by Matt Marquardt –
MASON CITY – A couple from Texas passing through North Iowa late last week on Interstate 35 decided to take a detour a few miles east and visit Mason City.
Jerry and Linda Vinson were on their way to Minnesota to visit family when they decided to get a hotel room in town and take in the sights Mason City has to offer.
The couple was walking in Central Park last Friday taking photos when they stopped for a few minutes to chat.
Mason City “is a really delightful place. We stayed here last night,” Jerry said, meaning a hotel on the city’s west side. The couple discovered the Historic Park Inn Hotel by accident; they did not stay there, but said they would go inside and look around. “We want to stay here sometime.”
The couple first visited the Mason City Visitor Center, located at 2021 4th St. SW, and was told about the sculptures that were being installed downtown that day, so they decided to come take a look.
When asked what brought them to Mason City, Jerry and Linda answered, the “Music Man Square.” They had read about it in an RV magazine called the Gypsy Journal.
“This is all really neat. I didn’t realize he (Frank Lloyd Wright) was such an influence in this town,” Jerry remarked.
The Vinsons also paid a visit to the North Iowa Events Center and watched some horses being worked out by trainers. “Our grand daughter does that back in Texas, so it was like a little homecoming,” they said.
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 httpv://youtu.be/6uPgMFKbll0