I knew it was a real place, I'd seen it years ago working in Mason City, Iowa. I've been meaning to go check it out for a long time, but like Bartlesville, it's not really on the way to anywhere, I'd have to make a side trip.
Mason City is also where Frank Lloyd Wright's Park Inn Hotel was built. This is a bank and hotel complex, built in 1910. While FLW was there, he was commissioned to build several houses, and evidently there was a Prairie Architecture boom, because there are also some excellent Walter Burleigh Griffin houses and others built around the same time.
I found the Susie-Q diner, unfortunately it was closed Sundays. It looks kind of beat up, but still picturesque.
I took the walking tour, saw a lot of nice homes. I'm a big fan of Prairie School and the Arts and Crafts movement. There are some nice examples there.
Even an old fire station - I couldn't find any info on it, but it looked cool.
I followed US-18 most of the way home. The only trouble with the middle of nowhere is there aren't a lot of restaurants. Other than chain places, I couldn't find anything interesting along the drive. Eventually hunger drove me to grab a Subway sandwich... oh well.
Eating good regional food and camping out more were the only things I wasn't able to do as much as I'd hoped on the trip, though. The lack of good local food seems to be a tradeoff for exploring the most unpopulated areas, and the weather is hard to predict - it would have been perfect for sleeping out by the time I was leaving.
Overall, it was an excellent time. I saw a lot of things I'd wanted to, and most of them lived up to expectations. I had good subjects to photograph, and I had the time to think about my photography - my tastes, influences and motivations, and what images I want to make.
I arrived home recharged, ready to get back to work, looking forward to the next getaway.
Thanks for reading this. I plan on posting the next trip... when I find out where I'm going.
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