Q. We recently moved to DeSoto, and nearly all our family and guests are coming to our wedding from out of state. Many are planning to arrive a few days early to relax, explore, and visit with each other, so they'll have a fair amount of free time before any wedding-related activities. Do you have any suggestions for places they can explore that are near our new home?
A. Whether they'll be there for a week or the weekend, guests always appreciate getting the inside scoop on the area they're visiting. Direct film buffs to explore the childhood home of John Wayne, (515) 462-1044, Winterset, where the modest four-room home has been restored to reflect its appearance in 1907, the year of the Duke's birth. Guests will get to see all kinds of memorabilia including the eye-patch worn in the movie True Grit, a hat worn in Rio Lobo, and hundreds of rare photographs. Incurable romantics will want to visit the famed covered bridges of Madison County. The county's Chamber of Commerce, (515) 462-1185, can set guests up with a map of the bridges (5 of the original 19 still stand) as well as other local sites featured in the 1995 film, The Bridges of Madison County. Want more options? Suggest that guests take a drive to Des Moines to check out the contemporary art at the Des Moines Art Center, (515) 277-4405, or trace Iowa's past from prehistory and native cultures to pioneer farming and town life at the State Historical Building, (515) 281-5111.
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