I’ve just come back from a rather remarkable tour in which I became the only person on Earth to see the Walter Cronkite Memorial, the Jolly Green Giant Statue, Three Stooges Totem Pole Yard Art, and the Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk on one trip.

And here’s my photo essay to prove it.  National Geographic, eat your heart out.

 

 

At Calico Skies Winery, not far from Sioux Falls, South Dakota

 

The view from the tasting room at Calico Skies.

 

The Barrel Room of Calico Skies.

 

The Jolly Green Giant, Blue Earth, MN.

 

Actress Maria Romine dwarfed by the Giatn.

 

Maria between the legs of one far greater than she.

 

Maria in Spring Valley, Minnesota.

 

To the left is the beautiful Methodist Church in Spring Valley, MN.  To the right is a house with three characters in the front yard.  Who could they be???

 

Why it’s the Three Stooges playing golf!  Three-Stooges-wood-carved-folk-art-Totem-Pole-yard-ornaments.

 

Left to right: Curly, Moe, Larry.  Holding golf clubs.

 

Larry

 

Curly

 

Moe.

 

… and Marilyn – the Men’s Room, Four Daughters Winery, Spring Valley, MN

 

… from the ridiculous to the sublime, from pop art to art – the Nativity, glass, St. Mary’s Church, Riverside, Iowa.

 

Mary at the Annunciation.

 

Jesus raising the dead girl 

 

St. Mary’s in Riverside.

 

St. Mary’s, exterior.  Note the clouds forming vertical accent lines behind the church.

 

Riverside is the Future Birthplace of Capt. James T. Kirk.

 

The Riverside Senior Dining Center.  To the right the window reads, “Join us and dine with the ancestors of our own Capt. James Kirk”.

 

From wooden statues of Moe, Larry and Curly to a wooden statue of William Shatner.  Kirk Museum, Riverside.

 

You can pilot the USS Enterprise while taking care of other matters at the Kirk Birthplace Museum in Riverside.

 

I am told that to avoid a lawsuit from Paramount Pictures, the stone marker of the Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk had to be hidden behind the Riverside Beauty Parlor.

 

 

 

Downtown Riverside resident Robert Ryan regaled us with stories and hospitality.

 

Sources tell me that not only will Riverside, Iowa be the Future Birthplace of Captain Kirk – but the pool table at Murphy’s Bar in Riverside will be the site of his Future Conception.