Quick Trip Outta Town

The Drake Bulldog Porterhouse
is immortalized in front of
the Drake Diner.
11/1/19 dwm photo

Over the weekend we made a trip to Iowa - the goal was visiting the 11 covered bridges in the Hawkeye State.  We managed some extra fun too.

There was lunch at the Drake Diner in Des Moines.  It's very close to campus, but I never ate there as a student.  The diner opened in 1987, three years after I graduated.

I met a former prof there once for breakfast during a trip to see the Drake Relays, most likely the year it opened.

Meredith Hall - home of the
J School. 11/1/19 (dwm)

My last visit was 32 years ago.  I was curious to see what changed and what didn't.

Journalism and Mass Communications are still in the same building on Drake's campus.  The Dean's Office was still in the same place!

I talked with the admin a while, then was introduced to the Dean, Kathleen Richardson.  She graciously gave me a tour so I could see changes to my old classrooms and studios.

Hubbell Dining Hall across the
green across from Meredith Hall.
11/1/2019 dwm photo

Lots has changed, but a good deal stayed the same.  The physical changes were obvious.  In talking to the Dean, it sounds like the professors care for their students just like mine did.

You can't go to your old school and not leave with something... I picked up a complimentary coffee mug from the Alumni House (a nice addition to the campus) and bought a Drake t-shirt in the store in Olmstead.

The Wilkinson Bridge
11/1/19 (dwm)

That little adventure wasn't the only trip down memory lane.  We stopped in Pella to see old haunts and the campus of Central Iowa University where my wife was a student, and pick up fresh pastries at the Jaarsma Bakery downtown.

The trip began with a stop next to a river in north-central Iowa to take pictures of the Wilkinson Covered Bridge.  After spending time at Drake, we found another bridge in the southeast part of Des Moines.

Those two bridges will be featured in blogs going live over the next two Thursdays.  Friday was rainy, but on Saturday the weather was perfect as I searched for the other nine covered bridges in the state.