Field of Dreams
DETAILS:
Location: 28995 Lansing Road, Dyersville, Iowa 52040
Hours of Operation: The field is open daily;
9:00 am - 6:00 pm (April-June)
9:00 am - 9:00 pm (July-August)
9:00 am - 6:00 pm (September-October)
10:00 am - 6:00 pm (Weekends only in November)
Closed (November-March)
Parking: Free parking on site.
Cost: It’s technically free, but they do ask for a “suggested” $20/car donation at the gate. The donation comes with 2 free bottles of water.
Time Commitment: 1-2 hours
MISC:
Gift shop available.
Snack shop available.
The corn stalks typically don’t grow to 5ft (or taller) until late July, so plan your trip accordingly if you want to get the “full” Field of Dreams effect. We visited in May, so the corn was barely over a foot tall then.
Home & Movie History tour available. This 30 minute tour starts on the hour between 9AM to 4PM: $20 adults / $12 children / $18 seniors / $15 active military and spouses.
A true example of life imitating art - If you build it, they will come.
Okay, the real quote is “if you build it, he will come” but allow me this one liberty. Constructed in Dyersville, Iowa for the 1989 film; Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, the story is about fathers & sons, failed & future dreams, and the return of Shoeless Joe Jackson and his fellow Black Sox scandal teammates who find redemption on a baseball field located in the middle of a corn farm.
Realizing that they had a budding tourist attraction on their hands, the owners of the farm decided to keep the field open after the film wrapped for just that purpose. People have been coming in droves ever since. Having gone to the University of Iowa and with Field of Dreams being one of my all time favorite movies, it’s a little shocking that I’d never visited until this last year but it was definitely worth the wait. There’s something magical about actually stepping onto that field and everything it represents. If you’re a fan of baseball, the movie, or just have some unresolved father-son issues, you’ll probably get a little emotional as you linger on the field waiting to see if Shoeless Joe Jackson will emerge from the corn.
“Ray. People will come, Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn into your driveway, not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door, as innocent as children, longing for the past. “Of course, we won’t mind if you look around,” you’ll say, “It’s only twenty dollars per person.” And they’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it, for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they’ll walk off to the bleachers and sit in their short sleeves on a perfect afternoon. And find they have reserved seats somewhere along the baselines where they sat when they were children. And cheer their heroes. And they’ll watch the game, and it’ll be as they’d dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.”
This is the epic speech that Terence Mann (played by the great James Earl Jones) gives near the end of the movie. And it still rings true now. As of this post, the Chicago White Sox are set to play the New York Yankees on August 12, 2021 at the Field of Dreams location (at an adjoining MLB sanctioned ballpark) for a regular season game (the first MLB game ever played in Iowa), proving that the field still resonates with people today as much as it did when the movie was first released over thirty years ago. If you decide to make this baseball pilgrimage, you won’t be disappointed!
RESOURCES:
Field of Dreams website.
