Trip to Winterset, John Wayne's Birthplace

christophericity (27)in #travel • 7 years ago

I took a short trip this last week-end with my family, and made a visit to John Wayne's birthplace. We did a two-night stay in Pammel State Park near Winterset Iowa, not in a cabin, but a yurt- which is like a cabin. Personally, I prefer a cabin. Here's the outside:
And inside (360° picture)
It's a great looking park, lots of dense forest all around us, usual wildlife; deer , turkey, and hawks overhead and probably more I didn't notice (I realize there are other birds around there that get mistaken for hawks, but I'll just call them hawks- as long as they're not reading this it should be ok). We took a pass on doing any hiking.
We went to the John Wayne birthplace and Museum in Winterset, Iowa. What we saw of the town was very pristine, well-kept, very clean. The streets were decorated with hanging flowers very nicely. Here's a picture looking down John Wayne Drive, away from the museum:
We went to the house (John Wayne birthplace), extremely modest, small, took about 15 minutes in there, original trim and stained glass windows, everything else in there is placed to pertain to the time his family lived there. Here's a pic of the front:
Over in the museum nearby, is of course a gift shop you walk through first, and I saw this:
( I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Wayne did not drink anything like that.)
There is a little theatre you can go in and see a short movie summary of his career, and very nicely done too. Here's a shot:
This is a contract JW signed to be paid $230 plus 10 percent commision for appearing on an episode of Laugh-In.
Here's a car he drove, a 1972 Pontiac Grand Safari Station Wagon.
He had the roof and doors raised higher so he could fit more comfortably.
This is one of the many eye patches provided him for the making of True Grit, he recieved a new one everyday during filming to prevent a buildup of bacteria. There is an opening in it with a light fabric across so he could see through it without it being noticable on film. There was much more on display, and I was surprised as to how many people were visiting the home and museum.
Here's a shot of the museum with a statue out front:
Then we went to visit one of the famous covered bridges of Madison County, the Roseman bridge built in 1883. This bridge was in the Clint Eastwood movie "Bridges of Madison County". As you can see in the photo, it must be a tradition to leave some graffiti when you visit.
That's it! My one day visit to Winterset, Iowa.