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Field of Dreams - User Comments Add your own

A Good Time -- 2006-08-25

Field of Dreams: They built it and more than three quarter of a million people have come over the last 18 years.

Field of Dreams is my favorite movie. For both me and my wife, it's one of those films I could watch every week and never tire of it. The magic and the message of the movie touches me every time, but somehow it's not present at the movie site.

While it's fascinating to for a huge fan of the film to see where it all happened, the fueding farms that split the ballfield detracts a bit from the magic of the place. Seperate driveways, parking lots, and gift shops kind of ruin the "baseball can solve all our problems" mentality of the movie.

That said, as soon as I pulled down that lane and saw the big white farm house, the beautiful green grass, and the eight foot corn stalks gently blowing in the breeze - I had chills. It took every ounce of retraint I had not to jump out of the car and run to that perfect field. Of course, traveling with my wife and son, I had to wait for shoes to be changed, strollers to be pulled out, and of course - for my wife to torture me by stopping to read all the signs along the way.

Fellow Field Fanatics were already out there, even on a drizzley overcast day, slapping grounders to eachother, jogging around the bases, and of course, having a catch.

I highly recommend bringing along your glove, a ball, and maybe even a bat, because the Field of Dreams faithful are always ready for a pick-up game and everyone is welcome to join in for an inning or two. Just about everyone, in every age group, was out on the field or slowly walking in and out of the corn, trying to get a feel for the magic. It's there, believe me.

Just like Moonlight Graham, though, as soon as you step off the field, the magic is gone. The two farms that co-own the land make it quite apparent that all is not well in Iowa. If this were in fact Heaven, their differences would have been settled long ago, but instead, vistitors are left with an awkward walk down the gravel path from one souvenier stand to the other, trying to decide which group to give thier money to.

It appears the the "Field of Dreams Movie Site" folks, who own the house, rightfield, and the infield, are seen as the good guys, while "Left and Center Field of Dreams" has been sold to faceless investment bankers (maybe it's Mark from the movie), who look to commercialize and capitalize on the tourist attraction.

Whoever is right and whoever is wrong, just go, have a catch, and spend some time on a beautiful ballfield with the family. If you want a souvenier - well, the "movie site" stand is a bit cheaper and the "left and center" store seems to have better quality t-shirts. Don't let thier feud spoil a good time - go anyway, a perfect half day stop on the way to any of the Iowa minor league clubs, Chicago, Milwaukee, or the Twin Cities - Field of Dreams was built, you may as well go.

Mike Curtis

A great experience -- 2006-08-25

I've lived about an hour and a half from Field of Dreams ever since it's existence. Until a few months ago, I'd never been. I came up with the idea of my brother and I taking my dad up there as a surprise for Father's Day. It was a great time. The field is well kept, not like the movie, but still nice. There are 2 souvenier shops, one being locally owned, and one by a company from out of town. Admission is free, so I'd encourage you to at least buy something. It would be best to go after mid-July so the corn is tall. Just playing catch there gave me goosebumps, more so due to the fact that I was "having a catch" with my old man. I thought I read that they still have ballgames there that you can watch on Saturdays, but you might want to check the website for sure. It's definitely worth the trip, and obviously others enjoy it too. The guestbook had entries from NY, Pennsylvania, Arizona and other places. Enjoy!

Vance Law

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