Laura Ingalls Wilder Trip June 23, 2011

Laura Ingalls Wilder Trip June 23, 2011 After a good night’s sleep and a quick breakfast, we drove a short distance to Burr Oak, Iowa. This is the site of the Burr Oak Master’s Hotel where the Ingalls Family lived in 1876 for only three months. Ma cleaned and cooked for all the men who rented rooms in the hotel. During that time, as many as two hundred covered wagons would arrive, with the people needing lodging. Three men slept in a bed, crosswise, for 25 cents a night. For 75 cents (6 bits), a person could take a cold bath. The family moved out of the hotel and lived in town in the Bisbee House.

We are traveling in comfort, driving a white Mercury Grand Marquis (quite a difference from the Prius). It’s fortunate we are comfortable as we have great distances to drive. Kathy drove to the town of Walnut Grove, where the family moved from Burr Oak. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota. We’ll have to save that for another trip.

For miles and miles we experienced the prairie, long, low, flat expanses of rich, green land. Occasionally, clumps of trees popped up in the prairie. Huge clouds of varying shades of gray covered the sky for much of the day. We saw corn field after corn field covered in about a foot of water. When the sun came out, it was gorgeous green, blue and white all around.

After a nirvana-experience for Debbie at Dairy Queen, we went to the Museum where Laura wrote about her experiences living in a dug out house on the banks of Plum Creek. The Museum in Walnut Grove was amazing. There were several out buildings, including a model dugout, a one room schoolhouse, a model jail, “Grandma’s House”, an onion-domed house filled with items from the period and years beyond. We learned about Rose Wilder Lane, Laura and Almanzo’s only child. She was a successful and prolific journalist and writer, as well as a remarkably independent woman way ahead of her time. There were many interactive exhibits, which kids and adults enjoyed. Debbie and Cynthia played 2 pump organs, with music that the Ingalls had enjoyed - “In the Sweet Bye and Bye” and “Buffalo Gals”.

Dinner at Boss’s Broasted Chicken in Brookings, South Dakota to experience this delicious moist, tender chicken with tasty cole slaw (but not as good as Dave’s cole slaw).  The chicken was amazing!!  Our server was Rich Cobb, an Iowa transplant. He did not realize Kathy has been chasing Broasted chicken since a trip to Arizona when she was in 5th grade.  We enjoyed his insights to the prairie (very windy) and the unbelievable deep-fried cheesecake he served us (THANK YOU!).