“Build it and he will come.”

So if that quote does not make sense to you, then most of this post will most likely mean nothing for you. Earlier this year my dad turned 70, as my siblings and I talked about what to do to celebrate this major milestone. On fairly short planning (only 2 month) one thing came to mind, the Field of Dreams movie site. The film Field of Dreams was released in 1989, starting Kevin Costner and is about an Iowa farmer Ray who is inspired by voices to build a baseball field in the middle of his corn field. Seriously, if you have not seen the movie, either go watch the trailer or the movie (currently on Netflix and Amazon Prime).

Why take our dad to Field of Dreams? Well, for as long as I can remember dad has wanted to take my brother to “have a catch” on the field. And since this had yet to happen, we decided to take him. Needless to say he was very excited when he opened his birthday card and saw the map telling him where we were going. The end of July the trip finally happened. In an effort to one save money, and two make it more of an adventure we roadtripped. My brother and dad drove and stayed in my parents Dodge Pro-master van, while I camped in my car ( I have a full set up). My parents are members of Harvest Host meaning we could camp for free (yay more money saved) and we got to visit some more local places.

Fun fact, the farm used in the film was real working farm when Universal came looking for a farm to film the movie. The farm is located outside of Dyersville, Iowa, about 3.5 hours east of Chicago. And let me just say the middle of nowhere, turn off the highway and drive basically into the corn for another 10 mins. However, the place fit right in with the feeling of the farm in the film. And as a girl that grew up around farm fields it felt nice almost like home. The original house is still standing and open for timed tours through out the day. This is the only required fee, there is a suggested donation of $20 (once again watch the movie).

Now I will say there not a lot to do in Dyersville outside of visiting Field of Dreams. However, near by is at least one (maybe more, would have to ask my brother) place to play disk golf. And only about half an hour away is Dubuque, sitting right on the Mississippi River. Now, I will admit I did not research this trip thoroughly. If I had I would have known before leaving that there is quite a bit to do in Dubuque. It is a nice city right on the water, and home to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium (who knew there was one?). My brother and I read off a whole list of options to do in the area and dad chose the museum, I want to go on record and say I had no intention of forcing them to a museum on this trip.

The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium is located right where it should be on the Mississippi River. Honestly, I was so impressed by the museum I forgot to take a lot of pictures (and focusing on family time). The museum does a great job of mixing the history of the river with the animals local to the river from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico while also being interactive. There were so many interactive pieces from showing how a flood devistated the area, which animal, how much power needed for a steam boat, to touching a stingray. They also have one of the last steam dredges built there for tours of the boat and how the boat dredged the Mississippi to make it deeper for freight boats. If you are in Dubuque or even southern Wisconsin, I highly recommend stopping by.

Overall, visiting Field of Dreams was even better than I pictured. The pure joy that it provided my father for he belated birthday gift was well worth it. If you or a family member are a baseball fan it is worth a visit.