Baseball: Field of Dreams Movie Site

We visited the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Iowa, location of the classic Field of Dreams baseball movie, starring Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones.

We were fortunate enough to be able to time our visit for one of the four annual Ghost Players shows.

Us in front of the house from the movie:

Us in front of house

Corn by the numbers:

Corn by the numbers

Field of Dreams swag shop:

Field of Dreams swag shop

The three messages from the movie:

Field of Dreams swag shop

Speech from the movie:

Field of Dreams swag shop

Snack shop:

Snack shop

The field, with the house in the background:

Field

Ghost players emerging from the corn:

Ghost players

Plus some guests:

Ghost players

Ghost player antics:

Ghost players

Our seats and cart:

Our seats and cart

Selfie by the corn where the ghost players emerged:

Selfie

Jenn amongst the corn:

Jenn

We also signed up for a guided tour of the house from the movie (which people can actually stay at), with a bunch of memorabilia:

House

House tour

Switch for the field lights (in the movie):

Switch for field lights

View of the field from the house:

View of field from house

Sitting on the porch swing seat:

Sitting on the porch swing seat

House

A special place for baseball movie fans.

Baseball: Cedar Rapids Kernels vs Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

We attended a game of the High-A minor league team Cedar Rapids Kernels, playing against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, at the Kernels’ Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Cedar Rapids Kernels

The concourse:

Concourse

Menus:

Menus

Burger and fries:

Burger and fries

Our seats were in the front row, right behind the net:

Right behind the net

Selfie:

Selfie

Stands:

Stands

Baseball

Mascot:

Mascot

Other angles:

Another angle

Lawn section

Another section

Spiderman:

Spiderman

Another angle

You can see where our seats were; look for Jenn with the teal hat and green shirt:

Our seats

Baseball

A run scores:

Run scores

Another run scores:

Run scores

Baseball

Pizza race:

Pizza race

3,756 attendance:

3,756 attendance

Kernels Win:

Kernels Win

Iowa 80 truck stop

On our travel day we stopped at the world’s largest truck stop, Iowa 80 in Walcott, Iowa.

Iowa 80 Truckstop features eight restaurant choices, a convenience store, gift store, Super Truck Showroom, barber shop, chiropractor, dentist, movie theater, workout room, laundry facilities, gas islands, diesel fuel center, truck service center, Truckomat truck wash, Dogomat pet wash, CAT Scale, 24- private showers, trucking museum and more!

Iowa 80

Iowa 80 truck stop

Lots of truck parking:

Truck parking

Diesel fuel:

Iowa 80 truck stop

Diesel pumps

Iowa 80 truck stop

Iowa 80

It was indeed big, though not all that exciting.

Lincoln Home National Historic Site

We visited Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois, featuring the only house that Abraham Lincoln ever owned, and neighboring houses.

Sign

Gift store:

Gift store

“The Lincolns Buy a Home”:

The Lincolns Buy a Home

Model

Exhibits

Floor plan:

Exhibits

Lincoln’s home:

Lincoln's home

Lincoln’s outhouse:

Lincoln's outhouse

Neighboring homes:

Other neighbor homes

Exhibits

Another look at Lincoln’s home:

Other neighbor homes

Lincoln's home

Baseball: St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs

We attended a game of St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs, playing at the Cardinals’ ballpark, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

An interactive map:

Center field entrance:

Center field entrance

The ballpark:

Ballpark

Team store:

Team store

Birb:

Birb

Perficient Perch:

Perficient Perch

Chicken and fries:

Chicken and fries

View from our seats:

View from our seats

Mascot and cheerleaders:

Mascot and cheerleaders

Gateway Arch:

Gateway Arch

View from our seats

Baseball

View from our seats

Gateway Arch

Views from elsewhere:

View from elsewhere

Our seats were in the sun on a really hot day, so we moved to stand in the concourse:

View from elsewhere

Then we left early. It was just too hot, and we didn’t particularly care about either of the teams playing.

Gateway Arch National Park

We visited Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, Missouri.

The NPS map:

An interactive map:

Map sign:

Map sign

Old Courthouse, currently being renovated:

Old Courthouse

Gateway Arch:

Gateway Arch

Inside the visitor center, a model tram; eight of these go up and down each leg of the arch:

Model tram

Exhibits:

Exhibits

A model of the observation area at the top of the arch:

Exhibits

Line to the top:

Line to the top

Boarding pass:

Boarding pass

Waiting for the tram:

Waiting for tram

Our tram:

Tram

Looking through the windows in the tram doors to the inside of the arch:

Inside the arch

Trams at top:

Trams at top

Top of the arch:

Top of arch

630 feet high:

630 feet high

Jenn taking a photo out an observation window:

Jenn

Views from top:

View from top

Shadow of the arch:

View from top

Waiting for the tram for the journey down:

Waiting for tram

Selfie in the tram:

Selfie in tram

Inside the arch:

Inside the arch

Out of the tram:

Out of the tram

Tram waiting area:

Tram waiting area

Arch store:

Store

Arch cafe for a snack:

Cafe

Snack

Under the arch:

Under the arch

Arch selfie

A rather unique national park.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

We visited the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Kentucky, a small park with the country’s first monument to Lincoln, enclosing the Symbolic Cabin, a reconstruction of the tiny cabin where Lincoln was born. The memorial was built between 1909 and 1911.

Entrance sign

56 steps up to the memorial, one for each year of Lincoln’s life:

Memorial

Info

The symbolic cabin inside the memorial:

The symbolic cabin inside the memorial

Peeking inside:

Peeking inside

Model of the cabin:

Model of the cabin

Info outside:

Info

Boardwalk to the visitor center:

Boardwalk to visitor center

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Parents and kids:

Parents and kids

Visitor center

Passport stamp:

Passport stamp

Gift shop:

Gift shop

Family Bible:

Family Bible

More exhibits:

Exhibits

Table made by Lincoln’s father:

Table made by Lincoln's father

Boundary oak tree:

Boundary oak tree

Exhibits

Model of the memorial:

Model of the memorial

Our first Buc-ee’s

Buc-ee’s is a popular gas station and convenience store chain, based in Texas, with some in nearby states. It is known for a large number of pumps and large stores, serving brisket, beef jerky, etc, and a beaver mascot. Their branch in Sevierville, Tennessee is the world’s largest convenience store.

We’ve driven past Buc-ee’s gas stations several times, but hadn’t stopped in one until this occasion in Smiths Grove, Kentucky. It isn’t one of the largest ones, but still an interesting experience.

We can’t stop at Buc-ee’s when driving our motorhome, as they are actively hostile to larger vehicles, not allowing 18-wheelers, and not accommodating large RVs like ours. But we visited this one in our pickup truck.

Buc-ee's

Gas pumps:

Gas pumps

Buc-ee's

Mammoth Cave National Park

We visited Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. It is notable as the longest cave system in the world, with over 400 miles of passages.

Entrance sign

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Mammoth cave has several guided tours available. We did the “Domes and Dripstones” tour, which required taking buses to a cave entrance:

Buses to a cave entrance

Down into a sinkhole:

Down into a sinkhole

Cave entrance:

Cave entrance

Looking down:

Looking down

Underground ranger talk:

Ranger talk

Not too bad a picture of me:

David

Lots of steps:

Lots of steps

Historic graffiti:

Historic graffiti

Very flat cave ceiling:

Very flat cave ceiling

Ranger talk area:

Ranger talk area

Cave

Ranger talk

More steps:

More steps

The “Frozen Niagara” formation:

Frozen Niagara formation

Formations

Selfie

Formations

Steps

Formations

Vertical panorama of a dome:

Panorama

Formations

An interesting cave, but we’ve seen nicer-looking ones. Just shows that size isn’t everything.

Baseball: Bowling Green Hot Rods

In addition to attending major league baseball games while traveling around the country, we also plan to attend some minor league games. Minor league teams often have fun names, and their ballparks are smaller, so we can often get seats front row behind home plate, something that would be prohibitively expensive in a MLB park.

We went to the Bowling Green Hot Rods’ ballpark in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to attend a game. But it was cancelled before starting due to weather. We had expected the game to have a rain delay midway, but they decided to not even start. We got to see the ballpark, at least.

Love BGKY