Clear Lake IA (Low 58 A Couple of Thunderstorms High 78)
After our great tour of the Surf Ballroom we went to the crash site. The directions on the pamphlet lead us right to this marker.
At this intersection.
The crash site was, and still is, on private property but the farmer allows the public to come and pay their respects which we think is neat. Here is the quarter mile trail along the fence row to get to the site.
Here is the crash site, nothing remains from the original crash but a memorial has been setup.
Here is a memorial to the forgotten man of that crash, Roger Peterson.
Roger was the 21 year old pilot of the Beechcraft Bonanza that took off from the Mason City airport and then crashed in a farm field just north of Clear Lake. In June 1988 a granite memorial was placed outside of the Surf Ballroom listing the names of the three entertainers and Roger.
At the dedication was the families of all four victims, the first time all four families had ever been together.
Here is the memorial to the three entertainers.
Here is a memorial to the hits of the three entertainers.
A sad ending for all involved.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Clear Lake IA (Low 54 Partly Sunny & Very Warm High 80)
Blogging for us seems to be feast or famine, either nothing to report or a whole lot to report. Part of reporting is cataloging all the photos we take and we take a LOT of photos. We still have a few entries on our stay in Kellogg, in addition to the sites we are visiting while we are in Clear Lake, so stay tuned.
Today we wanted to document our visit to the Surf Ballroom (where Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. Richardson, the Big Bopper) had their last concert. Jim and Sandie this one is for you!
The Surf Ballroom Museum (basically the entire place on a self guided tour) is open 8a-4p daily and there is no charge. They do have a donation box if you are so inclined.
We don't know exactly how to describe this; Bob felt it was kinda eery and Jo felt goosebumps while walking on the stage and hearing the music from those three acts. Here is Bob on the stage where they played. Sorry for the picture quality they had the lights turned down and if the automagic setting on the camera can't handle it we are out of luck.
Here is the signature room, or green room, where the acts waited before going on stage. It is a Surf Ballroom tradition to sign the walls. Wish we would have asked if this tradition began before or after "The Day The Music Died" and if there was a Buddy Holly signature.
Here is the pay phone that Buddy Holly used to call his wife, Maria Elena and Richie Valens called his manager to tell them they were taking a plane ride instead of the usual bus ride. Maria Elena's signature from the 2009 Memorial Concert is on the placard.
Everybody has probably heard the story but some of the details had escaped us and we learned some new stuff too. The "Winter Dance Party" was an ill conceived event, a show every day traveling hundreds of miles between venues on a cold bus during one of the worst winters ever. Buddy got tired of this and chartered a plane flown by Roger Peterson for himself, Tommy Allsup (guitar) and Waylon Jennings (electric bass), for the long trip to Fargo North Dakota. Here is where it gets interesting. Tommy Allsup lost his seat in a coin toss to Richie Valens. The Big Bopper was coming down with a cold so Waylon Jennings offered his seat. When Buddy heard this he told Waylon, "I hope your ol' bus freezes up!", Jennings replied, "Well I hope your ol' plane crashes". Jennings later admitted that he felt severe guilt and responsibility for the crash, and that his words would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Another thing that we had forgotten was that Dion and the Belmonts also performed on the "Winter Dance Party" tour as shown in this original poster.
Here is the "Winter Dance Party" schedule. Jennings and Allsup continued the tour for two more weeks with Jennings as the lead singer.
What really amazed us was the history of the place and how well maintained it is. The coat check stand, sorry no picture, is as it was in the 1940s. Bob's parents always talked about the good times they had whenever they visited the Surf Ballroom and sat in one of these original booths. The 3,600-square-foot maple dance floor was in amazing shape. Kinda neat to be in the same building as Bob's folks and then Buddy Holly along with a lot of other acts.
The range of acts in this place, from big bands (still playing there all year) to country (Willie Nelson recent concert sold out) to rock and roll (Cheap Trick coming in June) to Yanni, this place has seen it all. This picture probably shows the diversity the best.
A final comment about the acts that have performed at the Surf Ballroom concerns the Guiness Book of World's Records and the famous Nelson Family. When Matthew and Gunnar hit #1 on the Billboard charts with "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection", it put the Nelson Family in the record book as the only family in entertainment history with three generations of #1 hitmakers. The Nelson Family also has the distinction of all three generations have performed their hits at the Surf Ballroom.
Here are the rest of the photos that we took to get the full experience. This is a really neat place to visit. Since this has gotten so long our next entry will be on the crash site.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Clear Lake IA (Low 39 Sunny Windy High 53)
We hit the road again yesterday and headed to Clear Lake Iowa. It was 144 miles, here is the route we took.
View Larger Map
While in Clear Lake for a little over a week we plan to do some Buddy Holly sightseeing (Surf Ballroom and crash site), visit the restored Historic Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank, Clear Lake Fire Museum, Music Man Square, walk around the lake and hopefully just take it easy a couple of day. We will get visited by Bob's family who are planning a weekend visit since we won't be so close for awhile.
BTW the weather gods have found us again, overnight forecast below freezing at 29, but should hit 80 in a couple of days. Our string of incredible weather continues.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Kellogg IA (Low 44 Clouds Giving Way to Sun High 62)
Continuing our tour of Pella Iowa. We visited the Vermeer Mill which is a replica of an 1850s mill built in 2001 and erected in 2002. The 1850s design was selected since that is when Pella was founded.
The upper part of the mill was manufactured in the Netherlands. It is the tallest working city mill in the United States; 12 stories high, 124 feet from ground to blade tip. The cap is built on a brick foundation 40 feet above the ground and above the town's other buildings to catch the wind. We didn't get a good photo of just the cap so we got this one from the internet.
The view from the deck towards the square is pretty cool.
The cap turns 360 degrees to put the blades into the winds and operates totally on wind power to grind wheat which you can buy in 2 pound packages in the gift shop. The blades turn counterclockwise while the wind turbines you see today turn clockwise. There is a good reason for that. Canvas is attached to the blade to catch the wind. The canvas is added by climbing the blade, since most are right handed the canvas is attached on the right side while holding to the blade with your left hand. A rope is used for the left side of the canvas. On our tour the canvas was pulled back to show the blade, you can see the clips on the right side of the canvas.
The interior of the mill showing the gears and construction is really neat.
The three ton stones used for grinding the wheat are incredibly balanced. You are able to lift the top stone by just using one finger.
One of the levels is a re-creation of a miller's quarters, the miller being the caretaker of the mill. Believe it or not the first photo is the bed.
This is a really unexpected treat of our tour of Pella.
We are heading to Clear Lake Iowa today where it should be mostly sunny and a high of 62. We will catch up on our visit to Pella from there.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
