Frank's Place
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Day 1: April 17, 2018 Frank's Place Comment via blog |
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The picture at right was actually taken on the 16th. That's the day I left
home but it didn't have enough action to warrant its own page. I'd planned
on leaving early on the 17th but realized that earlier would be better and
there was nothing stopping me except packing and weather. The packing was
quickly taken care of but the weather took a little longer. As the second
half of April began, Cincinnati temperatures were in the 30s, snowflakes
were in the air, and that air was moving vigorously. I watched radar until
the worst was past then hit the road. That was around 4:30 and the sun was
shining as I pulled out. It didn't last long. I encountered three bands of
light snow before I reached Indiana then it was clear but windy. I drove
until near sundown then stopped in Urbana, Illinois.
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Before I left Urbana, I'd picked Mason City, Iowa, as my next overnight. I
got there about 1:30 and headed straight to the
Suzie-Q Cafe. Troy, the owner, asked if I needed a
menu. "Probably not", I said. "Guess that means a
tenderloin." "Yep." "We know our customers."
Here 'tis.
Besides being one of the Suzie-Q's claims to fame, the tenderloin is Tuesday's special which means I lucked out and saved some money. Monday's special is the Chili Willie. I asked about it and was told it's a hamburger patty with chili, cheese, and onions. I was also told that it was named after one of the fellows at the counter I'd been chatting with. That's Willie with the beard and his friend Ryan without. |
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The Frank Lloyd Wright designed Stockman House is open for tours May through October.
It is open for drive by photographs year round.
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Mason City is rightfully proud of being the birthplace of composer
Meredith Willson. Named after his most famous creation,
Music Man Square contains his boyhood home, his
statue, and a museum.
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At last we come to the reason I chose Mason City as an overnight stop. In
addition to having a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house, the city has the
only remaining Frank Lloyd Wright designed hotel. Mason City is on the
Jefferson Highway so I'll be coming through here again in a few days. I
looked into staying at the
Historic Park Inn during my JH drive but it was booked
solid for several days surrounding my probable arrival. I had not spent
much time considering how I'd be getting the the JH's northern end other
than picking the "not Chicago"route. Last night, in my Urbana,
Illinois, motel room, I noticed that I would be passing within three miles
of Mason City. I did a quick check, found a room available, and
here it is. It was the right time for the Wright
place.
The building, with bank, offices, and hotel, opened in 1910 but the good times did not last. The bank failed in 1921. A 1926 remodeling put glass windows in safe looking brick walls of Wright's bank section. The hotel descended into flophousedom. We fans of roads and roadsides old is good and signs are wonderful but here's a reminder that that might not always be true. The hotel became apartments and even stood empty for awhile. A non-profit group called Wright on the Park formed in 2005 to save the building and in 2011 the restored Historic Park Inn was opened. |
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