As your podcast hosts, we can't wait to take you on an adventure through the heart of America with our special guest, Iowa enthusiast and author Megan Bannister (Olio in Iowa). Brace yourselves for an enthralling journey as Megan uncovers the buried treasures of Iowa, a wonderful state often overlooked. We chat about everything Iowa - from its fascinating history and unique culture to the mouth-watering delicacies that define its food scene. Megan, with her infectious passion, unravels the secrets she discovered while penning her book, Secret Iowa.
Promising to satiate your wanderlust, we wander through Iowa’s one-of-a-kind supper clubs, recount the tale of a baby elephant at the Iowa State Fair, and explore the American Gothic House that inspired the famous American Gothic painting. Buckle up as we lead you through intriguing locations like the three-story cylindrical Squirrel Cage Jail, the twisty Snake Alley in Burlington, or the Rail Explorers in Boone, and even the Field of Dreams in Dyersville. We promise, Iowa will never seem the same again!
From the hilarious Cardiff Giant tale in Fort Dodge to celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (Ragbrai), there’s never a dull moment in this episode. We leave no stone unturned, even discussing famous Iowa foods, including pork chops, sweet corn, and pork tenderloin. Whether you’re an Iowa native or a globetrotter scouting for your next travel escapade, we assure you, this episode is brimming with anecdotes, fun facts, and riveting stories that will make you see Iowa in a whole new light. So, pack your bags and get ready for a virtual tour of enchanting Iowa with us and Megan!
As your podcast hosts, we can't wait to take you on an adventure through the heart of America with our special guest, Iowa enthusiast and author Megan Bannister (Olio in Iowa). Brace yourselves for an enthralling journey as Megan uncovers the buried treasures of Iowa, a wonderful state often overlooked. We chat about everything Iowa - from its fascinating history and unique culture to the mouth-watering delicacies that define its food scene. Megan, with her infectious passion, unravels the secrets she discovered while penning her book, Secret Iowa.
Promising to satiate your wanderlust, we wander through Iowa’s one-of-a-kind supper clubs, recount the tale of a baby elephant at the Iowa State Fair, and explore the American Gothic House that inspired the famous American Gothic painting. Buckle up as we lead you through intriguing locations like the three-story cylindrical Squirrel Cage Jail, the twisty Snake Alley in Burlington, or the Rail Explorers in Boone, and even the Field of Dreams in Dyersville. We promise, Iowa will never seem the same again!
From the hilarious Cardiff Giant tale in Fort Dodge to celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (Ragbrai), there’s never a dull moment in this episode. We leave no stone unturned, even discussing famous Iowa foods, including pork chops, sweet corn, and pork tenderloin. Whether you’re an Iowa native or a globetrotter scouting for your next travel escapade, we assure you, this episode is brimming with anecdotes, fun facts, and riveting stories that will make you see Iowa in a whole new light. So, pack your bags and get ready for a virtual tour of enchanting Iowa with us and Megan!
Well, I'm just relieved to know that there's not serious squirrel criminal activity happening.
Megan:It's true. Yeah, they didn't need to build a jail for all of the squirrel crime that was happening.
Craig:They're not sharing their nuts. They're not sharing their nuts, anyway.
Joshua:Do you love the outdoors?
Craig:Do you love to travel?
Joshua:Do you love finding hidden treasures in towns all over the USA?
Craig:Hi, I'm Joshua and I'm Craig, and welcome to Trish's about town, the podcast that takes you on a journey to explore the unique and charming towns scattered throughout the United States.
Joshua:Join us as we venture into some of the country's most intriguing destinations, uncovering hidden gems and local secrets along the way.
Craig:On today's episode, josh, we're chatting with a special guest. Her name is Megan and she knows all the secrets of Iowa.
Joshua:Wow, I didn't know Iowa held so many secrets.
Craig:Apparently it does, and looking at the show notes, she's updated Josh. Wow, we've got a lot to talk about, oh my gosh.
Joshua:I'm so excited about this episode. Fun fact Craig, I was born. I was born in Iowa. You're an.
Craig:Iowa boy, why are you living? Where are you living?
Joshua:now I'm in Iowa, well my wife lives up here, so but I am. I am a proud Iowa when all my family lives in Iowa and I've traveled some of Iowa not all of it, because there's lots, as we will learn. There are lots of nooks and crannies in this state and I'm excited that we're featuring it because Iowa is one of those. They call them the flyover states. What does that mean the flyover states? It means that people just fly over them and they're easily forgotten. Have you ever heard that term before?
Craig:No, the flyover state. No, I haven't. There you go yes.
Joshua:For me, us in the Midwest, we often are called flyover states. You know, everybody goes to New York and everybody goes to. La and everybody goes to Vegas, New Jersey and Vegas New.
Craig:Jersey. Definitely do not get a new Jersey. I guarantee that.
Joshua:Yeah, and they fail to realize there's actually something in the middle of our country and Iowa almost smack dab right in the middle. Well, kansas is smack dab in the middle, but Iowa, it's a beautiful state filled with corn. I'm excited to learn more about it because, as you said, I'm looking at the show notes right now. There's some stuff there I've never heard of before and I'm excited to talk about it.
Craig:We really are. We really are. Meanwhile, Josh, before we get started, though, before we get Megan to come on board, Megan, Megan. I want to ask which way is pronounced?
Joshua:Megan.
Craig:Megan, it's Megan. Yes, not Megan, it's not Megan, it's Megan.
Joshua:Say we call it Megan in Australia Interesting, her name actually is pronounced Megan. I'm going to blow my mind.
Craig:Yeah, because? Yeah, in Australia it's Megan, as in M-E-G-A-N Megan, megan, well if she is in Australia, you could call her Megan.
Joshua:but let's call her Megan, yeah.
Craig:Okay, apart from talking about how to pronounce a name, what have you been up to recently, josh? Anything different, anything new?
Joshua:What's been happening? What's been happening? What's new? Yeah, I wasn't expecting you to ask me this question.
Craig:Well, that's because we're going to do some banter before him.
Joshua:I know We've said that, but I didn't write any of the banter into the show notes.
Craig:No, you didn't. You've written there that I was born in Iowa.
Joshua:That's all you've written, and that's what we've talked about so far is that I was born in Iowa. Well, let's just say this this is very unrelated to travel. This is actually opposite of travel, but all summer we have been spending renovating the main level of my home, that's right that takes a lot of time and money.
Craig:Yeah, well, a lot of time for your wife especially. I mean, she's been doing it while you have been traveling too. Don't worry, I see the Instagram pages and Instagram posts. That's really cool. It looks really good, though. Josh, what's your favorite update so far?
Joshua:Oh, the wooden floors. We ripped out all the carpet and all the tile in our main level and we have covered it with real wood floors Maple it's beautiful Maple wood.
Craig:The biggest question in that case and how's Goliath handling the wooden floors? It's very slippery for him Very slippery, poor little fella.
Joshua:There's a new challenge. When he is playing fetch to what he runs around, he looks like he's a little cartoon, you know, like the road runner. When the road runner, when he can't get his traction, that's what's happening, it's all happening, but nothing underneath.
Craig:Oh, that's super cute. That's super cute. And where is Goliath right now, as we speak? Is he on the floor next to you? Oh, there he is Speaking of him On cue. On cue, that was not edited at all. I promise you that. Wow.
Joshua:He is at my feet, he knows, he knows we're talking about him.
Craig:Yeah, that's funny. I did say as well, Josh, you got all your videos out now as well for the cash tour videos in Germany. That was really cool.
Joshua:Well, they're not all ours.
Craig:Well, they will be by the time this is published.
Joshua:Oh, yeah, because we're time travelers. Exactly, yes, they are all out.
Craig:They're all out. They're all out of the mall anyway. Yes, they're all out.
Joshua:I've seen them all too, they're all edited very, very well, even the last two episodes.
Craig:Yeah, the last two. I struggled a little bit with the last two Only because, as you can understand, and as everyone understands as well, if you're traveling on a trip for any length of time, whether it be, you know, 10 days plus especially you start to lose that energy level for your trip. Everyone does, whether you're filming or not. You know what I mean? Yeah, and so you didn't lose energy level on camera, but what you did lose is you lost the amount of footage per day. We got, slowly, less and less and less.
Joshua:Although that last episode in Vienna was maybe one of my favorite places to visit, so that turned out real nice. Yeah, that's really nice. Future. Josh talking right now.
Craig:Well, not really, because we think about it as well. You and I both have both seen it, so it's not really a future for us. But just talking about that one, the Beethoven place where he was buried you can be buried next to Beethoven, for a fee, probably a very large fee. You said $100,000 in your vlog. I'm not sure if that's correct or not.
Joshua:Yes, Well, you can't be buried next to Beethoven, like next to him, but in the same cemetery, like where the tomb is. But yeah, that's, yeah, that's very expensive. And you know who else is in there Falco. Do you know who Falco is? No, inform me who Falco is. Falco sings Amadeus Amadeus.
Craig:That was his big hit from the 80s. That makes sense now, the reason why you and Daniel were dancing when you were at his grave. I thought myself that's a bit rude, but anyway. But no, obviously you're dancing to his song.
Joshua:Falco wants people to dance on his grave.
Megan:Oh that makes sense now.
Joshua:I'm not dancing in joy of his departure. I'm dancing in honor of his artistry. Musical history.
Craig:Was it just a one hit wonder? As well like vanilla rice Amadeus.
Joshua:Falco. He has some other good hits but yeah, he had a breakthrough album that hit the charts in the United States and that kind of skyrocketed him to fame. So I don't know if it's a one hit wonder, but maybe a one album wonder, like one album really took off.
Craig:That's fair enough. Speaking of travel Craig.
Joshua:Yeah, yes, you were about to go somewhere.
Craig:I am, henshaw is one. We were recording this quite early. I'm actually about to head off to South Africa.
Joshua:That's a town in particular Cool, that's so cool.
Craig:Have you ever been 12? No, not at all, not at all. So 12 days in South Africa. I think nine of those days are going to be in Cape Town, in and around Cape Town itself, and then we're going doing three days on an African safari and actually staying in the safari lodge where you wake up and there's a giraffe just walking past your window, or a lion's attacking a gazelle, or something. Wow.
Joshua:That sounds very exotic and I will say a prayer for you that you don't get attacked by a lion. Well yeah, but that would be kind of cool. It would be a good story.
Craig:As long as I'm vlogging at the time, that's to be honest. Hopefully it'd go viral.
Joshua:Yeah, if you don't vlog it, it doesn't happen. That's true. I get really sucked in on TikTok, on all the videos of people being chased by bears, and they're talking hey bear, hey bear, hey bear hey bear, there's your travel tip for the day. If you encounter a bear, just don't run away and just yell hey bear.
Craig:Apparently, there's three different types of bears. There's three different types of things you have to do. I think it is so. The brown bear is different to the black bear, is different to the grizzly bear. So maybe we should ask Canadians out there. Let us know if you're a Canadian out there. They'd know more about the bears than anyone else.
Joshua:I'll be honest, maybe we should do a whole episode about bears, Bears it's not a bad idea Bears, beets and Battlestar Galactica. What movie is that from? It's actually from the Office that's Dwight.
Craig:Schrute, I knew to be something with you. It's either television movies or song.
Joshua:I watch too much TV. I'm a child of the natives. You know what? Iowa? Should we get Megan on? We should get Megan on. And I just want to say, before we get Megan on, I'm excited about this because, speaking of movies and TV shows, do you know this quote Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa. Do you know that quote?
Craig:I don't really offer top of my head, but I'm thinking I've seen it or heard it in one of your actual old videos, that's right, that's right.
Joshua:It's the video where my grandma came out of the corn, do you? Remember yes, oh, Field of Dreams.
Craig:Yes.
Joshua:Field of.
Megan:Dreams.
Joshua:Field of Dreams.
Megan:That's right, that's right.
Joshua:So that's the famous quote. You know, the baseball player comes out of the corn. If you haven't seen Field of Dreams, you got to go do that. And he comes out and he's you haven't seen Field of.
Craig:Dreams, you dream. Everyone's seen Field of Dreams. Well, kevin Costner at his best.
Joshua:Yeah, and the baseball player comes out and he looks at Kevin Costner, who's a farmer in Iowa, and he says he goes, is this heaven? He goes no, it's Iowa. And with that, let's talk about heaven, let's talk about Iowa and welcome Megan. We are here with Megan Bannister, fromI'm hoping to have pronounced this right Olio.
Megan:Yeah.
Joshua:Olio in Iowa. I found you on Instagram and I'm just so excited to talk to you, Megan, because I love your Instagram profile. It checks all the boxes for me for things that I love. How are you doing this fine morning?
Megan:I'm doing well, yeah, and I'm so kind. I know that it's a fun place to be, for sure.
Craig:Josh is going to tell you to. Firstly, before I start, is it Megan or Megan?
Megan:Megan. Of course it's Megan. It is Megan, of course it's Megan. She's American.
Craig:See, I was going to, because we spoke about this beforehand and I said in Australia, you would actually be called. Megan yes, yeah, we pronounce Megan. So I'll say I'll refame it's Megan, it's Megan, that's fine.
Joshua:Well, Josh is going to tell you as well. What are you going to say Josh? I was going to say Megan, have you ever been to Australia?
Megan:I have not, but I hear that y'all have so many big things.
Craig:Well.
Megan:That was one of the things from TikTok that people were like, okay, you have to go here, but next you have to go to Australia.
Craig:Yeah, because they're called snakes and spiders and crocodiles. You know, they're the big things in Australia.
Megan:Yeah, exactly. Yeah, no, it moved up the bucket list quite a bit, but no, I have not been.
Craig:Nice, nice. Well, you can reach back out to me if that's the case and I can tell you all the best places to go and the big things that I've seen in Australia, and the big potato, josh. But anyway, I digress, I digress, let's get back to Iowa.
Joshua:Yes, of course, let's get back to secret Iowa, which is after this book is released. Megan, it's not going to be a secret much longer, which is a great thing, because I was actually born in Iowa. I have black and gold blood flowing through me Now let's just get this clear right before we continue the interview any further. Are you a Hawkeye, are you a cyclone or are you a panther?
Megan:See, I have. I have disappointing news for this which is that I am not an original Iowan. I'm a transplant, and so I don't care.
Joshua:And I didn't go to any of this.
Megan:No.
Joshua:So, I went to.
Megan:I went to Drake, which is in Iowa but not not very good with the sports Okay. So I don't have an allegiance, which is always I for colors. Only Black and gold tends to be my, my leaning. But I, iowa State, gave my mom always like I'm just here for the snacks, I don't care who is Okay.
Joshua:Okay, well, we can continue to talk to you then, because you did say that black, you prefer black and gold colors, yeah, okay. So, megan, you are, from my understanding, you are an author, you are a blogger, is that right? And also, of course, you have a very awesome Instagram profile. Tell us a little bit about you and your interest. And you know you've wrote a book about supper clubs, which I'm very interested in. I'm really curious. I mean, I've heard of supper clubs, but I'm really, I want, I really want to know, like, what defines a supper club? How is it different from a restaurant, whatever? But, megan, just tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
Megan:So I, like I said, I'm an Iowa transplant.
Megan:I moved here about oh gosh, almost 15 years ago to go to college and then just never left.
Megan:I really fell in love with Des Moines, which is where I'm based now, and just kind of loved the size of the city, how easy it was to do things and get involved and was really surprised that there was so much to do and so have a traditional journalism background, that kind of started writing about things I was doing in Iowa and road trips I was taking, just from like a purely for fun perspective of like none of my family lived here. I wanted to share kind of my new state and what I was doing, and it's just kind of evolved from there. So I've been a freelance writer, I've worked, you know, in marketing, I've done kind of all the things, but now get to do this full time, which is really really fun. So and then, yeah, it's led to I have a blog where I write about a lot of the places I visit, particularly like the weird and wacky spots, and then it has led to two books, which has been a really fun adventure as well.
Craig:I did see those two books itself. But another important question for me is Olio in Iowa. What's where's Olio come from?
Megan:Yeah, so in addition to being Italian for olive oil, which is not the, not the root, but people ask about that one sometimes too. So Olio means like a serendipitous mixture of things, and so that was kind of what I liked to find when I travel, and it just sonically sounded really nice with Iowa as well. So that's kind of how how we ended up there and it's just stuck after all that time.
Craig:Wow. I love that, not olive oil.
Megan:Not olive oil. No, no, I am very Italian, but not I was. One of my friends was teasing me the other week. She's like at some point you should go to Italy and do like an olive oil, like specific spin off, and I was like you know, that just might be an idea that could be fun.
Joshua:Very true, very true. So we are very excited to talk to you because this podcast is all about some of those hidden locations that not everybody always thinks of, and this, I believe, being a Iowa born person. I believe Iowa is one of those places that people often don't think about to travel to and to visit. So you, I'm just so excited. I saw the show notes and I've traveled through Iowa quite a bit and there's so many things on your list here that I have never even heard of before, so I'm really excited.
Joshua:So, but let's first talk. You've written two books. The first book you've written is about supper clubs. Not only supper clubs, but Iowa supper clubs. So my question first of all is like what actually defines a supper club?
Megan:Sure. So that was kind of the like root question of that project, which I think is really funny because there's not really one definition. It kind of depends on who you talk to and geographically where you are. And we were actually, when I was working on it, at dinner with some friends, and one of them is is clerking for a judge and he was like it kind of sounds like the Supreme Court decision on pornography, where you don't like you can't define it, but you know it when you see it.
Craig:And I was like actually that's 100% correct.
Megan:What is it? So they are kind of like a femoral. So a lot of them I like to usually describe to people as like you're kind of your classic steak houses. You're going to walk in and there's going to be like wood paneling, usually like no windows, really low lighting. You're going to have like a classic bar area where you can get like your old fashions or lemon drops, kind of those classic like steakhouse cocktails. A lot of them are very meat heavy, so you'll have prime rib and tenderloins and rack of rib in Iowa, in Wisconsin. A lot more of them do like the fish fry because a lot of them are on lakes and things like that Iowa, minnesota, you'll find more of the pork and beef products.
Megan:You'll find relish trays, so that crudité spread that you might remember from a Sunday lunch type situation, with your cheese spreads and your like pickled meats and pickled herring and that kind of thing, and then some of those ice cream drinks, like your grasshoppers, your pink squirrels, that kind of a thing, so kind of classic steakhouse. A lot of them also have some sort of a tie to either prohibition or like mob activity or gambling.
Megan:Some of those kind of more nefarious things, and so they're called clubs, because a lot of them started as key clubs, and so you would have a membership to go to this restaurant, essentially where you could drink. And so in Iowa, one of the things I learned when I was researching for this book was that we didn't get liquor by the drink until really late after prohibition, and so it was like 1967, I believe before in Iowa you could go and order a drink with your dinner, and so a lot of these places sprung up. Because you know you're going out to a nice dinner, you wanted to have your you know, lemon drop, your vodka soda with dinner, and so you would essentially pay to have your bottle of vodka live on the shelf at your favorite restaurant, and then they could pour it for you, because they weren't selling it to you, it was your vodka.
Megan:And that's kind of how they got around it. So that explains a lot of the no windows.
Megan:A lot of the kind of out of the way locations are some of them. But yeah, it was a ton of fun to work on, and so the book is kind of the beginning part is what is a supper club? What are some of those traits and things that you can expect to find? There's a pretty big section about ones that are closed that no longer exist. Back in the day, like 40s to 60s kind of era, pretty much every tiny town in Iowa had one. Lots of rural highways, byways kind of those were where you would find them. There's obviously a lot less of those now, and so then the back half is 10 that are still open that you can go visit and eat at today.
Craig:And it came out.
Megan:August 2020, which was not excellent time for a book about atmospheric defining. But all of them, except for one is still open, so that is really really fun.
Craig:That's really cool. And, of course, josh, just to let you know as well, all these links are in the show notes.
Joshua:Well, I don't know about you, craig, but now, just as she was describing some of that food, my mouth was already watering. I want to visit a supper club in Iowa.
Craig:Well, we're recording this as well. Just before lunchtime Well, lunchtime for me, anyway. I'm on the East Coast and so, yeah, I'm getting home. When I think of supper Josh, the word supper as well I do think of an old fashioned name, like supper is very old fashioned name, and so, yeah, I do think of that thing as well. Megan, as well as that, you know the guys with the old fashioned hats that come in and have to take their hats off as they walk through the door, which boys don't do these days, you know what I mean. Like that's the style that they dress up to go out for dinner. You know, they actually get dressed up to go for dinner. So that's what I think when I think of the word supper. So, yeah, I like it, yeah.
Joshua:So it sounds to me, megan, that the definition of a supper club there really isn't one, but you just know one. You know one when you see one.
Craig:Yeah, exactly.
Joshua:And they're not really clubs anymore, would you say. Most supper clubs there just become, have become restaurants, basically yeah so you can.
Megan:there's none that I know of. They're still like membership only based. They are pretty much, I like to tell people to. They're kind of like cheers where like you'll go in and it's like everybody knows everybody. Like they have their very staunch regulars. Most of them don't take reservations unless you have like a really really large party, and so some of them there's one up in Mason City that's been there for more than 100 years owned by the same family they start forming a line at 330, typically on the weekends. They don't open till five.
Megan:But people will wait in line and drive down from the Twin Cities to eat there and they have like. That's why they have the bars, because then you know, you put your name on the list and you get a drink and you, you know, get some onion rings and hang out for an hour or two and wait for your table. So it is kind of about that like leisurely dining experience too, which I think we're not as used to anymore.
Joshua:I think I've been to some supper clubs before, and the one I'm thinking of that I really love is you walk in and what you see first is a display case just filled with raw meat.
Megan:That does sound right.
Joshua:And you point and you're like I'll take that piece and then you go sit down and they go sit down and you cook it Delicious, All right. So that book is available, I'm sure, on Amazon or anywhere you know you get books or soul. But let's talk about your new project and and the topic for today, which is Iowa, secret Iowa. So you are, you've been there for 15 years. What motivated you to create this new project, secret Iowa, and what is it about?
Megan:Yeah. So I love finding kind of all of the weird and wacky spots. That's just kind of always been what I gravitated to wherever we were traveling. And so when I moved to Iowa, I think one of the really common things I hear from people both in Iowa and then if I'm traveling somewhere else too, is like, well, why are you here? Like, why would you take the time to drive and I'm a big driver, I would I always prefer to drive over fly but people be like, well, why did you stop here? Like why there's nothing to see here.
Megan:And so I've kind of made that my personal mission to disprove people who were like there's nothing to see in the Midwest or in Iowa or in any of those places. And so this project came about. This publisher I'm working with actually has a series of secret books so you can find, you know, secret Route 66 or secret Chicago, but they didn't have an Iowa title, and so it seemed like a really excellent fit to get to talk about some of the secrets around the state that maybe you know, people have heard about the place but they don't know the backstory of it. So there's some that are, you know, truly hidden gems that you've probably never heard of. But then I also wanted to see if I could include some things like the Iowa State Fair that people you know is our biggest event of the year. People kind of know that if they don't know anything else about Iowa for better or worse.
Megan:But I wanted to find, you know, what are some secrets and kind of little nuggets that people might not realize about these things that they interact with on a regular basis too.
Craig:Now, Megan as well. So this is basically a guide to the weed, the wonderful and obscure components or parts of Iowa. I like that. Do you have one specific part weed thing that not that many people know about but you do and you feature in the book at all that you can think of?
Megan:Um, so one of them. So there's 84 different places in the book that you can still visit, so they're all place based. So even if it's something that was like a historical event, there is still some sort of a marker that you can kind of learn about it and still go somewhere to see more today. And so one of them that I really love that, since I mentioned the Iowa State Fair is the story of Baby Mine, who is a baby elephant that, after the depression, like hundreds of children, donated money to purchase a baby elephant for the Iowa State Fair and her name was Baby Mine and she lived at the fair for like 10 to 15 years before they realized like it is very cost prohibitive for the fair to own an elephant.
Joshua:An elephant just for like a 10 days or whatever.
Megan:Yes, well, and she would travel the country like they would to her and they had a full-time person that was like in charge of essentially like her care and travel and all of these things. But that's one that people are always like what really? And you can actually the another one of my favorite things about the fair is there's a museum so you can go to the State Fair Museum when you visit the fair. It's free, you can just kind of wander around and learn about some of the fair history, but they have a display about her and then in the children's area they have like a little playground and there's tiny elephant statues that have just like a little plaque.
Megan:You would just walk right by it, but it just has like a tiny plaque with her name on it and yeah. So that was one that was really fun. That, like I think everyone has probably knows of the fair, has been to the fair, but it was fun to kind of uncover some of those pieces of history that people might not think of.
Joshua:Okay, so you brought up the Iowa State Fair. Now, as we speak, right now, the great Minnesota get together is happening and I don't know if you know, megan, I am in Minnesota. I have looked at your Instagram profile. You have been. I have been the Minnesota State Fair. You have been to the Iowa State Fair. Now I we have to. We have to discuss it. It's controversial. What's fair is better.
Megan:Oh, it is a big controversy and my my Iowa born husband always teases me because he's like you're going to get excommunicated. I do really love the Minnesota State Fair. I actually just sent a friend there this week Because she was like, is it worth driving? And I was like, listen, it's pretty great. And she texted me yesterday and said like it's amazing here.
Craig:And I was like I know Minnesota.
Megan:State Fair is really great. I do think both of them have things that I love. I do love the diversity of food at the Minnesota State Fair, like there is lots of very different stuff that we just do not have. So I love, I love that, but it's been, oh gosh, probably five or six years since I've been so I need to make a return trip at some point.
Joshua:I have. I have been to the Iowa State Fair when I was a child. It feels much more, you know. I feel like the Iowa State Fair is much more connected to its its rural roots. Yes, where where you know the Minnesota State Fair is, in the city. Of course you know they have. We have all the barns and we have the big pigs and all that stuff, but it's, it's. Iowa is more what you would maybe think of if, if you were to draw a cartoon of what a state fair should look like.
Megan:Yes.
Joshua:But the Minnesota State Fair is very dynamic. It just has a lot to offer.
Megan:So for sure.
Joshua:All right. So gosh, megan, we have a whole list of things here we do, of things You're taught. I see here your top 10 locations and you have 84 in the book. So this is. This is like an exclusive, craig. The book hasn't even come out yet.
Craig:Well, it will. By the time it will, by the time it will publish when, when's it when's the book being published September 15th, it'll be out. September 15th. It's. This is. This is really perfect, perfect, perfect.
Joshua:This is the book launch podcast of this rock secret secret Iowa, and I'm very proud of that. And. But there's 84 locations in the book. Megan, you have a list here of your top 10 locations in Iowa. Now is this you know this is subjective, right, but is this your top 10, your favorite? Are you just cherry picking out of the 84.
Megan:This is so. This is my cherry picked list from the 84. I try not to include things that I thought we might talk about otherwise. So this is like a good matter but I also tried and when I was working on the book to I tried to be really intentional about making sure that they are like geographically diverse as well as like diverse in terms of like.
Megan:they're not all museums, they're not all like things that you pull off to the side of the road for five seconds and then keep driving, like To try to just make it be a little bit more. You know, I live in Des Moines, I live in central Iowa. I spent a lot of time here. I could have easily put like 10 to 12 things about that, but I wanted to make sure that we kind of shared the love across the state.
Joshua:Well, these locations are I, would they fit the bill there? They must be pretty secret because I have not heard of many of them. But maybe, maybe I'm gonna. I'm gonna back up a little bit because there's some major I'm say major things In Iowa that you know, people that are listening to this around the country, around the world, may not realize. And I'm just gonna bring up the first thing. We were kind of I don't know if you're familiar with geocaching- Megan yeah okay, you are familiar with yes, yeah have you ever done it before?
Joshua:I have yes, yes, Well, one of the reasons we love obscure places because people often hide geocaches at these locations that people are proud of, that they want to bring people to, and one of the places that geocaching brought me was the future home of James T Kirk from Star Trek. Yes, the future home, it's so funny. The future home of James T Kirk, which I believe he's gonna be born what? 20. 21 something 2228.
Megan:2228 they have decided yes the future birth of Captain James T Kirk from Star Trek.
Joshua:Yeah, so this is in. This is in Riverside Iowa. I believe in in. You know one of the episodes I believe in Star Trek, for he references that he is from Iowa and do you know the history of like why the city decided, yeah, that would be the home.
Megan:So one of the Riverside City Council members he is a big Star Trek fan, his name Steve Miller, and he was actually reading at Jean Roddenberry wrote a book called like the making of Star Trek that had just like a bunch of behind the scenes stuff. And while he was reading this book he learned that he's supposed to be born and all it says is a small town in the state of Iowa. And so he took that upon himself and this was in the mid 80s, I believe Took it upon himself to check and see and, as far as he could tell, no other city had claimed the future birthplace yet.
Megan:I love he decided like, why not, why not us? And so he brought it to the city council in March of 1985 to like, try to stake claim to being the birthplace. And so they decided like, yeah, we'll do that. They changed they have an annual. A lot of the small towns in Iowa have like an annual festival of some sort, and so theirs was the river festival. They changed it to Trek Fest and so every year they have a track fast. They also there's town slogan used to be where the best begins, and they changed it to where the track begins, and so you can go and see they have a historic marker that denotes like the place of his future birth. It's like behind their city hall.
Joshua:Yes, and then it's also. It's also a geocache.
Megan:And then they also recently put up a like life size bronze statue of him and one of the parks. And then they also have the Voyage Home Museum, which is like a Star Trek memorabilia kind of museum to go to and they used to, and it's not there anymore and it makes me very sad. One of the bars in town used to have a plaque on the underside of their pool table that was the future conception point of Captain Kirk and I was like this is so funny.
Megan:And I think it had sold and there was new owners and they probably didn't want to deal with it. But as far as I know, that one is not there anymore, but I did not know that.
Joshua:You know all the secrets, megan. Yeah, you do know all the secrets you do.
Craig:Well, josh, I saw this sort of stuff as well. I've been around a little bit here in the US not as much as I'd like and I'll be getting around a lot more but I saw a lot of this stuff on, like Tiktok and social media etc as well. There's one thing, josh, I saw on Tiktok only I think it was yesterday, and, megan, tell me, have you ever been on this? It's the, the rail bikes in Boone.
Megan:No, I haven't been yet, but I just I think I saw the same video that like absolutely blew up, yeah, so it's on. There's like a scenic rail line in Boone that has like a high trestle bridge and so they run like a historic steam engine on it mostly, but in the last I want to say it's like the last year or two they got this rail explorers and I believe they have them other places too, but it's kind of like an alpine coaster meets like a pedal bike, and so it's this like steel carriage that sits on the train tracks and I think you can either do it to people or for people and you pedal and you go like out across the trestle bridge along the train tracks. It looks so fun. It's been on my list to do.
Craig:And it's like an hour and a half or two hour ride as well, so it's a decent decent ride.
Joshua:And Boone is pretty close to where you are, if you're in.
Megan:It's probably about like 45 minutes to an hour. Wow North by Ames.
Craig:I know you're going to do this afternoon, just saying.
Megan:Yeah, seriously, I know it's beautiful here. Finally.
Joshua:So let's talk about a couple of other very famous locations. I don't even have this on my notes, but we did bring it up before we were talking to you and that is the field of dreams in Dyersville. Dyersville, iowa, which is in northeast Iowa, and it's just like the slogan I just love for so long. The slogan is this heaven? No, it's Iowa. Like what a better, what a great slogan for Iowa. I know Iowa latched on to that. I'm sure you've been to the field of dreams.
Megan:Yeah, yeah, a few times. So we this changed a lot over the last probably 10 years, which has been really fun to watch. And so for the anniversary of the movie I think it must have been 20 years we went and they did like a charity baseball game with some of the actors from the movie and they showed the movie on the field, which is something they do every year. And they also do really fun like ghost player games where you can go and watch and they actually have all the players come out of the cornfield in the late summer like they do in the movie.
Megan:Because, very much like the movie, there was not a baseball field there and so they built one for the movie and then they have since also added the MLB stadium. That is there that they do like one game I don't think they're doing one this year, but the last couple years they've done like one professional game a year at the field of dreams and it's it's so cool and it's so fun and that one actually is in the book because there were some cool like movie fact things that people don't know, like the voice, the disembodied voice that does the. If you build it, he will come. He's completely uncredited and the director and producer said like he will not ever tell anyone who it is.
Joshua:Wow Interesting.
Megan:The scene at the end, where it's like all of the cars lining up to go to the field because it's like become such a hit, they actually, because of when it was filmed, like that's not CGI, that is actually all of the highways in town being filled with cars and they had to recruit like everybody from the surrounding communities and like broadcast over the local radio frequencies so that people knew, like turn your lights on now.
Megan:It's just really really fun, interesting stuff. But yeah, it's such a cool even if there's not an event going on. They recently, in the last couple years, have opened up the farmhouse to, so you can like rent the farmhouse as an Airbnb and kind of get the full experience, but yeah, it's a really really cool spot.
Craig:That's really nice. Before we get into though, the top 10, josh, because we've got to move it along this. There's a lot to get through this episode can be longer.
Joshua:Come on, craig, this is so. This is so interesting.
Craig:Megan, I'm the timekeeper of the two.
Joshua:I don't care if this episode is two hours.
Craig:Josh is the voice on the timekeeper.
Joshua:This is released every other week, so we could release, you know, one half like one week, and the Okay, sorry, now he's going.
Craig:Craig's the producer. I want to know you were talking about the sub club before as well. I want to know about the food and the food in Iowa itself as well so in terms of what is what Iowa food can you get only normally in Iowa? You said it's a lot of beef products and a lot of pig products at the actual fair. But what other food is specific to Iowa?
Megan:Yeah, I would say definitely, so like, definitely pork products. So like your pork chops, your tenderloins every year they do like a best tenderloin in the state and it's when I say tenderloin it's like the really thin kind of like breaded fried patty. So it'll be like the size of the plate with like a normal size bun typically.
Joshua:So that's really, and a tenderloin is a is pork, a pork Pork?
Megan:yes, fried pork tenderloin and then like kind of like schnitzel, which I was like oh yeah, that makes sense.
Megan:Pork chops. Sweet corn, especially in the summer, is a big one. You're actually just out for dinner last night and the restaurant we were at had sweet corn ice cream, which was the fun. Yeah, put it in everything, sweet corn ice cream, like soft serve cocktails, you name it so big on our corn. And then the dessert thing that I always mention, because it's one of our family favorites, is scotch arouse, which is like a oh yes, rice Krispy peanut butter bottom with like a layer of like chocolate fudge on top. It's like a bar.
Megan:It's so good, but like dense, rice Krispy, not like pull apart marshmallow rice Krispy.
Joshua:And they're like up in the upper Midwest they're. They're in all the gas stations. Yes, a good, quick, quick trip or quick star will have those. Yes, they're so good, they're so tasty.
Megan:Those are the. Those are the real big. I'm trying to think if there's any other ones that I'm missing. But yeah, those are kind of the quintessential things.
Joshua:I need to ask you about this. This is a hidden secret of Iowa, so everybody that is connected to Iowa is usually connected to some small town, right? Whenever anybody's from Iowa, I'm like, where are you from? And like and if you're from Iowa, you know, you know some of these small towns, you're like oh, I know exactly where that is. That's your waiver waiver. Like they always pick the slightly bigger town slightly bigger yeah.
Joshua:Yeah, and so much of my family. They're from Clarksville, iowa. Oh sure, familiar with Clarksville. So Clarksville kind of got attention because I believe five years ago it was the home of the American Idol winner, maddie Poppy. That is right, which is so cool. We were so proud. But in that little town is a little dive bar called Pete and Shorties. Do you know about Pete and Shorties? I do not. Oh my gosh. I know a secret, craig, that Megan doesn't know.
Craig:And yet she's the she's the secret author of the books. Go ahead.
Joshua:So you said, you know, you just brought up tenderloins, had great tenderloins there. You know everybody says, oh, it's the best tenderloin in the state. But Pete and Shorties was actually the name of Pete and Shorties was sort of I don't know if there's any legal relationship, but they, the person that owns Hooters throughout the United States, bought the name Pete and Shorties and they have an official chain location in Florida and in Vegas. So if you go to, if you go to the Tampa location or the Vegas location on the wall, of course you will. It's all about Iowa and it's all about the small town called Pete Shorties, but it's just a little dive bar. But they but they've captured the name Pete and Shorties and my grandparents, of course, were friends with Pete and Shorties, which are two, two men. I just I was curious, if you knew anything about Pete and Shorties.
Megan:I don't, but now I need to get out there.
Craig:Yeah, see, there's a Pete and Shorties. You got the the rail trial, like the rail bike all this stuff, you can do a second book.
Megan:Truly I know there was that was honestly the hardest part was like narrowing down, like what, what makes the cut? And like what is a good enough secret, because I feel like I kept having to ask, like family and friends who, like, grew up here, have lived here for longer, because I feel like I know about more weird things than the average person. And so I was like this isn't a good enough secret. And my partner was like I really think that it's probably fine, like I think you're overthinking it.
Craig:But yeah, yeah, yeah, should we get to the top 10, josh or you want to ask another question.
Joshua:I just want to go off, let's talk. I just want to go high level before we go. Okay, because some of these are some of these are weird. People need to know that the American Gothic house from the famous American Gothic painting which is hanging in the Chicago Institute of Art. You know what I'm talking about, craig.
Craig:Yeah, I do it now man with the pitchfork. And yeah, the one I was saying, you and Reese actually reproduced it at one time. Yes, see, I know these things? Yes, I still watch my videos.
Joshua:He watches my videos, which is yeah, it's the farmer and his daughter. Everybody thinks it's the wife, but it's not a farmer and a daughter, and that was the house. The house that that painting was based off of is in Carol.
Megan:Ellen.
Joshua:Iowa Ellen. Okay, thank you, megan. Have you been? I'm sure you've been there. Do you have any Thoughts about it?
Megan:Yeah, so it is. It is one of, like, the most iconic Iowa places for sure, and is one of the I think it. I think it still is. It used to be the most parodied piece of art of all time, and so that one is also going to be in the book just because it's such an interesting backstory that I think people like recognize it and know that it's there. But it was just like a random house that Grant Wood was happening by when he was in town to visit another artist His home in studio and Cedar Rapids is also in the book, which is a place that I hadn't been able to visit until I was doing research.
Megan:But it is like a carriage house essentially that he lived in the upstairs of for about 12 years and it's managed by the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art now. But he was also, in addition to being an artist, like a metalworker and an interior designer and like was really involved in the local theater and isn't the reason that Cedar Rapids has such a big local theater Like there's just a lot of interesting facets to his life that people I think don't usually get with, like your American Gothic and on. But yeah, this was just a random house that he happened by and was like a little bit judgy about it because it was a really popular style. So this architectural style is called Carpenter Gothic and it was popular in like the late 1800s, so like 1880s, 1890s. By the time he saw it would have been like the early 1930s and he was like basically like who lives here, essentially? And it told someone that it was probably American Gothic people and so left an impression with a lot like a lot of these pieces.
Megan:he would have like sketched kind of something roughly and then taken it back. So he actually painted it when he got back to that carriage house in Cedar Rapids, and then the woman in the painting is actually his sister who sat for him daughter the model.
Megan:But then the man is actually his dentist because he needed a man to model, so it's his dentist and his sister and they actually never modeled at the same time, so they didn't meet until like 10 or 12 years after the painting was completed. So he did a lot of his work that way and then, yeah, it is part of the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and he actually entered it in. They had like a competition for American art every year and he entered it and won bronze which included a $300 cash prize, and then they bought it for an additional $300 in 1930. Oh wow.
Craig:Which is like an insane amount of money.
Megan:Absolutely Now yeah.
Craig:Yeah.
Megan:But, yeah, no, definitely worth a visit. They have a really great interpretive center that you can visit, and then you can also, yeah, borrow, borrow some outfits and dress up like the models of American Gothic and take your own in front of the house, which is really fun.
Joshua:And the lady? Didn't you? Yes, I did. And the lady that was running at that day because it wasn't that busy when we visited she was. She was so into it. She goes. I know the. She was like I'll take your picture. I know the perfect angle to make it look, just just make it look, just like the painting.
Megan:It was so cool it was.
Joshua:It was a. Really it was an awesome stop.
Megan:They used to have you so you can go inside the house. Now once a month they open it up for tours, which is kind of fun. Back like oh gosh, 10 years ago, there was a woman named Beth Howard who was actually a tenant in the house. They were renting it out to like artists and people for a little bit, just so that it was occupied all the time, and she was running what she called the pitchfork pie stand out of the American Gothic house and it was such good pie and she, she's still doing she's actually working on a documentary called Pioa about like pie in Iowa and like it as a cultural touchstone.
Megan:I guess that's another food we do a lot of pie here, but but yeah, no, it's a, it's a real good one.
Craig:And very different pie to the pie that we have. I'm currently in New Jersey making as well, and they call pizza here. They call it pie.
Megan:Yes, yeah, I have my family's from New England, so I grew up in. Chicago, but New York style pizza is the only type of pizza that is acceptable in our household, so Well, you haven't been in Jersey then, because that's New Jersey, pizza is better than New York.
Craig:Oh, okay, all right. So, josh, can we get into the top 10 now, please?
Joshua:Yes, please, please, please. We can, we can, we can, let's do it.
Craig:Because there's one. There's one thing on the on Megan's top 10 that I really want to talk to her about, and I'm going to say it right away Do it now the the salt and pepper shaker gallery.
Megan:Yes.
Craig:Yes, that's that. Oh, it's such a jam. That stood out to me.
Megan:Yes, yeah, so the salt and pepper pepper shaker gallery in Traier, iowa, is the largest collection that's publicly displayed in the Midwest. So there's another in pigeon fordger, gatlinburg, I don't remember somewhere in Tennessee that is larger, but this is the largest in the Midwest and it was started all by one woman, so a resident of Traier. Her name was Ruth Rasmussen and she started collecting salt and pepper shakers in like the mid 1940s and one of my favorite fun facts I learned was the first one she collected was a souvenir from Brookfield Zoo, which is in the Chicago land area, and I grew up like maybe five, 10 minutes from Brookfield Zoo and so I thought that was a really fun little note. But they still have that one and so she bought that one, brought it home and then just started, kind of as you do with any collection, started amassing them over the years and she like ended up I mean garage sales, family, friends who would travel and bring her things just like an insane amount and so for the longest time they were all in her like in a little shed in front of her house and she would put out a sign and people would come see them and you know, it kind of went on and on that way, and she never had enough space to display them, and so eventually, the city of Traier approached her and she'd been approached by other people before, but she never sold it.
Megan:And the city said like, hey, you know, how do we make sure that this continues to be a thing that people can come see in our city? And so they actually purchased the entire collection from her and, I believe, 2007. And now it has a dedicated building that's like 2,200 square feet, where you can see all of them and it's like more than 15,000 pairs of salt and pepper shakers.
Megan:It is insane, and I mean like vegetables, people, any and all things. There's my favorite word, because I love weird antiques too. It just goes with all the other things, but like miniatures, like tiny, tiny, tiny ones that are not duplicates, but it'll be like an iron and an ironing board. They call them go-togethers, and so those are really fun. But yeah, they just a ton of salt and pepper shakers. And then they have been getting them donated by people too, and so they have.
Megan:I think they said like another I mean thousands in storage that they just don't have room to display that are even duplicates or weren't part of her original collection. But one of the things I thought was so, so cool was that she had like meticulously kept track of all of the different pairs that she had and where they came from, with like recipe cards, and so she had catalogued all of them and like labeled all of them. So when they took over the collection, it was like there was already essentially like a doobie decimal system of all of her salt and pepper shakers, which I just think is incredible.
Craig:Wow. The reason why I was so impressed by just that the idea of that was my mother-in-law. She's the similar with her salt and pepper shake as well. She was so excited. The other day she came back from going on a flight somewhere with United and they got an upgrade. And in the upgrade she got like obviously her meals come out and her meal come out, and she had a salt and pepper shake. Little plastic ones, but they were little golf balls a white golf ball and a gray golf ball. So cute. They're now pride pride spot in her house up on the wall up on her shelf.
Craig:Yeah, that's right. So that's the reason why I thought myself the salt and pepper shakers was one of them. From there, josh, you know what? Do you have any on your legs?
Megan:I have, oh it's two legs, oh wow.
Craig:Two legs. So Megan's just showing for the audio. She's showing us literally two bent female legs with white boots, and then you can put the legs oh, the salt and pepper comes out of the knee of the leg because it's bent up. Now you can place them together like a lady or a part, and it looks a bit more provocative, but anyway, Exactly.
Joshua:You know it reminds me of what my grandmother from Iowa says about salt and pepper shakers. She's like when you pass them, when somebody says pass the salt, she says they're married. You never pass one without the other, you always keep them together. So if you really want to mess things up in that museum, you would just like start separating all the shakers. Wouldn't that be horrible? That would be, that'd be a, it'd be a sin, a nightmare, according to my grandmother. All right. Next one, nick, council, council Bluff, iowa, council Bluffs, iowa, which is right across the border from Omaha, nebraska, which we have actually talked about a little bit on this podcast before. Never heard of this before the Squirrel Cage Jail.
Megan:Yes, so it is what it is, what it sounds like. So I tell people it is a if you took a jail and you put it on a lazy Susan and so from the outside it looks like a normal brick building. On the inside, you walk in and it is a circular like cylinder jail.
Megan:That is three stories and the jail cells are pie pieces and it is on a lazy Susan, so it rotates around and so there is only one entrance on each floor and then, once you're in there, it rotates around and you are suspended in your jail cell. What Locked in?
Craig:You can't get out until it goes back around.
Megan:Correct.
Joshua:Wait wait, you can walk into it. It's for humans. Yes, it is not for squirrels, it is built with the same mechanism as a squirrel cage, Squirrel cage. Same way you thought it was a jail for squirrels Joe, I was like all I was imagining was I was imagining you go to a park and Council Bluffs and all of a sudden you see a squirrel jail.
Megan:No, so it is. Yeah, it is a.
Megan:It was a jail for humans, for like many, many many years until I want to say, like the 1960s, 1969, it was decommissioned, so like probably longer than it should have been, but it was built in the 1880s and this was like a good idea in theory that someone had, because it was like less staff, more secure, whatever. In practice it has some flaws that I think you get to pretty quickly in the thought process, which are like a lazy Susan needs to be balanced, and so it was pretty easy for it to become off balance, and so the gears would get stuck, so people would get stuck.
Craig:Especially if you got a guy my size in one side and guy Josh's eyes and the other right you have to like really balance out people and like.
Megan:So that was a big problem. I mean people's limbs, as you can imagine maybe. So there's some pretty grisly stories that way and was operational for, yeah, I mean decades and decades.
Megan:It's currently one of the only remaining ones. So there was one, I believe, in Missouri and one in indiana. This is the only one. That was three stories, I think those ones were like one or two stories. But yeah, really weird and interesting piece of history. And today at some museums and walk in they do a ton of like paranormal investigation stuff. As you can imagine it's a little spooky.
Megan:But yeah, it's. It's just a really unique, interesting thing that like from the outside and it's kind of set back from the street, like in downtown, so like, unless you know it's there, you're gonna walk by every day and have no idea.
Craig:So unless unless it's a geocache there or unless you could be the or you get Megan's book. That's the only way you get a chicken yeah. If you're not a geocache, you gotta go and buy Megan's book. So that's well, and if you are geocache, buy Megan's book and place a cash there for geocache.
Joshua:Well, I'm just relieved to know that there's not serious squirrel criminal activity happening.
Megan:It's true. Yeah, they didn't need to build a jail for all of the squirrel crime that was happening.
Craig:They're not sharing their nuts. They're not sharing their nuts anyway. My next one, josh, is snake alley in Burlington. Snake alley being from Australia, I enjoy the steak. Is it really about the snakes?
Megan:so there are no actual snakes, so it is named because of the shape of the street and so it was named by Ripley's, believe it or not, as the Um cricket is street in America and so it technically has a tighter turns than Fremont Street in San Francisco.
Craig:And it is because I've been to San Francisco and I've been up that street yeah, so it is.
Megan:it is a like brick lined. It has, let me see if I can remember, five and a half Half, five half curves in two quarter curves and so you can actually still drive on it In in the good weather in the winter you cannot but in the good weather going down. And it is. It essentially connects like the upper kind of nice home neighborhood of Burlington to the downtown area. But yeah was a was modeled off of like vineyard paths in Europe. They wanted it to look really like upscale and so built this what has been called snake alley because it looks like a hero is thinking that it would be a little taste of home for me.
Craig:But no, not so much. They do have.
Joshua:Fill the snakes.
Megan:Every year a bike uphill, bike race. That that is part of the course is biking up and it's I mean, it's brick Like line, so I can only imagine how tricky and slippery that is.
Joshua:Oh my gosh, megan, that reminds me of rag bride. So, craig, there's a bike ride every summer across Iowa and they take a different across the long way and they take a different route every year. So this is just a great way to hit many different small towns and they're just full of them in Iowa through a bike ride across Iowa. I've always wanted to do it, I have has. I have never experienced rag bride.
Megan:I have, so this was actually the 50th year of rag bride this past year. Really, it's all the last week in July, and so they did a route that was very similar to the first year route this year, which meant that it came through Des Moines. And so there was an aims to Des Moines day that I was thinking about riding, and then it was very, very warm and I had been traveling and not on my bike a lot this summer, so I decided, maybe that wasn't my best idea.
Megan:But yeah, it stands for the, the register, which is our newspaper in Des Moines the registers annual great bike ride across Iowa, which is and they start on the Western An acronym.
Megan:Yes, they start on the Western border and they go to the Eastern border in the span of a week and it is. I always tell people it is a like, if you like to bike a lot or you like to day drink a lot or you can handle being caught and camping, it is for you, because that is essentially what you do. There's always a day that's a century ride, so it'll be like a hundred mile one day ride and, yeah, you bike from tiny town to tiny town and along the way they'll have, you know, street parties and pie and all the things. So like in Des Moines, the overnight here I think was Leonard Skinner actually in like one of our downtown parks where everybody camped and like I mean it is like I think they said the aims to Des Moines day, there was more than 50,000 people that rode.
Megan:Wow this year, so it is a major, major time, but yeah it's.
Joshua:it's fun. Yes, it's like a traveling gig event.
Megan:Yeah.
Joshua:Yeah, just like, like these little towns just get yes, oh, it is the bold move of. It is insane.
Megan:Yeah.
Megan:Yeah, it's just, it's crazy Food trucks will travel like people, take, like you know, their food truck and travel along the route or the way a lot of people do it. That I was like this might be my. My way to do Rack Brite is to have like a essentially like a school bus or like a big like RV. And so if you decide and you have someone who drives along with you and like sets up your camp, or you decide like you don't want to ride anymore, you the bus just picks you up and then you can just like hop from town to town and bike at your leisure, because that sounds better. In the last week of July, that does sound like it was very warm this year.
Joshua:So, craig, I don't know if we're going to be able to get to all of these.
Craig:We might have to have Megan back on the on the show, I'll think of the same thing, because.
Joshua:I am just, I'm just digging this. I'm loving this. I'm looking at the notes.
Craig:There's lots, but we have to go.
Joshua:Do we have time to cover a couple more?
Craig:So, josh, let's do two more for this, and then we'll do a part two with Megan in two weeks time. What do you think?
Joshua:that sounds like a great idea, I love awesome, awesome.
Craig:Well, you pick, you pick one more, you pick one more. What's?
Joshua:on your list, josh what's on your list. The Cardiff, the Cardiff giant in Fort Dodge, iowa. What is that? What is a Cardiff giant?
Megan:So it is named for Cardiff, new York. But the Cardiff giant was essentially he is like a famous hoax and this is actually a reproduction of him. So there was a man in the like 1860s who was visiting his sister in Iowa. His name was George Hall and it was the time when there was like lots of like revivalist preaching and some of the like like things that people were talking about, kind of that age of like early circus, a lot of the like paranormal things, like seances that people were doing, and so one of the things that people were talking extensively about was giants.
Megan:And so he visited Fort Dodge, saw this revivalist preacher speak and was like man, this guy is making a ton of money. I want to, like number one, expose this but also figure out how to capitalize on it. And so he decided he was in Fort Dodge and one of the main exports of Fort Dodge at the time was gypsum, which is like a limestone rock but it's like very sandy looking and has like this beautiful blue veining in it that he thought like, oh, this could look like skin. And so he he got a piece of the stone, mined and quarried and he had a artist, I believe, out of Chicago at the time, carve a fake giant out of the stone he was going to discover on accident as a petrified giant, and so he had this giant sculpture created, had it shipped to New York and they buried it in a field.
Megan:And then he paid some guys who were helping a farmer like dig a well to find it and be like look at this discovery.
Megan:And so it was. I mean he, it worked. He was making boatloads of money and charging people, like a dollar a piece, to come see this archaeological find. There's a Mark Twain, there's a couple actually Mark Twain articles and maybe even a short story about it. Pt Barnum wanted to buy it from him and he was like, absolutely not. So PT Barnum created his own fake version of it that you can still see somewhere. The original one is still in New York. I believe it's in Cooperstown at a museum. Because of the connection to Fort Dodge and the fact that, like the stone originally came from there, it's always been a part of the local history there, and so they actually had a local artist get some gypsum and create a reproduction of the reproduction the fake, the fake of the fake to have their own version of it, and so you can go see that in Fort Dodge at the Fort Dodge Museum and it early in America, Josh?
Megan:Yeah, I'm looking at the pictures.
Joshua:Yes, look at the pictures right now and it's just kind of like a yeah, it's just a stone man kind of looks like an alien.
Megan:It does kind of look like an alien. They have added a leaf for modesty which is very funny because he is, yeah, but it's. And some of the historical pictures, too, are like a real hoot of them, like discovering it and yeah so that's. That's one that is like some fun folklore, and the actors as well.
Craig:They'll be acting the whole time like oh, what is this? Oh yeah, wow, only only in America, where you fake something just for money. Really there's no other country in the world Gotta love it. Gotta love it. Well, going from that, going from the large things and the last one we're going to talk about in this episode itself is the world's largest garden gnome.
Megan:Yeah, and he is actually I. My caveat it's he's the world's largest concrete garden gnome I should have put that in here. That's very important it is, you can't miss that detail. Yes. Do not miss that as with many world's largest things there are, there's specificity to it.
Joshua:Yes, nuances.
Megan:Yes, nuances for sure. So he is the world's largest concrete garden gnome. His name is Elwood and you can find him in Ames at Ryman Gardens. So that is a really, really fun one. He's super, super cute and they put him in for like an anniversary of Earth Day, but it's like a. I think he's 18 feet tall and he's just like very what what you think of when you picture like your stereotypical garden gnome. But while they were building him, they learned that there was a another gnome being built that was like they had already cast concrete and learned that there was another one being built that was slightly taller, I think he's.
Megan:He's 15 feet. This one, I think, is 18 feet. And so they decided like well, it's named, it's built with something else, so we will just go with it's concrete, and that is how.
Craig:They didn't put like stilettos or heels or no. He's, if you look at a photo of him.
Megan:He's very bottom heavy and has a really fancy hat already. And so I don't know that you would have made up the additional three feet in an easy way.
Joshua:That's fair enough. He's very bulbous. I'm looking at him right now. Yeah, he's adorable, he's very cute.
Megan:He's got a little trowel and some flowers and if you go visit, an additional secret is there is a little sign that has his name. It's like, oh, world's largest gnome, and then there's like a little carrot with concrete in there, so they've kind of focused on at it. But on somewhere around that sign there is an additional mini bonus gnome that you can find.
Joshua:If you know what to look for. It sounds like a geocache. Craig.
Craig:It does. It does like a little bonus.
Joshua:Is it hidden in plain sight?
Megan:Yes, you just have to, oh yeah, it's on him, it's on his body, it's near the sign.
Craig:Near the sign. It's near the sign, so there you go.
Joshua:Oh, I love that, I know, I know.
Craig:Well, thank you so much for everything, Megan, and stick with it. Stick around and stick with us, because we're going to go into part two very, very soon. But, Josh, I was just thinking as well. We're talking about we've got a Patreon group of people. We very appreciate them a lot.
Craig:Now, Josh Patreon we're going to talk about Patreon first before we end the show. But I've thought about something. I haven't even run this past you because I just thought about it then, so I'm just going to go through it again for any new Patreons or for any of our Patreons itself, as of the end of the part two of this. So the end of part two of this. If you're a Patreon, you have a chance to win one of Megan's books. There you go, there you go.
Megan:So end of part two.
Craig:So if you're listening to this, this is part one. Okay, get in now. Get in now. Make sure you become a Patreon, because you've got two weeks before the draw for one of Megan's books. So there you go. What else can we say about Patreon, josh?
Joshua:We really appreciate your support of our podcast. By supporting us, you'll help us create even better content, having awesome shows like this one with Megan and I'm just going to say it, Greg, this might be my favorite show so far.
Craig:I'm really loving it and I'm excited you are in Iowa, yeah, but I'm just amazed.
Joshua:It's. The spirit of this podcast is like there's so many things that I didn't even know, and I know quite a bit about Iowa, which is pretty awesome. So to keep this going, please consider joining our Patreon at patreoncom. Backslashtreasuresofartown. Yes, and so obviously next episode.
Craig:Josh is part two of this one here right now, and so how can people find us as well?
Joshua:Well, of course, they can find us at treasuresofartownpodcastatgmailcom, or you can follow us on Facebook, instagram, twitter and YouTube. So, megan, thank you so much for being on our show. I've really enjoyed our conversation and joined the show, and please go out and get Megan's book Secret Iowa. You can get it, I'm sure, on your website or Amazon or wherever books are sold. I know I'm going to get some one for myself and I'm going to buy a couple more for my island family as well, because they're going to read through it. Grandma's going to read through it, she's going to be like oh my gosh, I never knew that that existed.
Joshua:And you know why she didn't know? Because it was a secret. But it's a secret no more, because Megan has revealed it. Spoiler alert.
Craig:So that's it for our show today.
Joshua:Guys, please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcasting app and, as always, josh may your travels lead you to the most unexpected and amazing hidden gems around the world. See you next time, bye, bye.