To Boldly Go…

After the balloon fest I was looking at the atlas to find another place to go.  I found Riverside, Iowa.  What’s in Riverside, Iowa you ask?  Not much, that’s for sure.  It’s a sleepy little town that is 2 hours east of Indianola, Iowa where the balloon festival was.  What my atlas said was there made me Google it to find out more about this town.  According to my atlas, Riverside, Iowa is the “Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk” .  I kid you not!  Someone had a sense of humor when they were labeling memorials on the atlas.

Well, being sci-fi fans, we had to make this trek.  Pun intended.  After all, the back of our MH has the saying, “To Boldly Go…Because We Can!”  So we went.

Let’s just say, if it wasn’t for this memorial, there is nothing interesting about Riverside, Iowa.  Except maybe the local bakery that made wonderful turnovers…but I digress.

Once we found a place to park, we had to ask where this memorial was.  It was not well marked, online didn’t mention where it was and therefore it was very difficult to find.  To say it was hidden is an understatement.  The memorial is behind a small salon, on main street.  The town looks like it was built around this tiny little house.  You then have to go to the side of the building, between the salon and another building, around a white picket fence like you’re going into someone’s back yard, and low and behold…there it is!

Also in town is a small Star Trek Museum.  I think using the term museum is a stretch.  It’s really a small building, smaller than our MH, filled with pictures that someone had printed off there computer of Star Trek movies, actors and such.  They did have some autographed memorabilia, but not much.  You can even take your picture between two cardboard cut-outs of Kirk and Spock.

Apparently, every year, the last week-end in June the town holds Trek Fest.  There’s carnival rides, vendors selling everything you could imagine and a parade.  The town has a mock-up of the Starship Enterprise and a Shuttle Craft.  They have even had some of the original actors, like the actor that played Chekov, come and take part.  Once the lady’s at the museum heard David’s Star Trek airhorn, they invited us to be in the parade next year.  Yes…David has a Star Trek airhorn. If you haven’t heard it, you don’t even have to ask.  You’ll hear it whenever we leave anywhere.  He has fun with it.  It’s all in good fun.

So next time you find yourself driving across I-80 in Iowa, and your in the Iowa City area, head south on Route 218.  You’ll find a truly unique memorial not 30 minutes away in Riverside, Iowa.  Besides, how often can you say you’ve visited a memorial of a future historical event?