They built it... we came

We made it to the Field of Dreams in Dyersville Iowa from our place just outside of St. Louis MO.  836 miles round trip.  We left on our bikes Sunday morning at 7:30 and got home Monday afternoon about 3:15.  (Too much riding on such a hot weekend for such a short trip.)  We spent about an hour at the ball field.  It was pretty much what I had pictured except for the apparent feud between two groups that co-own the field.  

Apparently, originally it was to be built on the property of the Lansing family.  But when the time came to actually build it, the producers picked a close-by area which happened to be on the property line of the neighboring farm.  Apparently there was a fence running right down the middle of the property that was to be the ball field.  They made a deal with both landowners to use the property for the movie which was filmed for 9 weeks during the summer of 1988.  One of the neighbors died and his widow leased the left field/third-base side to a corporation that is trying to capitalize on the property.   And that’s OK, for it’s what the Lansing family is doing also.  America, the land of opportunity!

So, there are two side-by-side driveways with two Field of Dreams signs, and 2 souvenir shops on the property each seeking your souvenir dollars. 

Field Facts

• No admission charge
• Both entities maintain the field (and it’s in very good shape)
• During summer weekends  it’s not unusual for 3,000 people to visit the Field of Dreams.
• Hollywood built the filed in four days with some help from local high school baseball teams.
• Famous visitor:  Reggie Jackson, Ernie Banks, Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Kirby Puckett.  Actor Kevin Costner has not returned since filming in 1988.
• The built the wrap-a-round porch for the movie and rented the swing on it from a family in Dubuque Iowa.  The returned the swing to the owners and found a similar one for the porch.
• Stars of the movie:  Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Kirk Douglas, Ray Liota and Amy Madigan
• The corn was taller than expected so they had to build a foot high ramp for Kevin Costner to walk on when walking through the rows of corn.
• Happy birthday Joe:  If he were still alive, Shoeless Joe Jackson would have turned 119 on the day of our visit (yesterday).   He got his nickname because during a double-header his feet were blistered from his new spikes so he played without his shoes.