Sometimes I am simply taken by surprise by a single day and Friday was one of those rare and magnificent days.
Ed and I traveled to Clear Lake, Iowa Thursday evening and on Friday morning met (for the first time) the parents of a friend who are involved with Frank Lloyd Wright preservation on a national level and offered us a private tour of the Stockman house in Mason City. A Wright home designed for a middle-class family, the house itself is rare and it is beautifully restored and filled with FLW designed furniture. Our hosts, Bob and Bonnie, are true aficionados and we learned more about Wright and his work in northern Iowa than we likely know about any other properties we’ve visited. We had a wonderful lunch together in downtown Mason City, just a block away from the only surviving Wright hotel, which is being lovingly restored and will open in 2011 to the public as one-of-kind destination lodging. I can’t wait to return as a hotel guest!
We wrapped up the day by going to the single screen LAKE Theater in Clear Lake, where we saw Secretariat for $5 each and had a large popcorn and a soda for a total of $2.50.
I love living in the city and adore that our city is Minneapolis/St. Paul and yet this less than 48 hour excursion to two small towns warmed my heart and re-energized me in a way that sometimes is missing from a two week journey to a new and exciting land.
‘The graciousness and kindness of Bonnie and Bob, to share their entire day and their love of architecture with us – even to showing us their own lovely and historical home. ‘The server at the bar who shared his story about once being in the pages of People magazine and his adventures from there to northern Iowa. A trip through the Main Street Mercantile, where they really do sell everything. It was one of those days – the best day ever.
Comments are closed.