The American Gothic House has always been a favorite Iowa attraction of mine—why else would I visit three times in the past two year? So when I heard the house’s interior would now be open to the public, I knew I’d have to make another trip…
Iowa
One of my favorite parts of an Iowa road trip is exploring the small, often forgotten downtowns of the towns I pass through. While exploring the White Pole Road I found myself in the heart of…
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…
Unless you spend an inordinately large amount of time along Des Moines’ southern riverfront or happen have the same running route as I do, you’ve probably never noticed the tiny log cabin just off the parking lot of Principal Park. I first happened upon it a few years back while taking advantage of the downtown trail systems training for a half marathon, and since then it’s been one of my favorite hidden gems…
A few weekends back on an abnormally warm January Sunday, a friend and I hopped in the car in search of some roadside adventure. We headed northeast of Des Moines to the stretch of the Lincoln Highway that runs through Belle Plaine to check off the first item on my 2015 bucket list…
As the wise Ron Swanson says “There has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food.” Or really any other emotion for that matter. Whether it’s diner style breakfast or fancier brunch, it’s hard for me to find something to dislike about pancakes, eggs and everything in between…
Since I’m not an Iowa native, I didn’t grow up visiting the State of Iowa Historical Building or the Iowa Capitol on countless school trips, and for one reason or another, I’d never gotten around to going. That is, until recently.
Before the haze of hectic holiday plans hit, I took the afternoon to explore the Historical Building and visit its temporary Hollywood in the Heartland exhibit…
One of the best parts of exploring the Amana Colonies during the holiday season was our visit to the Tannenbaum Forest. Located inside the Festhalle Barn across from the Amana Visitors’ Bureau, it’s pretty hard not to feel jolly when you step inside the forest lit with hundreds of warmly growing Christmas lights…
For all of the Iowa exploration I’ve done, until this weekend I still hadn’t found my way to the Amana Colonies. While there are technically seven villages that make up Amana, we stuck to exploring Main Amana and taking in the Prelude to Christmas festivities for this trip…
Of all the things to see at this year’s Iowa State Fair, a 25-foot-tall replica of Grant Wood’s famed “American Gothic” was among my favorites. The sculpture, titled”God Bless America” and built by New Jersey artist J. Seward Johnson Jr., has been in Iowa for years, but somehow I’m just getting around to seeing it now…