The American Gothic House

How does one survive a nearly 21 hour car ride?

This summer, we took off for a fishing trip in Canada and I had to figure out how to get my husband there with a little bit of sanity.  He's not a huge fan of car time, though he really likes to travel.  This always turns into an interesting balancing act of getting there, but having some fun along the way.

My idea for survival centered on some strategic stops along the way.

On the drive to Canada, we had two stops we wanted to make - a small, small town in Iowa and the Antique Archeology store. We were able to accomplish both.

The small, small town was Eldon, Iowa.  I really wanted to see the American Gothic House. I have always loved the American Gothic painting, so much so that when we visited Chicago a few years ago, a must-see was the original painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.

We cruised into Eldon on schedule, but I must have read the hours wrong on their website.  The visitor center was closed, but we enjoyed the beautiful little garden of native plants and of course, the house!

If you stand in the window outline in the little plaza, you are perfectly positioned to take a parody photo with the house in the background.

The visitor center was surrounded by some beautiful blooms (and a frisbee golf course.  I am sure if we had more time, we would have broken out our frisbees for a round or two. Frisbee golf was a new hobby we picked up this summer).

If you are ever driving through Iowa and want a fun little stop, we highly recommend this little detour.  Try to go when the center is open - they have props you can use to stage the parody photo for real - an opportunity we missed!