Long a fan of Willa Cather’s books, the perfect choice for a respite from driving was a stop in Red Cloud, Nebraska. The town of just over 1,000 residents feels like a step back in time. Cather is recognized as one of the most important American writers of the first-half  of the 20th-century.

Since our visit came on the 4th of July the Cather Childhood Home and Foundation were closed; we were only able to experience the exterior of the home and grounds.

The hand pump and hollyhocks were a reminder of my grandparents farmhouse that I frequently visited when a little girl growing up in the Midwest – decades ago.

Red Cloud’s well preserved main street, Opera House, Cather Prairie, Cather’s Childhood Home, and Second Home (now a host-free guest house) will draw me back when there is time to explore the area that inspired so much of Cather’s writing.