EYE ON IOWA June 4 2010

IOWA THE HAWKEYE STATE: USTPMTBBAA HOMETOWN

University of Iowa - Iowa City

Alma Mater of Professor Joe (US)

Updated 4/13/13

Previous Publication 6/18/10

There's more to IOWA than tall corn and political caucus.  So early Friday morning, I packed up my little luggage and Garmin GPS and drove down Interstate 80 all the way to Iowa City.  There's one thing I found out with GPS - it does not work with "detour."  Who the hell has time with the gadget when you're driving?  I had no choice but follow the road signs which is much much better.  I know I reached my destination when I crossed the magnificent Mississippi River, the longest river in the United States, and saw on top of the bridge a welcome sign, "Iowa, Fields of Opportunity."

Iowa received its name from the Iowa River.  The river, in turn, was named for a tribe of Indians that once lived on the prairies between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Iowa's nickname of The Hawkeye State honors Black Hawk, a Sauk Indian Chief who fought the Black Hawk War because he did not want to give up his home in Illinois for land in Iowa.  And Illinois honors Chief Black Hawk by naming its hockey league, Chicago Blackhawks, who just won the most coveted Stanley Cup in the game of hockey.  Got teeth, anyone?

Iowa became the 29th state on December 28, 1846.  The motto: "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." 
The State Bird is the Eastern Goldfinch. 

I wonder if the owners of Riverside Casino are Sauk Indians.

This thing I know, the talented folks of Iowa know what to do with their empty bottles -  decorate it, put tiny lights inside and turn it into bed lamp.

Live it up, baby, live it up! Lalalalala....