Tree in the Middle of the Road

So why, you might ask, did I drag my travel partner 20 minutes out of our way to see what is essentially just a giant rock? Great question.

Disclosure: I attended Harvestville Farm‘s farm-to-table dinner on a freelance assignment for Travel Iowa‘s Made in Iowa series. Travel Iowa covered my expenses and I was compensated for my writing. However, all opinions are my own. Earlier this…

What do you do while celebrating Decorah, Iowa’s 50th annual Nordic Fest? Visit the Vesterheim Museum—the National Norweign-American Museum and Heritage Center—of course! But even when it’s not the town’s biggest summer celebration, the Vesterheim Museum is a great place to learn more about the area’s rich heritage.

As we studied our handy Madison County map—complete with all the standing Bridges of Madison County and John Wayne’s birthplace—we happened to spot Clark Tower, a three-story limestone structure hidden in Winterset City Park…

Before I moved to Des Moines, I had never been to a state fair before. Sure, I grew up just one state east in Illinois, but we lived close enough to the city that agricultural contests and friends in 4H were never part of my reality. Then I relocated to Iowa and was introduced to the Iowa State Fair.

I’m a bit of a compulsive planner, so in anticipation of our road trip to southeast Iowa, I started searching for someplace we could grab a bite to eat on Saturday night. Since both my mom and I don’t do exceptionally well driving in the dark, I knew we’d have to find someplace relatively close by.

A quick Google search is all you need to see there aren’t copious dining options in the immediate vicinity of Bentonsport or Bonaparte, Iowa. But let me make things even easier for you—Bonaparte’s Retreat Restaurant is all you need…

It’s no secret that Iowa is full of offbeat attractions and over the years, I’ve visited quite a few. But somehow I’d always missed out on Matchstick Marvels in Gladbrook, Iowa.

One of the best things about Bentonsport, Iowa—aside from the Village B&B—is it’s size. The unincorporated community has a population of about 40 and even if you’re moving pretty leisurely, you can make a lap around the whole village in less than half an hour.

While there’s a pretty small chance of you missing something on your exploration of Bentonsport, I wanted to put together a small walking tour of some of my favorite places…

Together with neighboring Kimballton—home of the Little Mermaid—Elk Horn, Iowa is the largest rural Danish settlement in the United States. So it’s no surprise that the small town is also home to the country’s only working Danish windmill…

After touring John Wayne’s birthplace and exploring Clark Tower, our stomachs were growling so we decided to celebrate the unseasonably warm November weather with an ice cream cone at Frostee’s…

I’ve seen the sign off of I-80 countless times—Brooklyn: Community of Flags. But, for whatever reason, I’ve never been curious enough to stop. That is, until recently…

Today I’ve got another #throwbackThursday post to share from the San Francisco road trip I took a few years back. On our first day in the car (where we decided it was a good idea to drive all the way across Nebraska—not something I’d recommend), we stopped in North Platte for dinner…

If you’re not from Iowa, you might not know about the different pockets of European immigrants who have settled all across the state. There are the Danes in Elk Horn and the Swedes in Swedesburg, but did you know that Cedar Rapids is home to a large number of Czech and Slovak immigrants?

Earlier this summer we embarked on an adventure to explore the eclectic Czech Village starting with the neighborhood’s National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

Maybe it’s the fact that my birthday also falls around the New Year, but I always enjoy taking time to reflect and look back on all I’ve accomplished in the previous 12 months. While I…

In the past few years, I’ve noticed there are a surprising number of places to enjoy a craft beer in Des Moines (and even more across Iowa). In fact, the newly opened Iowa Taproom showcases 120 taps from more than 20 Iowa breweries.

In honor of Des Moines Beer Week, I decided to compile some of my favorite local spots into an ultimate guide to breweries in Des Moines and the surrounding area.