Friday, May 27
Time for another adventure! This time we are headed out west – mega road trip with my parents who are celebrating their 40th anniversary! We left after work, hoping to avoid some Chicagoland traffic. We stopped along the way for dinner – Applebee’s in Jackson. We stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites South in Joliet, IL for the night. The room was decent and the breakfast was also good.
Saturday, May 28
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| Herbert Hoover Boyhood Home |
We got an early start on the day, as we do most mornings of this trip, since we had a lot of miles to cover! Our first stop for the day was the Herbert Hoover National Historical Site, in West Branch, Iowa. The site is free to visit, but if you want to visit the Presidential Library and Museum there is a $10/person fee. Our visit started at the visitor center, where we watched the 12-minute film and checked out exhibits. Leaving the visitor center, we took the self-guided walking tour of the grounds and historic buildings. We spent about an hour at the site. Some interesting things we learned including that Hoover was the first president born west of the Mississippi River, he was an orphan at the age of nine, the first Quaker president and he did not take a salary (he gave the money to charity).
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| Des Moines Capital Building |
Traveling further into Iowa, we visited the capital in Des Moines. The capital was a pretty one (Renaissance style) with large grounds near it – lots of memorials and some art installations. The building was constructed between 1871 and 1886, and is the only five-domed capital building in the country! An amazing fact is that it was built with a total cost of $2,873, 294.59 and the audit showed that only $3.77 was unaccounted for during the 15 years of construction! The central towering dome is constructed of iron and brick and is covered with 23 carat gold.
From Des Moines, we headed north to Albert Lea, where we stayed at the Comfort Inn. We had dinner at a place called The Green Mill. It was good but a little pricey.
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