Field of Dreams and a Polka Mass

Last weekend, Ken and I journeyed East to Guttenburg, Iowa, home of the St. Mary's fall festival and polka mass. As a first time polka mass-goer, I was treated to the interesting experience of a Catholic service with a bit of a twist: all the music is sung to the tunes of polka songs such as "Roll Out the Barrell" and "In Heaven There is No Beer." It was an interesting service, nice, though a bit surreal. You see, it was sort of like a strange dream. Some parts were normal: the priests walked out in all their adornments holding crosses, Bibles, and the like. They said traditional church-like things, such as various Creeds and blessings and whatnot. Then all of a sudden a German polka band in the front of the church (complete with people in lederhosen and dirndles) would start playing "Beer Barrel Polka" and we'd all be singing a churchy song. People were swaying and enjoying the music and the experience, including me. It really was quite enjoyable -- just something like I've never experienced before.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful German lunch of fried chicken, potatoes, corn, salads, rolls, and various dessets. We all ate too much, but it was worth it. Then it was off to look at the craft tents and play BINGO! Lisa, Ken, niece Elizabeth and I partook in a few $0.25 games of Bingo. Matt chose to watch but did help Elizabeth with her cards. We were all very excited when Elizabeth got the only win of the family, yelling "BINGO!", scaring many people nearby. I think she won about $7.00. Not bad for a 15 year old drug to the Bingo tent with a bunch of adults. Here she is after her glorious win.

After Bingo, we headed to the Mississippi River to the Lock and Dam to watch the boats go through. Here is a picture of Ken and Lisa in their almost-matching sunglasses. It was a beautiful day to be on the river, and we got to see a couple of smaller recreational boats pass through the Lock. Then Ken had to make his way up to Ft. McCoy, WI where he's been for the past week and will be for the next week for a military class. I rode home with the Wilsons and slept much of the way back.

But before I forget, on the way up to Guttenburg for the polka mass, Ken and I had a few extra minutes so we took a turn and quickly stopped at the Field of Dreams movie site near Dyersville, IA. If you haven't been there before, it's basically just the farm house and the baseball field where the movie was shot in the late '80s. Still, as fans of the movie, we were impressed! Here are a few shots of us around the site. It sure seems a lot smaller than it did in the movie. Note that the white fence wasn't around the house during the filming of the movie. They had to add that to keep people from wandering up to the house. It's an actual residence and people do live there.