Winterset, IA Hotels, Vacations, Tourism

Until Robert Waller's The Bridges of Madison County changed everything, sleepy, rundown WINTERSET , 25 miles southwest of Des Moines, seemed a long way off the beaten track. Its one tourist attraction was the modest former home of the local pharmacist at 216 S Second St, run as a museum as a tribute to his son, Marion Robert Morrison (daily 10am–4.30pm; $2.50). Born in 1907, he grew up to become Hollywood hardman John Wayne. His first lead role was in 1930 but real stardom, as the Ringo Kid in John Ford's Stagecoach , didn't come for another nine years. Three decades later, Wayne claimed his only … more »