day two: cedar rapids art museum & clinton

The choir had a pretty nice St. Patrick's day.

I completely forgot to mention our lovely host mom for the evening in my last post. Constance, Monica and I had a relaxing night with Kris, and Romeo and Jasmine, her two super cute cats.
 It's a tradition on the bus to pass around the mic and share host family stories. Ali Hook and Lizzy Feilmeier were excited to share about their host family. A rare occurrence in March, their family had a bonfire for them and made s'mores. Dollie Pinnegar was also excited to share that her host family's house had a secret passageway. I'm looking forward to hearing more interesting stories about the brave families that choose to take us in for the night.

Monica got to spend a little quality time with one of our host-cats.

Host family's provided sack lunches for choir members to take the next day;
Ali and Lizzy easily had the most unique sandwiches on the bus.

While still in Cedar Rapids for the morning, we took a field trip to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, home of a fantastic Grant Wood (of American Gothic fame) exhibit. We had about half an hour before the museum opened for the day, so most of the choir spent that time in the sculpture-type garden right across the street – giving me the perfect opportunity to capture photos of everyone in their festive St. Patrick's Day outfits.

Keyla Spahr and Ryan Scott looking exceptionally green.

Alyssa has her host family to thank for the shamrock head band.
Fun fact: March 17 was Alyssa's 19th birthday. :)

Leah Scharfenberg, Lizzy Feilmeier, myself, Joslynn Martin, Stephanie Venner,
Katie Striegel, Ali Hook, and Alyssa Phillips

Jay Peasley and Ali Hook - the classiness level of this photo is off the charts.

We had a little over an hour to explore the museum. Along with Grant Wood, the museum housed an exhibit dedicated to local artists, art in Roman life, and some photography. 

Jay, honing his art appreciation technique.

After the museum, the choir took to the bus for the road trip to Clinton, Iowa.  With Ali Hook, a Clinton native, as our informal tour guide, we spent some time before our concertat Eagle Point park, one of Clinton's most famous points of interest. It was an absolutely gorgeous park with a great view of the Mississippi river. And did I mention it had a castle?
Once we completed our exploration of Eagle Point, we got down to business at Zion Lutheran Church.