Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

     It only takes a bit of abnormally warm weather to get my mind wandering and the urge to garden or sit at a baseball game soon over takes me. Some days it is just a matter of going stir crazy after a long winter that leads one to decide a road trip is in order.

     This past weekend my familiar traveling companion and I decided to once again venture to eastern Iowa for the day to see what we could find that was open. I know I seem to have this thing for the Hawkeye part of the Hawkeye state lately, but the original plan of heading into southern Iowa was scrapped when over ninety percent of the local attractions that I wanted to see weren’t going to be open until the 15^th of April.

     I’ve heard for years how wonderful the Wilton Candy Kitchen is so I decided that would be the first stop of the day. A little ice cream brunch never hurt anyone. Founded in 1860, it is the oldest continually operating ice cream parlor in the world. It wasn’t hard to find the white two story building with red and white awning, only because of the 4x5 sign attached to a post in the empty lot next door pointing out that the Candy Kitchen was next door.

     Stepping through the heavy wooden door was like walking back in time. The soda fountain, the tables the booths and even the pressed tin ceiling took me back one hundred years and made me want to exclaim “Eeee Gawds” in Music Man fashion. Behind the fountain, although no one would dare refer to him as a soda jerk, stood George Nopoulos. At 92 he is a bit hard of hearing and his voice still carries the slight Greek accent of his father who took over the Candy Kitchen in 1910.

     George greeted us and reminded me of the friendly way any small town businessman would greet new customers by asking where we were from. I responded with “west of Des Moines” and George said that I must live out by Stuart. “Dexter!” I replied, never wanting for one minute to be ….ahem….thought of as living in Stuart. The smile that came across his lips made me laugh as I knew instantly that he was familiar with my home town. It didn’t take long for me to find out why as George is the younger brother of Dexter’s own Leo Nopoulos who was an attorney here in town for many years. I spoke of Leo and Iris and of their little trailer house surrounded by cedar trees on the corner of State and Clark streets in Dexter.

     The ice cream sundae; I had the “high school” which was chocolate and vanilla with Spanish peanuts, whipped cream and hot fudge, was delicious if just a bit expensive for the small dish it was served in. I did not order a Green River although I now wish I had, and we parted that day with a friendly wave, leaving George standing behind the register, more of a friend than a stranger that morning.

     Our next stop was the Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch. It had been years since I was there and it has changed since then. The birthplace is still there but West Branch has understood finally that it takes a few more buildings to bring the historic flavor of the time of Hoovers birth to bring that era to life for the visitor. The library/museum building itself was very interesting and the displays and exhibits, while I find them more subdued than the Truman Library in Independence, MO, were done well and made me learn a little bit more about the only president to hail from the great state of Iowa.

     We wandered around lost in the Iowa countryside for the next hour or so, which wasn’t noticed by my traveling companion, I am sure it means I either seem lost all the time, or I have my “checking the crops” driving skills down well. We made our way to a late lunch in Ladora, home of the Ladora Bank. I had seen this establishment on a public television show some time back. A self described “bistro” the Ladora Bank is in the former bank building in town and is on the National Register of Historic places. The building holds it’s 1920s charm, with high vaulted ceilings and cashier counter still in place. The charm of the building however was unable to be matched by the menu which seemed to me to be more of an upscale wine tasting room with small appetizers which were tasty but over priced. With no real “meals” and an owner that doesn’t know the profit margin of ice tea (they don’t serve it) I wouldn’t probably make another visit there unless I was in the middle of a bachelorette party or felt the need to get snobbish with a $45 bottle of wine.

     We came hungry and left hungry, but as all good road trips must be about eating more than my share of food we capped the evening back in Des Moines at the Iowa Machine Shed restaurant. I was disappointed to learn that “Tangy Tenderloin” is no longer on the menu as it was one of my favorites, but I can say that once again the “Shed” didn’t disappoint and the meal was delicious and filling. And for those of you who are wondering, yes the waitress challenged me that I couldn’t eat the piece of coconut crème pie she brought me, but she didn’t know me well did she?

     All in all it was another successful Iowa road trip. With the cost of gas these trips are a great way to spend a day away and to enjoy some of the things Iowa has to offer. Look for more trips here this summer and if you get to Wilton any time soon, tell George I said, “Hello!”

See you next week…Remember, we’re all in this together.