Chasing music History in Clear Lake, IA: A Road Trip to Where the Music Died
A larger than life pair of glasses marks the beginning of a path to the Three Stars Memorial site where a plane carrying Buddy Holly crashed in 1959.
A road trip just wouldn’t be the same without good music. But what happens when you can turn that journey into an episode of VH-1’s “Behind the Music.” One destination in Northern, Iowa takes you to spots where you’ll learn more about “The Day the Music Died.”
When I was a teenager, the story of Ritchie Valens caught my attention through the movie “La Bamba.” This bio pic outlined the “stars” rise to fame and how his life and those of Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper were cut short. In September of 2025, my son and I hit the road from his house in Ames to spend the day exploring Clear Lake, Iowa and the surrounding area, where we learned much more about this dark chapter in music history.
Surf’s up in Northern Iowa
By the 1950’s, this small town along the shores of a lake near the Iowa-Minnesota state line had become a mecca for big name entertainment. Whether it was the sounds of swing, the pulse of rock and roll or some country crooning, the headliners at the Surf Ballroom helped shape this National Landmark.
Memorials to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Popper and their pilot can be found outside the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.
On the night of February 3rd, 1959, the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly took the stage as part of the trio’s “Winter Dance Party” tour. According to the Surf Ballroom’s website the 24-day tour was meant to bring live rock ‘n’ roll to small-town ballrooms and theaters throughout the Midwest.
After traveling on a rugged and not so reliable bus, the musicians chartered a plane from nearby Mason City. Early on the morning of February 3rd, shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed in an Iowa cornfield. The event would later be immortalized as “The Day the Music Died” in the Don McClean classic, “American Pie.” Tracing the final steps of these musicians can all be part of a road trip to Clear Lake, Iowa.
Built to look like the original Surf Ballroom, the Surf Music Experience Center provides visitors with an immersive look at how music shaped the town of Clear Lake, IA and the world of music.
The Surf experience
In a time when the big names in music sell out arenas and stadiums, thinking back to a time when they would come to a “ballroom” might just seem hard to imagine. Until 2025, I had not been inside the Surf Ballroom, although I had been outside to see the memorials to the musicians who died in the 1959 plane crash.
If the walls of the Surf Ballroom could talk, ahh the stories they would have to tell. Imagine a rock n’ roll band on the stage and the floor packed with fans, dancing the night away.
Just glancing at the outside of the Surf Ballroom you probably wouldn’t think about how monumental this place truly is in the history of not only Rock n’ Roll, but Swing, Country and other genres of music. The building is clad in beige colored bricks with large dark blue letters on the side. A small old-fashioned marquee sits above the ticket booth.
My son and I inside the main lobby of the Surf Music Experience in Clear Lake, IA.
If you aren’t at the Surf for an event, you’ll definitely want to check out the Surf Music Experience Center next door. This attraction opened in 2025 and could undoubtedly be in the running for one of the top new attractions in the Midwest. Designed to tell the history of the Surf Ballroom (including its time in a building that looked much like the Surf Experience), this interactive museum is filled with surprises.
In the lobby area, you’ll find plenty of exhibits to learn about the area’s music history, but step inside the theater for the immersive experience. The audio/visual experience completely surrounds you and adds an element after the “main” show where you can touch a wall and dive much deeper into the music.
A self-guided tour of the Surf Ballroom comes with your ticket to the Surf Music Experience. Standing in a place where history lines the walls everywhere you turn is moving enough, but when you step out onto the Ballroom floor and realize the significance of what happened there makes a visit even that more special.
In the main theater of the Surf Music Experience circles appear on the wall after the show. Touch those circles and you’ll get to read more about the artists who made music history.
The place the music died
My visits to Clear Lake have always been in the summer, so it’s not easy for me to picture just how bad the weather must have been in early February 1959. Knowing a lot of people who live in Iowa, I know winter’s there can be brutal, but it doesn’t keep folks from going out for events like they did for the Buddy Holly’s “Winter Dance Party.”
While driving through the Iowa countryside, you’ll find a large pair of horn rimmed glasses next to the road signs marking the corner of Gull Avenue and 315th Street. Take the trail past the glasses to arrive at the Three Stars Memorial Site.
After experiencing the Surf Ballroom and Music Experience, my son and I drove out into the rural countryside between Clear Lake and Mason City to the Three Stars Memorial Site. You’ll likely need Google (or good directions from a local) on how exactly to find the site where the plane carrying Holly and the others crashed. When you get close, there are small signs pointing the way, and you’ll see the Don McClean Parking lot across the street, which was built by a local farmer to help make it easier for people to visit the site.
My son and I did not have a pair of glasses to add to the Buddy Holly glasses at the entrance to the Three Stars Memorial Site.
The glasses Buddy Holly wore became synonymous with the singer. At the beginning of the path out to the crash site, you’ll see a larger than life sized pair of those heavy, black, horn rimmed glasses rising from the field. People from all over the world have placed a variety of items, including glasses, here as a tribute to Holly and the others.
From a hand sketched portrait of Buddy Holly, to clippings from local newspapers, a wide array of items are left at the Three Stars Memorial throughout the year.
Head up the path between a corn field and soybean field and you’ll see a weather vane with a small plane atop it. On the grown below you’ll see a guitar shaped steel monument with the names of the fallen musicians on it. More mementos and items sit around the memorial. The Three Stars Memorial is on private property so please be respectful when on site. During a visit, enjoy the peacefulness of the surroundings and imaging Don McClean’s “American Pie” being played there making it easier to understand why he called this event “The Day the Music Died.”
The Seawall next to City Park in Clear Lake is a great place to start a visit here. Clear Lake is a glacially carved body of water that is spring fed. It is a haven for watersports lovers and fishermen alike.
More to do in Clear Lake
While the Buddy Holly story gives you a reason to visit this part of Iowa, there are may other things to do nearby. Mason City is home to Meredith Wilson, best known for composing the “Music Man.” Another piece of music history can be found in the Charles H. MacNider Museum which houses marionettes used in the movie “The Sound of Music.” And for architecture lovers, the Historic Park Inn Hotel will be music to your ears. Built in the early 1900’s, the Park is the last remaining hotel designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Here are a few sites to help you plan before you go:
