A Visit To Where "The Music Died"

My journey today was down to Iowa, a sort of pilgrimage to the site of the plane crash that claimed the lives of musicians Buddy Holly (real name Charles Holley), Ritchie Valens (real name Richard Valenzuela), and the Big Bopper (real name J.P. Richardson), along with their pilot Roger Peterson.  In order to get there, I had to drive on some backroads, including gravel roads, but easily found my way to the Don McLean American Pie parking lot.  The place includes a sign, a chair in front of it, a picnic table, and an informal place to get relief.  Yes, the white car is the temporary hybrid Bigfootmobile.

The parking lot also includes this donation box, with two nearby replicas of Buddy Holly's glasses mounted on metal rods.

Across the gravel road known as Gull Avenue from the parking lot is this scaled-up version of Holly's glasses, upon which many pairs of glasses have been hung.  There were also mementos of other kinds on and below the large-scale glasses.  The trail to the crash monument starts behind them.

The trail is about 1,900 feet long.  Here's what most it looks like.  It does not reach the grove of trees in the background.

I eventually reached the monument to the place crash, which includes numerous mementos.  The American flag and another unidentified flag are mounted on a pole, on which some stickers have been placed.  The name of a song from each musician is inscribed on one of the three record-shaped discs.  The small memorial to the right is to pilot Roger Peterson.  The top of the other pole will be seen in another pic below.

Here's a closer shot of the mementos, which must have been left by previous visitors.  I don't know of any organization that's in charge of the place.

On top of the other pole is this wind-catching device, made with bottomless metal bowls attached to a bicycle wheel.  At the very top is a small model airplane.

The crash, which took place on February 3rd, 1959, became part of the inspiration for the song American Pie by Don McLean.  This is why the parking lot is named after it and him.  In the song, he called this tragic event "the day the music died".