‘In the middle of everywhere’ in Mason City and Charles City

This winter, many of our friends made long expensive European treks to soak up classical architecture, visit museums and sample local foods. We shun hours crammed like human pretzels into airline seats and enduring airport delays.

Rather, we enjoyed a hotel experience possible nowhere else in the world while visiting museums, art galleries, musical and civil rights history and savoring delicious food. Our trip was to Mason City and Charles City. They are just far enough from home that it felt like a trip but one that was easy, comfortable, inexpensive and rewarding. We enjoyed a fun packed three-day getaway.

As transplanted Iowans we’ve been exploring our adopted state for years, absorbing Iowa’s remarkable history, scenery, culture and recreation. Although our car has taken us to many Iowa places, our recent visit to Charles City and Mason City was especially remarkable.

Mason City

We’d driven through Mason City a few times and were vaguely aware that the town boasts remarkable architecture, including the Historic Park Inn Hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Shortly after checking in, volunteer Teri Elsbury guided us on an intriguing tour through the unique building.

“This is the only Wright designed hotel in the world that welcomes people to stay,” she said.

Six-foot tall Rich had to stoop slightly to cross a low ceiling room to emerge in a high ceilinged, delightfully bright space offering cozy comfort as snow swirled outside.

“You’re experiencing Wright’s concept of compression and release architecture,” Elsbury noted. As is typical of his designs, horizontal lines and right angles were everywhere.

The hotel was completed in 1910, a time when Mason City was booming. Nearby factories made cement and bricks from local minerals, and surrounding farms were prosperous. Several railroads converged there, and autos were just coming on.

The Historic Park Inn Hotel building and many other buildings of the prairie style reflect the prosperity of the times. The hotel originally included lodging, a bank and a law office. Sadly, Wright never saw the completed structure that he’d designed. Our guide shared this juicy back story.

Over the years with more modern lodging coming to town, the building fell into disrepair. It was listed for sale on eBay with no takers.Then came remarkable leadership that sparked community action leading to its restoration. In 2005, the mayor at the time, Jean Marinos, put an ad in the paper asking anyone interested in saving the building to meet. At least 80 people showed up, leading to a coalition of citizens, foundations and businesses that succeeded in an amazing restoration. This, in part, because “the work was done primarily by local workers,” Elsbury said, which changed peoples’ minds and hearts. The Historic Park Inn Hotel reopened about 20 years ago.

The renovation was complicated and expensive because modern amenities needed to be included without disturbing the lines of Wright’s design and in compliance with the National Historic Register. Changes can be made to public buildings to make them safe and accessible, Elsbury said.

For example, when it initially opened, bathrooms were down the hall and there were no elevators. Now all rooms have restrooms and the building is accessible. It is owned by the nonprofit Park Inn Hotel group and is a community center, restaurant, destination venue, place to stay and source of community pride.

After our tour we walked to the Mason City Visitor Center across the street and picked up a copy of their Walking Tour Guide. For much of the afternoon we walked and drove past over 70 remarkable offices and prairie school style homes that show magnificent, yet diverse, architecture. While walking we passed the prominent outdoor River City sculptures, including our favorite of Bucky the Beaver, sponsored by a dentist. The walking tour guides visitors past the art museum, library and Music Man Square. Naturally, we dropped in partly to warm up and mostly to absorb more of the flavor of the city.

One of our stops was at Music Man Square and the boyhood home of Meredith Willson. He wrote the song “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” in 1951 and the well known “Music Man” musical in 1957. We also drove by the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Stockman House. Private tours can be scheduled.

Normally, we travel to discover trails, natural areas and outdoor recreation sites, but on this trip we focused on human culture. However, the Mason City area features many trails, parks and the Lime Creek Nature Center. Popular Clear Lake is only a few miles west of town and is a tourism magnet, especially in the summer.

Our trip wasn’t all culture. Food fits in. When we asked our friend and Mason City resident Kelsey where we should eat dinner, she enthusiastically replied, “You have to experience the Northwest Steakhouse. Their broiled Greek-style beef cuts are unique to north central Iowa. The fillet is amazing. It cuts like butter, melts in your mouth and has the best flavor. The spaghetti is also a very popular side. Buttery and delicious Greek flavoring on all of their food. The location is quaint and cozy.” She was right.

We found the unpretentious restaurant in a residential area and enjoyed a delicious meal in the cozy setting. Staff warmly welcomed both regulars and newcomers. The next morning we had breakfast at Three on the Tree, a few minutes on squeaky cold snow from our hotel.

Mason City is about 140 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids and an easy drive on four lane highways. With a population of 27,000 people, the town is pleasant to walk, bicycle and drive around. Mason City is the economic center of a large surrounding region and the Cerro Gordo County seat. It was named in 1855 for Mason Long, the son of an early settler.

Charles City

After a whirlwind visit to Mason City we drove about 30 miles east and explored Charles City, named in honor of early settler Joseph Kelly’s son, Charles. It’s the seat of Floyd County, named in honor of Sergeant Charles Floyd, who died in Western Iowa while on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

A small town of about 7,400 people, Charles City is steeped in history. It also has a Frank Lloyd Wright feature. We drove by the Usonian style Alvin Miller home along the Cedar River before our stop at the nearby Floyd County Museum.

While many small town museums are cramped, cluttered and hold a hodge podge of exhibits, the Floyd County Museum is unusually large and well organized. We enjoyed exhibits of a restoration of a post settlement era general store, and the disastrous 1968 tornado that tore through town. We marveled over the large, partial sign hung on the wall with the explanation that this sign was lifted up and landed 45 miles north of the city.

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Other visitors were examining antique tractors and farm machinery that helped the town grow over a century ago. The distinctive green Oliver tractor was prominent in the display room. During the dawn of the internal combustion engine two men also bearing the name “Charles” — Charles Hart and Charles Parr — founded the Hart-Parr Gasoline Engine Company in 1897. They coined the name “tractor.” In addition to making farm machines the company also made some of the earliest clothing washing machines.

An extensive collection of Hart-Parr machinery and manuals are integral to the museum. The company later became the White Farm New Idea Equipment Company. About 3,000 people worked at their Charles City factory that, sadly, closed in 1993.

Tractors are not the only part of Charles City’s history. On a past visit we toured Carrie Chapman Catt’s home on a farm a few miles south of town. This amazing woman became a strong leader of the woman’s suffrage movement and founded the League of Women Voters. Her family home is now owned by a nonprofit and welcomes visitors.

After leaving the museum we crossed the Cedar River near Iowa’s first designed whitewater kayak course. Even in winter water surging over rocks was impressive. A friend mentioned that even in winter hardy kayakers take to the course.

Overlooking the rapids is the Charles City Public Library and the Arthur Mooney Art Print Collection. A helpful librarian led us to the extensive gallery of prints collected by Mooney over many years and donated to the library. Some go back to the 1600s and the collection includes some of Grant Wood’s art.

Sports are part of the Charles City scene. Months ago we visited the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club’s Wimbledon style court lovingly built by Mark and Denise Kahn on their farm.

We lunched with our friend and Charles City native Jody Vriese and asked her what she loves about the town.

“It’s a small, friendly town that some may say is in the middle of nowhere. That’s not true. Charles City is in the middle of everywhere. Des Moines, Rochester, Cedar Rapids and even the Twin Cities are within an easy drive,” she said.

From Charles City it was a 100-mile drive home to Cedar Rapids down the Avenue of the Saints. We enjoyed a delightful, fascinating and inexpensive three day winter getaway without the hassle of airplane travel during months when flight delays are common.