Overnighting in Tokyo, then Chicago, then Sac City, Iowa. Her favorite? Sac City Motel

By CHRISTIE VILSACK
October 6, 2003
DES MOINES, IOWA

In our tidy, compact room at the Tokyo Imperial Hotel, the water pot heats instantly for tea, the bathroom mirror de-fogs and the complimentary black grapes and Asian pears are the perfect late night snack. The maid turns down the beds while we attend a reception for Japanese CEOs doing business in Iowa. I can change my money at the main desk and spend it quickly in the upscale shops downstairs. The doormen greet me by name, and a woman in a kimono directs me to the elevator. As usual, everything about our trip is meticulously planned and executed – except for the earthquake that occurs as we are packing our suitcases.

First we shake, and then we sway, for about a minute in this building holding us captive on the 11th floor. It continues, as I walk to the window to be sure the surrounding buildings still stand.

Earthquakes are common – about three a month – says the hotel manager, who lets us know it will be few minutes before we can use the elevators. A quick check will determine their safety. Because of its duration, this quake is a big one – about 5.5 on the Richter scale.

A week later, we arrive at our Chicago hotel, The Renaissance, late at night after a reception at the Cultural Center where we encourage college alumni to return to Iowa to live, work and raise a family.

When suites are empty in hotels like this one, management upgrades dignitaries. We find ourselves on the 27th floor in a set of rooms big enough to house our entire family. We need our door key just to get the elevator to take us up there. My red suit looks lost in the armoire. We could set up our Terrace Hill dining room table in the bathroom. The triple layered drapes open and close with the flip of a switch. The view at the convergence of Wacker, State and Michigan highlights some of the best architecture in America day and night. The beer is cold – for a price. A construction crew arrives via ropes outside the window early the next morning. The weather is cold and wet.

The following week I spend the night at Sky’s Sac City Motel, where Kevin “Sky” Nyblom is proprietor. This is more like it.

The Sac City Motel looks like the places my family on our yearly summer vacations, complete with the neon “Vacancy/No Vacancy” sign. We have reservations for three of the 20-plus rooms. We can back right up to our rooms, so getting suitcases inside is a breeze. A white plastic chair sits beside each door, but it’s the end of September so it’s too nippy to enjoy the night air.

First we meet Sky himself, a Paul Bunyan kind of guy behind the desk. It takes us awhile to check in because we inquire about the photos on the bulletin board beside the door: snapshots of hunters, dogs and pheasants galore.

I ask about his hunting dog and he calls Luke from the back room. He has the kidney coloring of a Brittainy but he’s bigger. He’s an Irish red and white setter, a great hunter but unusual in this country. Luke greets us warmly and retreats at his owner’s command.

Then I notice the refrigerator and the sign that says he’ll clean your pheasants for an extra $4 beyond the $34 dollar charge for the room.

We get to talking about the upcoming season, and he tells us he expects the pheasant population to be up about 30 percent in his area and up to 60 percent farther north. He says he cleans the pheasants because when guys go on hunting vacations, they should be able to go out for a steak and a beer without having to clean their birds.

Our rooms are already open with the lights on. The Chamber of Commerce has left a gift bag in our rooms. Every guest gets one, with popcorn from Cedar Creek, a local industry, and plenty of brochures touting the area.

Sky has left his own gift, compliments of the motel – a blue back scratcher with a plastic hand. Ahhhh! I can’t wait!

The heat is turned up a little, he says, but if we need more, there are extra blankets. The coffee in the office is hot by 6:30 a.m. and if we need anything just let him know.

He assures me I’ll love breakfast at the Early Mansion, a restaurant in an elegant old Sac City home, where I have a meeting with community leaders. “It’s good Iowa home cooking,” he says.

Sky is a Minnesotan by birth but has lived in Iowa for 12 years and bought and fixed up the Sac City Motel about four years ago.

My room would fit nicely in the bathroom of the Chicago hotel. It has everything I need. (It’s a good thing I picked up a shampoo in Chicago and my tiny toothbrush from Japan.)

My overnight bag fits the metal foldout luggage holder. The forest green bedding and feather pillows remind me of home. The door is two steps from the bed, and the bed is two steps from the bath and shower. The TV works and the shower delivers strong, hot water. Paul Bunyan would be as satisfied with the towels as I am.

I couldn’t work the digital clock, but that’s a problem I have in every hotel room. I don’t want to bother Sky with a wake-up call, so I rely on the gentle sounds of car doors closing and engines igniting to wake me.

When I go for my walk I watch the sun rise above the cornfields. From a distance I spot Sky and Luke out for an early romp. I want to warn the pheasants lurking in their cornfield accommodations across the road that their days are numbered if the stories about Luke’s reputation are true.

In the office I find the hot coffee and meet Sky’s brother, Bob. Later as we pack the car, Sky introduces me to the new dentist, who is spending his last night at the motel. He has just bought a house in town and his family is arriving this weekend.

The dentist says he felt at home during his stay. So did I. So will the hunters who will surely light the “No Vacancy” sign during hunting season.

Sky was also right about the food at the Early Mansion, which could be a cousin to Terrace Hill. Sandra Bachmeyer cooked, and her husband Fritz gave us the tour.

Ross and Judy Opsal, formerly of Mount Pleasant, showed up to greet me before the meeting. Ross and I worked together at Mount Pleasant Middle School for many years. He and Judy have recently accepted jobs in the area. I was able to tell them that their new dentist has bought a house and his family will arrive soon. (Only in small town, Iowa!)

It felt good to be home, where the land stays put and the perks include cleaning your game.

By the way, after World War II, my dad rented space in Sac City where he planned to start his law practice. On his way to Missouri to collect his wife and baby (my mom and brother), he stopped in Mount Pleasant to visit. There he realized he wanted to be near friends he’d made during college so he rented space in Mount Pleasant instead.

When I drove through Sac City for the first time five years ago, I called my dad.

“This is a beautiful town,” I said. “I wouldn’t have minded growing up here.”

My recent overnight there confirmed my first impression.