John Wayne!

One of the things our friend Leslie wanted to do while they were in Iowa was to visit John Wayne's birthplace. Her grandfather had been a great fan and she has fond memories of watching many movies with him.

Winterset, Iowa is only about a half hour from the Adventureland Campground. They have a very nice Visitor Center. When we arrived there we realized that Winterset is in Madison County -- the home of the covered bridges! (I'll write about our visit to the bridges tomorrow.)

Across the street from the Visitor Center is this magnificent courthouse made from locally quarried limestone.

A few blocks away from there is this statue of The Duke himself -- with Bill and Leslie posing in front --

The statue was donated to the Winterset community by John Wayne's family --

At the John Wayne Visitor Center and Gift Shop, you could purchase your own full-size cut-out for only $32 dollars...

We went on tour of the tiny four-room house that newlyweds Clyde and Mary Brown Morrison lived for the first four years of  their married life. Marion Robert Morrison was born May 26, 1907. His parents' first child, he weighed a whopping thirteen pounds!

Like most places we've been, no pictures were allowed inside the tiny house. It is filled with an impressive collection of John Wayne memorabilia, including hundreds of rare photographs.