On Monday, we headed out of Grinnell, Iowa where we had stopped for the night and made the 2-hour drive toward Dyersville, which is where the Field of Dreams was located. Yes, the actual movie set that was used to make the movie that debuted 30 years ago. This was mostly for my benefit as that has always been one of my favorite movies. So, with the opportunity of going to see the actual farm and baseball field where the movie was made was too good to pass up. First of all, let me say that you don't just happen by this place. To get there, you have to be going there intentionally because it is located on a remote farm out in the middle of nowhere. That did not matter to us. We are on a baseball journey and this had to be included.
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| The Field of Dreams Farm in Dyersville, IA |
As we were driving to Dyersville and seeing all the vast green farmlands and endless fields of corn, I was reminded of the scene in the movie where Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones) gave the monologue that would justify Ray Kinsella's (Kevin Costner) crazy idea of not selling his farm to investors after plowing up his cornfield to build a baseball field.
People will come, Ray.
They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway, not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past.
"Of course, we won't mind if you look around," you'll say. "It's only twenty dollars per person." They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it. For it is money they have and peace they lack.
And they'll walk out to the bleachers, and sit in shirt-sleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game, and it'll be as if they'd dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush them away from their faces.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.
America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.
This field, this game -- it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again.
Ohhhhhhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.
As we drove up the driveway, I have to say there was a sense of nostalgia and longing for the past with images of the movie running through my head. And as we parked and walked out onto the field, it was like we were dipped in magic waters. It was awesome!
There is a scene at the end of the movie where Ray gets to meet his late father who comes back as a young player and he finally gets to ask him to have a catch. I always thought how cool that would be if I could have a catch with my boys on that field. Well, we played on that field for a good half hour. It was a special memory for me and hopefully for the boys too.
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| Trey and Tate on the bleachers by the ball field. |
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| Did not see any ghostly players coming out of the corn this time, just these two characters. |
So was it worth the extra 3.5 hours and an additional 160 miles out of the way to go here? Absolutely! Although we only spent about 45 minutes there, I think it will be a stop we will never forget. So, we left there and headed for Minneapolis, Minnesota.
