By Staff
He wasn't Kevin Costner, or Burt Lancaster, but this ghost player posed for me coming out of the corn rows.
On my vacation last week, I went to a little town in Iowa, Dyersville. This location in the middle of a small farming community has been visited by many, but that has come to an end.
The Field of Dreams, created and made famous by the movie of the same name had its last day on Sunday.
I drove in earlier in the week to find a player dressed in the old wool uniform complete with side burns.
"Clueless Joe" has been traveling throughout the country playing baseball games in his vintage uniform. Sunday he played the last game before the scene reverted back to just a farm in Iowa.
The white house is there, just like in the movie, along with the long driveway where the cars came in to see the ghost players.
We had also gone to a little town in Illinois a few days before, riding a trolley up and down the steep streets of Galena. Our driver pointed out some steps walked up by Burt Lancaster, who played a former baseball player, then a doctor.
The trip through six states had many other highlights, including visits with cousins, my son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
Ellie is still the most beautiful, smart, charming child in the world. No, I am not biased. It was wonderful to be called "grandma," as she wanted me to watch her dance or listen to her song.
The book I chose to give her for this visit was one her father had enjoyed when he was little, "There is a Monster at the End of this Book."
The third most visited tourist spot in Minnesota may surprise you – the SPAM Museum.
Though most people there in the middle of the week were age 79, my friend and I enjoyed the 15 minute movie tracing the 70-year history of SPAM and the Hormel family.
Known for helping the United States win the war, SPAM is most popular in Hawaii.
I brought home a case, now in many different flavors, some even with lower salt and calories.
We just had to go across the street to the Spamburger joint to have some SPAM and eggs, following the tour.
Toward the end of the nine day trip came the final treat – being in the audience of the National Public Radio show, A Prairie Home Companion.
What a surprise that not only was Garrison Keillor there, but Martin Sheen was the guest star.
Recorded at the 1910 Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minn., the show is broadcast on NPR live on Saturday evenings and repeated on Sunday morning.
There was a very funny skit with our President George Bush, alias Tim Russell, asking Martin Sheen to give him advice on what he should do when he retires. Sheen played Josiah Bartlet, the United States president for seven seasons on NBC's The West Wing.
Keillor tales from his hometown of Lake Wobegon are always funny and similar to our experiences in our little hometowns.
The show was a wonderful end to a great vacation.
So many things went well, such as turning off the highway to find a location only to find ourselves on the right road.
Though the lug nuts on the tires hadn't been tightened after being rotated, they didn't fall off.
The weather stayed beautiful for 90 percent of the time and the deer stayed off to the side of the road.
When we arrived back on O'Keefe Road the trip mileage read exactly 2,000 miles.