Mason City, Iowa

Mason City, Iowa.

          What could possibly be here?

          As we’ve found out so many times in our relatively short tenure in this Full-Time Motor Home Traveling lifestyle, you’d better look around because something ALWAYS becomes significant!

          Well, the nickname of Mason City is the River City, as is in,

“Well, Ya got trouble, my friend,

Right here in River City, trouble with a capital “T”

And that rhymes with “P”  and that stands for pool!

          You guessed it, Meredith Willson was born and raised “Right here in River City” and wrote the Music Man with his hometown in mind. He started his thinking process in 1948 and shopped it around producers in New York, with varying amounts of success, until (after tweaking it a bit)  it hit Broadway in 1957 garnering 5 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Later, in 1962, the premier of the Warner Brothers Musical was held at the theater here in Mason City.

          As if that were not enough, Mason City boasts one of the best collections of Frank Llyod Wright’s Prairie School Architecture in the world. Including the only hotel, The Park Inn, designed by Frank left standing. A short walk around town, especially in the Rock Grove section, yields many examples of his work. These are all the homes of some very lucky folks!

          I have some photos of the hotel and homes attached, but unfortunately, the “76 Trombones leading the Big Parade” were not available for photo’s when we were there!

          So, our traveling lesson for this week ends here.

           But who would have guessed ….

          Little ’ole Mason City, Iowa …..

          Buddy Holly, Frank Lloyd Wright, and The Music Man, all here for your traveling pleasure!

          It doesn’t get any better than this!