Field of Dreams - Dubuque

(Galena, IL) Hi 76 Lo 55 -- Sunny and breezy.  It finally cooled down a bit, but still rather humid.  We both woke up early so we got an early start on today's entertainment.

One of Jim's favorite movies is "Field of Dreams," and he's always wanted to see the actual site where it was filmed. That's one reason we made a stop in this area. We watched the movie last night in anticipation of our trip today to Dyersville, IA, to see the Field of Dreams Movie Site. It's less then one hour from our campground, way out in the country in the middle of a corn field. (Click on the pictures to make larger).


The field still looks just like it did in the movie, which came out in 1989.

It was fun watching some kids and adults playing on the famous field.

The farmhouse next to the ballfield.

The cornfield in the outfield, from where the baseball players magically appeared.

View from the outfield.

"Put me in, coach!"

There was a small souvenir stand on the site.

It was a magical place, especially to Jim. The movie is dear to his heart, and I could tell the visit meant a lot to him. It was nice to see how much they kept from making the place too commercialized. The admission is free, and except for the small souvenir stand, there's no feeling of it being a tourist trap. Just a simple place to enjoy.

We spent an hour there, then drove back to Dubuque to check out the town. We drove up on the high bluffs that overlook the city and the Mississippi River. We couldn't find a place with any good views, but it was fun driving up and down the hills and seeing some of the beautiful old homes.


A couple pictures from downtown




We then went down to the bank of the Mississippi River and strolled along the River Walk. It was very windy but the temperature was perfect in the 70's.


The Grand River Center, a meeting and conference center.




There were many interesting examples of civic artwork around the area. This one was made of pieces of tree bark fastened to a wire form.


A large pail with houses pouring out. Apparently meant to symbolize the floods this area often experiences.



These random balls of metal were lying around this lawn.




Poles with rocks on top. No idea what they represent; Jim thought they look like golf clubs.


This was a good opportunity to look for a geocache and mark Iowa off our list. I brought up c:geo, a geocaching app on my Droid smart phone and saw that one was within a quarter of a mile of us. It led us right to it. The clue for this one was "between the greens." It’s the silver rectangle, which is a magnetic case with the log inside.


We then returned to Galena and our home on wheels to relax for the rest of the evening. This was a wonderful day!