If You Build It

My professional travels recently took us back to the Midwest.  When you go to the Midwest, the thing to do is visit Dyersville, Iowa in order to see where Field of Dreams was filmed.  (It's just what you do.)

You can run the bases while you are there!

(Provided you do not hold the owners responsible for any base running injuries you might incur.)

You can also sit on the bleachers.

Just don't choke on a hot dog and then fall off backwards.

I swear Eddy went on this trip too, but apparently I was the one who was most excited about this.

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Everything's Up to Date in Iowa City

So, I'm applying for academic jobs this year. It's pretty stressful. To help me get all geared up and ready for interview season, my PhD advisor set up a mock interview at his institution, the University of Iowa in Iowa City. My flights got canceled and re-booked on a 6:30 AM flight... which ended up being a good thing, because I got there early enough to finish up my talk and have a look about the town.

The first thing I noticed upon arriving in Iowa is that it was exceedingly snowy. (Guess that only seems like a shock if you are living in Texas). I was especially amused by this bench, where it looks like some Iowa natives were so immune to the snow that they could just sit down in it:



My hotel was by a cute little bar area:



I didn't get to sample their wares, but it looks like the bars around served some delectable delicacies:



Unfortunately, having the campus bar scene right by my hotel meant there were college students singing loudly out my window at about 2:30 AM. But I had a good visit anyway. One of the highlights was some gelato made in-house right across from my hotel:



I got half chocolate, half raspberry:



Historic side note: Did you know that Iowa City was once the capital of Iowa? I guess the politicians all left, but they did leave behind a sweet building with a golden dome:

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