Thursday, June 5th: Living History Farms

An ominous day in Iowa, I spent the day wandering around Katie’s world – the Living History Farms. It is an re-enactment historical outdoor museum, for lack of a better description. I started my tour “in town” wandering in and out of shops, the printing shop, the doctor’s office, the lawyer’s office, the drug store, broom maker, blacksmith, etc. all set in 1875. From there I walked through “300 years of history” in farmlands – a 1700s farm, a farm from the 1850s (where Katie works), and a farm from the 1900s. The interpreters were awesome (especially since I met many of them at El Bait Shop the previous night) and really quite knowledgable. Needless to say, I learned quite a bit. After spending hours wandering around, I headed back to the house to enjoy the overcast afternoon. Katie and I went and picked up dinner, reminisced about people we know, left some absurd phone messages, and then scurried amongst sheets of rain to the basement of the 1900s farm when the tornado sirens went off. I would expect nothing less for my last night in Des Moines.