Winterset - Bridges of Madison County

Another must-see attraction of the Des Moines, Iowa tour is a drive to nearby Madison County. If you can arrange it, I'd highly recommend my friend Debbie as an entertaining, companionable and dedicated tour guide. This part of the world is famous for a memorable novel by Robert James Waller and again for the movie of the novel, starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.

The story is fictional, despite presenting itself as a biographical account, but it was set in the real vicinity of the real town of Winterset, near a number of key landmarks in the book and film.

This is Roseman Bridge, the site of much important action in the story of Francesca and Robert.

This is Francesca's House from the movie. Security has been tightened because of an arson attempt made on the privately owned building. It's sad to think that there are minds so unhinged that they would want to burn down a film set building.

Despite the heightened security at the house, Winterset and Madison County know where their bread is buttered. Even the street names reflect the features of the novel. The tourism office puts out a glossy brochure of the covered bridges. Special maps guide visitors to the bridges, and to other prominent sites from the movie.

Here is another of the bridges, which really are quite picturesque. Most of them are decorated inside with graffiti from past visitors. Some are of the simple "John was 'ere" variety. Others are declarations of undying love from travelling couples, some of whom married at these sites. A few feature quotations from the novel, like this one:

There are songs that come from the blue-eyed grass, from the dust of a thousand country roads.

Another landmark of the film is the Northside Cafe, where Robert Kincaid stops for coffee and offers Lucy Redfield a stool, and where we stopped for lunch. The spookiest thing about this visit was not having lunch in a film set, but the fact that I seem to have two tiny antennae growing out of my head.

We stopped in the Winterset Visitors' Centre to do a bit of souvenir shopping, picking up the most obvious choice: a DVD of the film "The Bridges of Madison County." Miraculously, despite selling other books by Robert James Waller, they did not have a copy of the novel "The Bridges of Madison County." Such is the price of progress, I suppose.