LeClaire, Iowa: Presidential Popcorn & Souvenirs

President Obama travels 216 miles on Tuesday, stops for treats at Kernel Cody's Popcorn Shoppe...

After President Obama stopped for soft-serve ice cream in DeWitt, it was off to historic LeClaire, Iowa, for a 5:30 stop at Kernel Cody’s Popcorn Shoppe. The picturesque town, located at the bend of the upper Mississippi river, is home to plenty of history, as well as being the birthplace of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody (thus the name of the store). Inside, the President perused a wall of treats. Iowa is the largest corn producing state in the US, and Cody's makes and sells 25 varieties of flavored popcorn, including Snickers, caramel, white cheddar, peanut butter and the popular LeClaire Mix, a combination of cheese and caramel corn. Cody's is owned by Heidi and Wiley Plummer, and opened in the town's old telegraph office in 2009. (Above: The President perusing the treats)



As he emerged from Cody's, popcorn bags in hand, the President threw a couple to his hard-working press pool. The President routinely offers to treat his press pool to the treats he samples when he stops at local venues, and typically gets "no thanks" as an answer. But it's hard to "decline" when the President is actually tossing the treats. (Above).



Today's rural touring in the big black bus, from a town hall in Decorah in the morning to President Obama's final stop of the evening, Davenport, covered 216 miles, according to the Secret Service. His next stop after Cody's: Grasshoppers, an antique shop/wine store in the same town.



Grasshoppers is in what looked like an old Victorian home, and stood atop a hill. A husky Golden Retriever, Brady, milled around, carrying a stuffed toy rabbit in his mouth. The store was established in 1997, and is owned by Kimberly Collier.



President Obama posed for a photo with Collier and her family, and tried to get Brady to sit for a photo -- without success for a few moments. Finally Brady sat. (But not for the official White House photo, above)



As the President was leaving, a pooler teased, “Bo will know you’re being disloyal.”



“No, no no, I was saying he was sort of like Bo,” President Obama said. “He just stood there and he wouldn’t sit.”



President Obama walked toward his bus carrying a purple-wrapped gift, with a big silver M dangling on a ribbon (above).



By 5:50 PM the motorcade was on the road, arriving at 6:24 at the Hotel Black Hawk in Davenport, Iowa, where the President is spending the night. Wednesday, he hosts two more town halls in Illinois, and then it's home to Washington.



*Top photo and dog photo by Pete Souza/White House; others by Getty/pool