Bridges Scenic Drive with a sign for Madison County. Only then did we associate Madison County Iowa with the Clint Eastwood movie “Bridges of Madison County”! We always love to find surprises like this in our layover spots! After tasting Iowa wines (with only Iowa grown grapes) and picking up a couple of bottles to enjoy later, we headed down to Winterset. There we stopped at the John Wayne Birthplace Museum and gift shop. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to tour the house he was born in. But we did tour the free parts of the museum and picked up some John Wayne memorabilia in the gift shop. Then we walked around the Iowa Freedom Rock before going over to the house Where John Wayne was born. Such a modest beginning for such a patriotic famous American movie star. So many of our brightest Americans started from such humble beginnings in the Midwest! We then drove down to the Rosman Covered Bridge south of town. It was built in 1883, and although no longer used for traffic, it was in great shape. Then we drove back into town to see the Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge that is in a park in Winterset. This bridge was moved to the park and restored 1970. Being dinnertime, we went to a restaurant on the town square, the Urban on the Square. It was surprisingly upscale and good for a small-town café. The town square reminded us of some of the small town squares in Texas. On the way back to the Wanderer, we also stopped at the Hogback Covered Bridge.