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Bev's Journal We Proceeded On... Part II: The Journey West |
| 15 August 2002 Winterset City Park Campground Winterset IA Serendipity! We landed in this small town (pop. 5000) to discover that we were in the very spot where the movie ‘Bridges of Madison County’ was made. So, our stay here has turned out to be longer than we expected it to be. We were somewhat lamenting the fact that we had strayed far from the Lewis and Clark trail, but now I’m glad we did. One sometimes forgets that the best discoveries can be found down the road you never intended to follow. Winterset has character, with the traditional courthouse square, graced by a magnificent courthouse building. Many of the residential streets are lined with oak trees so big that they meet in the middle of the street. Many of the houses are Victorian-era with big porches. We had lunch at the Northside Café (est. 1876) where Clint drinks a cup of coffee in the movie; got our prescriptions refilled at the Montross Pharmacy (which has an old-fashioned soda fountain), and bought our groceries at the only supermarket in town, where none of the meat is prepackaged, and you order it direct from the butcher. (By the way, they had some of the best-looking meat I’ve seen in many a long year—surprise! Surprise! As if I’d never heard of ‘Iowa corn-fed beef’). . Winterset is also the birthplace of John Wayne, and a non-profit organization administers the modest home and takes tours through at $2.50 a pop. Unlike many tourist towns, there is a total lack of ostentation in Winterset. Maybe it’s Iowa modesty, or something, but there is no tackiness to be seen, and that was so refreshing. Then, of course, there are the (covered) bridges of Madison County. There are six of them nearby, and while they all look pretty much the same to me, the settings are different, and give each a slightly different character. Holliwell Bridge, built in 1880, is the longest of the bridges (122 ft.) and was used in the movie. A pretty, winding stream (too big to call a creek, too small to call a river) would have caught the cinematographer’s eye, and adds to its interest. I believe it was used for the scene where Clint’s character is shooting pictures while Meryl’s character walks inside the bridge and muses. We are camping at the City Park’s campground. It’s a rather unusual city park, mainly for some of its whimsical structures – the stone bridge, for example - you’re walking along, and suddenly you come upon this stone bridge down in a valley surrounded by lush greenness, and for all the world, you think you’ve walked into ‘Lord of the Rings’. There’s a Tudor-style stone tower, and a hedge maze, if you can believe it! Whoever designed the park had a lively imagination, and it is a delight to the weary traveler, as well as being a jewel in the town’s crown. You have probably guessed by now that we were quite taken with the place, and started considering its pros and cons as a place for us to settle down. I’m not sure I could live in such a small town (even though it has an excellent library). There is a college in Indianola, which is the next town over, and it’s really not all that far from Des Moines. I keep reminding myself that our trip has just begun, and there will be many places that will warrant serious consideration as places to relocate. |
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