You can probably see where this blog post is going. If you guessed Beastie Boys references, than you guessed right! Iowa’s Brooklyn has the goods.
Brooklyn, IA: Poweshiek County
Somehow I have several Texas associations. My wife being one of them. My three kids, who were all born in Austin. But, many years before I met any of them I had a friend, “Tex”, that has been one of my best friends for over 20 years. We call him Tex in Iowa, but in his hometown of Wichita Falls, TX he’s known as…………Jeff. I’ve always been fond of that little story too. Let’s get to seeing Iowa from 15,000 feet.
Signing the second most important dotted line is today’s Birthday Boy! Tex received a surprise birthday present from his loving wife. A swift push out of a plane from thousands of feet above Iowa farmland. So everyone else, how was that night out at the steakhouse from your spouse? Tex’s better half just raised the bar. Really raised it.
The sky was overcast in rural Brooklyn due to a storm moving in. However, it was just far enough off the radar to get jumping in… or is it out? Or up? Maybe down. Who the hell knows. Time to get prepped for the Poweshiek plunge.
Getting to know each other like lemon to a lime a lime to a lemon, tandem instructor and jump specialist, Tim Skyles (nice name btw) gets Tex prepped for his first jump. Tim has made it through over 700 jumps while other Skydive Iowa specialists like Brent and Junkyard have made 1000’s of jumps each. And Tex thought he had a cool nickname until he met Junkyard. I believed he went by Jeff for the rest of the day. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Skydive-Iowa/219676324727963?fref=tsUlcer 1 and Ulcer 2. Tex and his little brother, Scott, pose for their best glamour shot ever.Charlie waves ado to his friends and then asks “what’s for lunch”. Let’s take a trip into the Brooklyn interior as the new daredevils descend into the Iowa sky.
I had no idea that I could work up such an unholy appetite knowing that my friend was about to roll out of plane in about 45 minutes. Once again, Iowa’s Route 6 came up with another great restaurant for us. A literal Brooklyn classic.
The Classic Deli and Ice Cream Shoppe has a great menu of sandwiches, handmade deli salads, desserts, and old fashion soda drinks. Not to forget Hot Panini’s, Philly’s, the finest breaded pork tenderloins around and the sandwich that brought us in and made us turn around the next weekend for another…..The Brisket! It was highly recommended by the staff of Skydive Iowa. And I think they’re some pretty trustworthy folks.
Juicy, tender, and just damn good meat! Perhaps the finest brisket in the entire state of Iowa. This is one of The Classic’s specialties. Served only on Saturdays and guaranteed to sell out. Get to Brooklyn early for this true Iowa masterpiece. And order two while there’s still some left.The Classic prides themselves when it comes to making their food from scratch. Right down to the mustard they make in-house and sell on their counter.Another example of just how The Classic does things around Brooklyn. Freshly squeezed lemonade to order!The Classic team. Jody, Shelly, Lynn and Tate. Not only did they make amazing food, but they got it out to us with professional speed. We had a show to watch at the airstrip! To the Team Goodvin mobile!
We could still hear the engine of the small aircraft that flew our friends to where eagles dare. I have always wanted an excuse to write that last line. Necks crooked and sunglasses fixed, we put our hands on our forehead and waited to see a couple specks drop from the sky. Then we saw the plane over the small Brooklyn airstrip. Next we hear the engines go silent. A few seconds later, out came our friends as we watched them free fall. And then…..POOF! Two shoots opened up and we cheered and watched the Texas brothers glide through the sky and make a perfect landing on the Iowa soil. A few minutes later, Charlie was giving Tex a high-five while all the jumpers collected themselves. They were all grins and walked a little funny as they made their way to the hanger. Maybe it was the tight straps around their midsection. Let’s go with that.
Tex checking out the ground and wondering if he left his phone in the plane while trying to recall if he locked the back door to the house when I picked him up.It was at this point when Tex was wondering if he made the right decision buying the jar of wasbi mustard over the chardonnay mustard at The Classic Deli. Two thumbs up means, “Yes. Yes I did make the right decision, because I can always visit again and get the other kind if I want to.”
I don’t know about you, but watching someone risk it all by jumping from a plane at 10,000+ feet makes me want to explore some local history. As we said goodbye to our friend and his little brother, and wondered what they actually told their mother what they were up to that afternoon, we drove back in to the town of Brooklyn and started on Iowa’s unofficial John Wayne Trail.
If we’ve said it before we’ll say it every time we update a blog. Visit local museums of all shapes and sizes! They provide some of the best history lessons you can find anywhere. I hope to make our way to the Louvre someday, but before we do Team Goodvin will be gallivanting through as many of these places as we can. Such as Brooklyn’s William Manatt House.The Victorian style house had exhibits in every room and told the story of the Brooklyn, IA area at every turn.As you walk in to the Manatt House you’re greeted by the Brooklyn, IA Historical Society president, Steve Rhodes. And then your attention is directed to the exhibit that is raising money to honor The Duke’s boyhood home of 717 Jackson Street. The John Wayne trail starts at his birthplace, in Winterset, IA and then takes a path to Brooklyn, IA then to Earlham, IA, back to Brooklyn and then to California. This is the absolute essence of a small towns niche and Brooklyn couldn’t be more proud to make John Wayne always feel welcome in his hometown. https://www.facebook.com/BrooklynHistoricalSociety?fref=tsBefore he was known as John Wayne, he was Marion Morrison. And his first grade report card can be seen at the Manatt house in Brooklyn, IA.
Brooklyn calls itself “The Community of Flags”. And the Goodvin kids took pride in showing off their skills. Up and down main street and in a park at the summit of a steep hill is Brooklyn’s proud flags. Thanks to their love of the World Cup and Winter Olympics, Charlie, Leah and Gigi did a great job of guessing the worlds colors on display. I got the Cayman Islands one, though! Little amateurs thought it was Australia. (There’s little plaques on each poll that tell you what country it’s from) There happened to be a parade that day too. The few times I get to tell the kids that its okay to eat the candy that you find on the ground. 5 second rule turns to the ten second rule and then increments of 5 after that.
The old Brooklyn Opera House still stands tall as the international flags toss in the wind by it’s side.Brooklyn, Iowa’s main flag display. A proud tribute to the entire country.No Iowa parade is complete without your local American Legion veterans contributing to it. Brooklyn’s Post 294 was present and accounted for. They were a great welcoming committee to Team Goodvin. Thank you, 294!
The summer is young and we have found another reason why we love our trips down historic Iowa Route 6. The countryside is at its greenest and it won’t be too long before the crops will have the look of waves as the wind and reflections of the clouds roll through them. The classic Iowa road trip produces some of America’s best gems and memorable people with proud towns like Brooklyn. Come for the brisket, have a beer with the fellas at the legion, find your favorite flag, pay homage to The Duke, and scoot your silly butt out of a plane from high altitude for once in your life. Thank you, Brooklyn!
While you’re at the job working nine to five…The Frerich boys are at Skydive Iowa kick’n it LIVE!
Read about our other discoveries on Historic Iowa Route 6 in the towns of Grinnell and Ladora…..
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