We flew into Des Moines and the first thing we saw after exiting the airport was corn fields. Everything was so green and the temperature was cool which was completely opposite of what we had just left. I had read that when in Iowa you should eat Iowa pork so we went to The Machine Shed to check out one of their infamous pork chops. The Machine Shed has been around since 1978 and antique farming implements decorate the walls. The guys from American Pickers would love this place. Sort of reminded us of a local Cracker Barrel. Hmmm.. I wonder which came first, The Machine Shed or Cracker Barrel? Before sitting down to dinner we took a ride on the John Deere tractor. It was a fun way to start the experience and we enjoyed it just as much as the other little ones on the tractor. We began with a combination of “Burnt Ends” and “Farmhand Battered Mushrooms”.
Burnt ends are pork and beef smoked in a hardwood smoker for a long time and served with their own barbecue sauce. The mushrooms were some of the largest mushrooms I’d ever had fried. I selected the single cut pork chop and Dennis selected the chicken fried steak. Homemade bread, coleslaw, and cottage cheese were soon set down in front of us. They consider those items their family style fixins. The pork chop was one of the most tender, tastiest, roasted chops that I had ever eaten. It was so large I was glad I had only ordered the single cut. The sweet potato was good but didn’t compare to the one I had in Montana. Dennis’s chicken fried steak was smothered in gravy and served with his favorite, mashed potatoes. For dessert we shared a slice of their Snickers Pie,
a sweet concoction of Snickers candy bars mixed in a sweet cream and layered on an Oreo cookie crust and then topped with peanuts, chocolate chips, and caramel. We definitely had our sugar fix, so much so that Dennis even missed the exit to our hotel. Of course, that could have been due to being on the phone with a friend of his explaining what a wonderful meal we had just eaten. The next morning we left Des Moines and flew back to Dallas. Des Moines might be a small airport but it looked like they were ready for lots of travelers. Their security checkpoint was as large as one in Vegas. We couldn’t resist taking a picture of it, that did, however, alert the security guard who wanted to know why we were photographing their security line. I just told him about my 50 states for 50 years and we were just motioned on through.
Leg 17
1 day
2 flights
miles
= 1 state visited
2 more to go!
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