The Great American Road Trip III; Still Moving East

"Field of Dreams" (click to enlarge)

We had a pleasant evening in Lincoln, Nebraska.  We stayed in the middle of downtown in an Embassy Suites.  Of all the hotels in which we stayed, both inexpensive and expensive, the moderately priced Embassy Suites is my favorite.  The rooms are bigger, the hot breakfasts are much, much better with a cook on hand to make omelets or cook eggs to your exact liking as well as a complimentary evening cocktail hour with heavy hors d'oeuvres.  They mainly cater to the business traveler, but for the same money you get a lot more.

In downtown Lincoln, we ate a late dinner at a nice restaurant called, I think, Laszlo's Café.  I can recommend it.  For a state capital, Lincoln seemed very quiet and had very little traffic in the morning.

As we drove east, it seems that things we wanted to see became fewer and fewer.  I don't know if it was road weariness, the Midwest or a subconscious desire to head back to my friend's home in Michigan a day or two early.  That said, there was one more place we decided to explore.  That was the place where the "Field of Dreams' movie was filmed in Dyersville, Iowa.

Let me digress a moment and make note that, to me, Iowa was the cleanest, least junked up, greenest and tidiest state in which we traveled.  In every other state, common sites (not everywhere, of course) were loads of scrap metal items, old dilapidated cars, unkempt farms, litter and houses with overgrown grass and just a general view of all sorts of stuff that looked kind of sloppy.  Not in Iowa.  Not a universal observation, but Iowans seem to me to care about the appearance of their property much more than people in the other states.  Just sayin'.

(click to enlarge)

We arrived in Dyersville in late afternoon.  It was hot and humid.  What first struck me when I saw the field was that right field was uphill on a slope and left field slightly downhill.  I guess I'll have to go back and watch the movie again to see if I notice it.  I've never seen a baseball field that wasn't flat.  Also, being early in the growing season, the corn in the field beyond was only about about a foot high.  I guess filming was done late in the growing season when the corn was taller than a typical person.

There were two, I would guess, college age teams getting ready to play a game when the facility officially closed at 6 p.m.  We had about an hour to walk around, go to the concession stand as well as the gift shop and take some photographs.  In the distance, we could see the 'professional' baseball field on which MLB played a regulation game last year and is scheduled to again play this August.  We couldn't get to it as there was some construction going on and the pathway was blocked.

I've been a baseball fan since childhood.  My heroes were baseball players.  The first MLB game I saw was the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) versus the New York Yankees.  Our Little League team made the journey to Cleveland to see the 'Big Leaguers" play.  Wow!  There was Mickey Mantle, seemingly, almost at arms reach in the outfield before us!  Roger Maris, Whitey Ford.  Heroes everywhere!  That was a real treat for a kid in the early 1960s.

Because of those lingering thoughts and childhood experiences, years ago I had made a plan to visit every major league baseball park in the country during my travels.  I haven't completed my self-assignment yet, but I've been to, I think, about 16 stadiums.  I've also been to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  Each time I go to a ball field, I buy a regulation baseball with the team's logo on it.  I also bought a ball at the MLB HOF and, of course, I bought one at the Field of Dreams.  Old heroes never die, they just remain in our pleasant memories of childhood.  I'm still working on the rest of the fields but not sure if I will be able to visit all..

Today was a baseball day full of childhood memories, the hopes and dreams of little boys (and girls) as well as grownups still being in awe of American's Pastime.  Tomorrow, eastward bound.  But, it seems, the end of the road trip is near.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

All content on this blog is © 2013-2022 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.