June 20 - Mason City

Ya got trouble right here in River City

Monday, June 20, 2011

Our second walk today was a 10K walk in Mason City, Iowa, the birthplace of Meredith Wilson, who wrote the book, music and lyrics to “The Music Man.”  We started from Music Man Square, and saw Meredith Wilson’s boyhood home, a lovely Queen Anne style structure. 

Frank Lloyd Wright's Stockman House

After passing by the MacNider Art Museum, we crossed a footbridge and found ourselves in a wonderful neighborhood full of architectural treasures.  First we saw “The Castle,” designed in  1912 by Walter Burley Griffin, who helped develop the Prairie School style, which is marked by horizontal lines, flat roofs with broad overhanging eaves, solid construction, craftsmanship, and strict discipline in the use of ornament.  Passing a row of Prairie School hoses, we arrived at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Stockman House, built in 1908.  We also saw several well-preserved examples of Queen Anne, Neo-Classical, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, and Georgian Revival houses, to name a few.

In East Park we stopped and ate a picnic lunch and then toured the Men’s Garden Club of North Iowa Garden.  (That is not a typo.)

Returning to the business district, we caught a glimpse of the Park Inn Hotel, which is currently being renovated.  This is the only remaining hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  Wright also designed the bank attached to the hotel.

The second half of the walk was not particularly interesting.  We walked on a path along a river, through a nice neighborhood, and then through a run-down neighborhood, finally returning to Music Man Square where we obtained some Cherry Amaretto ice cream.

Rating:

Walk Route: A+ (first 5K), B- (second 5K)

Walk Documentation: A