You read that title right.
Unfortunately, if you took it seriously, you'd be kinda wrong.
Okay, Grinnell is actually not that bad. I think this was a just tough week for me. I got sick, got on antibiotics, had a bad reaction to those antibiotics, went on different antibiotics, had a different bad reaction to those antibiotics, got medication for the new reaction, and missed a day of work. (Thankfully, as I'm writing this I am FINALLY done with my antibiotics after 14 days and I feel much much better!) I bet if you asked Ryan or Katie how their time in Iowa was, they'd have totally different stories! But! Unfortunately, this is my blog, so I gotta do my best to find the good nuggets admist a tough week. (Not many pictures this week to share for the reasons stated above.) My goal is just to share the chaos and hopefully we can all laugh about it together, because now it is over!
We couldn't book a Marriott for Iowa because they were all sold out - my guess because we were going to a huge event nearby... so of course every hotel was sold out. Except for the ever-fabulous, Hotel Grinnell - located in, you guessed it, GRINNELL, IOWA! CITY OF DREEEAAAMMMSSS! Okay, Grinnell might not have a ton going for it, but what I will say is that the PEOPLE in Grinnell really went above and beyond to make sure we felt welcomed - some because they knew who we were, but many just out of the kindness of their hearts.
The Hotel Grinnell used to be a junior high school built in 1921, so you can imagine it has some interesting character traits. Chalkboards in every room, no alarm clocks, giant school windows, original wood floors, a gymnasiaum, and a spooky locked up auditorium on the 3rd floor. There was also lots and lots of the fun little bugs that come with a 100 year old building. Ryan and I had first floor rooms, but poor Katie was stuck on the third floor all by herself, so she was quickly convinced that her room and entire floor was haunted lol.
We started the week with a day off to explore Grinnell, so we set off to discover everything it had to offer. It didn't take too long - but we did really get to see a lot of cute little shops and every store owner was so excited to hear we were exploring Grinnell. At the end of the day, Ryan booked a little interview for us with Our Grinnell, and the guy who interviewed us was so excited about the NUTmobile - I love when a serious-type older guy acts calm around it and then at the end of the interview, says "Okay, can you please take my picture in front of it?" Adorable!
The next day was just loading in the Nut to Indy Car to prep for the weekend - we decided to load in earlier in the day so that we could have more time in the evening for a movie night. On tonight's playbill, a culturally significant piece of media, Dispicable Me 4. When we got to the theatre, the gals behind the concessions counter were SO nice. In the 3 minutes we were speaking with them, they offered to fill our reusable water bottles (that we did not buy at the movie theatre), gave us a discount on the concessions, and when we were about to walk away, offered to top off our popcorn and slurpees so they were full going into the movie. That stuff doesn't happen at AMC!
Hy-Vee IndyCar Weekend
This was a really really fun event - I've never seen an IndyCar race before and I was suprised that I really enjoyed it. Like many sports events, I quickly picked out who was in last place and just rooted for them to get as far as they could haha.
On Day 1, we got to meet another set of Hotdoggers and they were so sweet!
This was also the first time we got to bring out Mr. Peanut at a big event, and both days it was SO fun. People who know him, people who don't - EVERYONE loves Mr. Peanut! Only thing that sucked was that it was very hot out both days. People seemed to feel bad for Mr. P out in the heat, and so many people made comments about it, but we just had to keep saying "As long as he doesn't get too roasted, we're okay!"
The people in the Midwest are just a bit kinder - in comparison to our other big event in DC, people wanted to chat more, get to know us, and they weren't so grabby with our peanut samples! (You tell a person something is free… and some of them go NUTS tryna be sneaky and steal as many as they can!)
There were a couple concerts that weekend and we got to go up into the Hormel Suite which had air conditioning (hallelu!) and food (yippee!). Once I started feeling sick from the second round of antibiotics, this was a god-send. When it came time for the Post Malone concert, two of the guys from Hormel gave us their vip-passes to get onto the race track for the Post Malone concert. Since there were only 2, I stayed up in the suite and Katie and Ryan went down. It was 92 degrees in direct sun down there, so even though I was sad to miss out, it was probably best I did. I worked on my crochet project and jammed to the concert from the comfort of a coporate suite. Can't really complain! 😎
Like I said before, Iowa was enhanced by the people. Everything we experienced in Iowa was mid-level, but the people and their midwestern-kindness is what made a week that could have been insufferable for me pretty tolerable. In addition to the kind people from Hormel, the concessions gals, the store owners, and the journalist, here are some of the other interactions I had that made me grateful for my time there.
My urgent care doctor in Davenport, IA was one of the best doctors I have ever seen. She made me feel safe and got me to laugh in the midst of feeling hopeless about my symptoms. She also told me I was allowed to call her no matter where I was if I ran into any problems with the new medication, and that she would help. (Which I did, and she did.)
The hotel staff at Hotel Grinnell were so friendly and gave us free merch at the end of our stay. They were all so excited about the NUTmobile being there and would smile at us in the halls and got excited when we came into the restaurant to eat.
When we were doing our media interview, a gentleman who served on the community board showed up in the parking lot and walked toward us saying "I'm here to officially welcome you to the town!" He spent 20 minutes there telling us all about the history of Grinnell and how proud he was of his town.
When I got my anti-nausea meds for my antibiotics, I had no way of getting them. I didn't have the rental car or the NUTmobile, and there were no Walgreens, Ubers, or delivery services in Grinnell. When I called Walmart to transfer my perscription, I asked the pharmacist what he recommended I do to get the perscription and he said, "Well... I could deliver it to you at the end of my shift, on my way home." And he did exactly that, no charge.
In visiting places like Grinnell, I was reminded about how much I cherish connection and friendships. I could be as sick as a dog, the city could be small, a little run down, maybe haunted - but everyone in Grinnell was dedicated to making sure our experience there was the best it could be. It helped me remember that though locations like NYC or DC are flashier in their offerings, I really thrive off of genuine human connection. I got very lucky in Iowa - in a time where I needed support, a cast of strangers came forward to help me in unexpected (and very appreciated) ways. It made me feel all the more grateful that the next stop on our road trip is Chicago, IL - where my foundational support system of friends resides.
Today I am thankful for people. And thankful I have a job that allows me to meet so many good ones.
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