Day 7: Chariton, Iowa

Spent the day in Chariton,  birthplace of HyVee.  HyVee is a popular grocery store chain in the midwest.  When they originally started, they only opened stores in small towns (5,000 or less) and one of their first stores was in Chariton.  They originally had their main headquarters here as well.  As new owners took over, the company expanded into larger towns and moved  headquarters to Des Moines.  They still have a major warehouse in Chariton and have built a new larger store just off highway 34.

We went for a walk downtown in the morning. This is a wonderful small town.  Jim noticed that there were three things missing:  no Walmart, no Starbucks, and no McDonalds. He also noticed that the sidewalks in Chariton are NOT Parkinson's friendly.  In fact they are downright unfriendly -- uneven and in disrepair.  

The town square is centered around a wonderful old county courthouse.   We went inside.  There was a  small sign on the large wooden door that said "no firearms."  That's all.  No airport-style security system like they have installed in the Clark County Courthouse at home.  Last time I went to the Clark County Courthouse, they confiscated a small pair of scissors I had in my purse.  Then I found out the accessor's office I was looking for had moved to a new office building next door...

The door creaked (Jim thought they could use some WD-40), and some of the floor tiles were broken, but the inside was charming with old wood moldings and panelling.  And the accessor's office was right there on the first floor.  Back outside, we sat on one of the many park benches in front and enjoyed the great weather, 70's and sunny.  Then strolled around the building reading signs telling of experiences of early settlers on the "Mormon Trail" that runs through town on the way to Utah. We also saw a memorial to soldiers of the Civil War on the square.

We went into the Ben Franklin Five and Dime and got some Alieve for Jim.  They had a little bit of everything.  Most of the buildings around the square are circa 1870 and very interesting.  There is a lot of brickwork and stone carvings.

Later we went half a mile in the opposite direction to the new Shopko and HyVee to pick up a few things.  Across from HyVee, in front of a bank, we saw another hay sculpture -- a puppy with a dollar sign on his chest.

To top off the day, Rob took Jim for a ride in his muscle/race car.  As they returned up the road to the house, he burnt rubber and quickly turned into the garage to hide from the neighbors.  

We went out to the Pizza Hut for dinner.  It was a very nice day and visit with Rob and Linda.   

Tomorrow we head out towards Florida.