Iowa Girl on the Go

I visited Decorah back in 2013, an adorable town in northeast Iowa, and wrote on this blog about my experience. I spent that fall weekend shopping, dining, visiting the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, and taking a short walk on the 11-mile Trout Run recreational trail.

My biggest regret on that trip was not being able to secure a room in the Hotel Winneshiek. And, in hindsight, I definitely wimped out on the Trout Run Trail.

Last weekend, I headed for Decorah again to meet with a handful of Iowa college and university alumni magazine editors on the lovely Luther College campus. Although I was primarily there for work, I was also determined to do this visit right.

So I made a reservation at the Hotel Winneshiek months in advance, and I was not disappointed by my stay there. The historic hotel, built in 1905, is every bit as friendly and grand as you would hope. The lobby is enthralling, with a three-story atrium, cozy seating, dark wood, and marble fireplace.

 

My room was not overly posh; instead, it was comfortable, charming, and exceedingly clean, with a gleaming and well-lit bathroom and a big, cushy bed. The hotel has both a restaurant (Restauration), in which I ate a simple breakfast one morning, and a bar (the Tap Room).

I spent much of my time on the Luther campus, and some meals were furnished by our college hosts. But I managed to sample a number of other Decorah bars and restaurants during my stay.

I arrived on Thursday afternoon and met my new Luther College friends at La Rana for dinner. La Rana is a small bistro with a menu built around fresh, locally sourced ingredients. I enjoyed a hummus-and-pita appetizer, a glass of pinot noir, and a spring salad with fresh strawberries and sliced almonds. Everything was delicious.

Afterwards, we met other editors at Toppling Goliath Brewing Company’s taproom. I’m told that this brewery is raking in the awards; I was recently introduced to its Dorothy’s New World Lager at the Iowa Taproom in Des Moines’ historic East Village. On Thursday night we sat on the brewery’s comfortable patio, where I drank a pint of Murph’s Irish Red, the heaviest Irish amber I think I’ve ever tried. It was good…but very heavy. I’m told the PseudoSue (with a label featuring the famous T-Rex) is another good one to try.

After a full-day conference on Friday, another editor and I – on the advice of several locals – set out to eat dinner at McCaffrey’s Dolce Vita Italian restaurant. I was told it had the best wood-fired pizza in the most unique setting in town. Both of these things were true. Also, the restaurant was incredibly hard to find. Even with a map, we got lost, hit a dead end, nearly drove down a bike path, and had to flag down a local cyclist who, when we told him where we were headed, laughed. Because it’s that confusing. But he gave us great directions, and we found the place. (Turn right in two stop signs, turn right on Hwy. 9, turn right on Hwy 152, turn right and then a very quick left onto Twin Springs Road – don’t blink or you’ll miss it! – then go under the bridge and up the winding lane through a park and onto a gravel road. When the road ends, you’re there. Trust me.)

At McCaffrey’s Dolce Vita you can sit inside, but why do that when you can dine on the covered porch, or be really adventurous like us and sit outside under a tent decorated with Christmas lights? On Saturday nights, this area is said to be packed with people enjoying live music. We didn’t get live music – just a thunderstorm, which was sort of fun in its own way. And the thin-crust margherita pizza, side salads, and glasses of wine were enhanced by the restaurant’s woodsy atmosphere. It was worth the trip.

Afterwards, since it was only 7:30 and we had nothing else to do, we drank more wine in Rubaiyat, the restaurant across the street from our hotel. I had dined here in 2013 and thought both times it was a very nice place with friendly servers and a classy, old-world atmosphere.

To round out my restaurant recommendations and before I talk about the Trout Run Trail – I swear I’m getting to it! – let me just mention a couple of other places in Decorah that are worth a shout-out.

First, Java John’s coffeehouse has awesome coffee in a comfortable setting. I went there both Thursday and Saturday for decaf café Americano, artfully prepared by the same barista both times. The Oneota Community Food Co-op is also worth a visit. I only went there for bottled water and a cookie, but one could do some serious food shopping there, including picking up fully cooked meals from the deli. Last but not least, the Sugar Bowl ice cream store is a locally owned shop serving the creamiest hand-dipped ice cream I’ve tasted in years. (The website says the shop is for sale, so you might want to go there soon.)

All of these shops, bars, and restaurants are located in downtown Decorah (except Dolce Vita, which, as noted before, is god knows where).

 

OKAY, I really just intended to write about my experience on the Trout Run Trail, so here we go, 858 words later. (Sorry about all the restaurant reviews. I couldn’t help myself.)

When I walked on this trail in 2013, I made the comment that “walking the entire 11-mile trail would have killed me.” This year when I was planning my return trip to Decorah I desperately wanted to prove that, three years later and three years older, I am in better shape. Except, well, maybe it would take too long. Maybe the weather wouldn’t cooperate. Maybe my feet would give out, so I’d definitely need to bring along spare shoes. And snacks. And lots of bottled water. In short, I was looking for an excuse not to attempt this walk.

I was thoroughly unconvinced that I had the stamina to walk 11 miles on a trail that is described as “challenging” in parts. I didn’t want to get halfway through and poop out, with no alternative way to get back to my car.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I had a sore throat and didn’t feel the greatest. I almost decided to scrap the whole thing. But then I decided I’d just grab a bottle of water at the co-op and walk a couple of miles. Easy peasy.

It took me about 15 minutes walking from the hotel to the western edge of the trail, which coincidentally is the official beginning of the trail according to the maps and all the signage. I walked south through woods and bluffs and zig-zagging switchbacks. I saw artwork and overlooks and a few cyclists enjoying what turned out to be a really beautiful day. I was having such fun! After about two miles, I checked the trail map and decided I needed to go about two more miles to see some of the trail’s best features. And then it hit me: I loved this trail. I was hooked. So I decided, what the hell, I’ll just walk the whole thing.

So I did. Without my trail snacks or my change of shoes and socks, without extra water or my cell phone or emergency cash, without anything except one bottle of water, my camera, and my map. It was a spectacular experience. Here’s a chronological gallery of my favorite scenes on the trail:

The “challenging terrain” is not difficult at all if you’re a walker. I’m sure these sections are tough on a bicycle, because there are a lot of ups and downs. I saw a cyclist or two walking their bikes and looking pretty winded. But I loved the hills, loved the bridges, loved the views. The section from Mile 5.5 to Mile 11 (or Mile zero, depending on how you look at it) on the west and south side of Decorah is the most scenic and has the most variety. There’s a park around Mile 5 with restrooms and water, so I took advantage of the facilities and filled up my water bottle.

Also around Mile 5 you pass by the Trout Hatchery and the famous Decorah eagles’ nest. I’d walked this section (Mile 5 to about Mile 3) before, and it’s mostly farmland, but the trail does cross a stream where people are fishing. And this is the section with the archway sculpture that’s become the trail’s main icon. Here are the highlights of this section:

Miles 2 and 3 are unpleasant, because they go through town where the trail is located directly beside busy streets and then briefly near an unattractive industrial site. But eventually I got back into a somewhat scenic area before ending where I started just west of downtown.

I’m happy to report that I still had a spring in my step after 3 hours and 35 minutes of walking. I felt absolutely victorious. I spent another half-hour or so in Decorah, finding food and more water and coffee for the road (thank you, Java John’s). I would happily walk this trail again. And I’m guessing I will.

Say the words “Gitchie Manitou” to folks in central Iowa and you’ll be mostly met with blank stares. Say the words to people in northwest Iowa and they’ll tell you about the grisly murders that took place there in 1973.

Say “Gitchie Manitou” to geologists and they’ll go bonkers with excitement.

It turns out that this small state preserve, located in Lyon County in the way northwest tip of Iowa, is home to Precambrian Sioux Quartzite outcroppings that are about 1.7 BILLION years old – the oldest surface bedrock in Iowa – as well as the scene of a tragic crime.

The state first purchased the land in 1916 for use as a quarry but later transferred the area to the Board of Conservation, which turned it into a state park. In 1969 it was dedicated as a geological, archaeological, historical, and biological preserve to honor the unique pink bedrock and the Oneota people who lived in the area for 8,500 years.

But in 1973, five friends went into the park and only one came out alive. Historians say that nightmare forever transformed Gitchie Manitou from a backwoods setting where people hiked and held underage beer parties to an unholy ground that many insist today is haunted.

Sandra Cheskey was 13 years old in 1973. Three brothers confronted the teenagers, gunned down Cheskey’s four friends, raped her, and later set her free. You can read a story about the quadruple murder here.

I visited the preserve last summer with photographer Jim Heemstra and again a few weeks ago (that’s me in Jim’s photo, above). Jim and I are working on a story for the fall issue of VISIONS magazine about the geological history of Iowa. On our latest visit we took along Jane Dawson, a senior lecturer in geological and atmospheric sciences at Iowa State. Jane was incredibly enthusiastic about seeing the Sioux Quartzite in Gitchie Manitou, and I have to admit I thought it was pretty cool, too.

 

I visited Kansas City again last weekend for a family reunion. We ate and drank, went to a Royal’s game, shopped in Weston – and on Saturday morning we visited the City Market.

The City Market is old – its history goes back to 1857 – but it feels hip and new to me. It’s a combination of fixed shops and restaurants (open daily) mixed with pop-up outdoor vendors on the weekends. Located on the north edge of downtown, the City Market operates year round, rain or shine.

This past Saturday, even though it’s still May, the farmers market vendors had tables overflowing with local and regional produce: strawberries and blueberries, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, broccoli, peppers, beans, radishes, potatoes, turnips, and more. Everything looked healthy and wonderful. A sign promised that sweet corn would be coming soon.

There were also a lot of vendors selling seedlings you could take home and plant in your own garden, as well as beautiful flowering plants. I bought tomatoes, and they actually tasted pretty good for this early in the summer. I also bought some berries, and my daughter bought a plant for her apartment.

Inside the permanent part of the market, things got seriously delicious. There are booths with non-seasonal fruit and such, sure, but there are also bakeries, ethnic food vendors, and lots of other exotic offerings. I went crazy for the spice vendor and the Al Habashi Market, which sells imported groceries from the Middle East, India, and the Mediterranean. It smells like Istanbul. The pistachios look amazing. I bought flatbread, dates, and some small candies. This was my favorite place in the market.

Also awesome-smelling was Beignet, a New Orleans-style restaurant. It’s probably good that the line was out the door, because I probably would have eaten beignets, and I definitely didn’t need to since I’d already had breakfast. I did buy some bread at Bloom Baking Company; that, along with the tomatoes, was my contribution to our family dinner.

The City Market is also home to the fabulous Arabia Steamboat Museum, which I wrote about here back in 2011.

I had this brilliant idea a couple of weeks ago to combine a blog outing in eastern Iowa with an anniversary getaway with my husband, Dave. The itinerary I put together included a couple of places I’ve never been (but have had on my list to write about ever since I started this blog), unique lodging that was recommended to me by two friends, a few places I’ve been before but wanted to revisit, and a couple of random summer attractions. So it was an interesting hodge-podge of things for us to do.

FRIDAY NIGHT

We left after work on Friday and headed east across Hwy. 20. I wanted to stop in Cedar Falls for dinner because I really love downtown Cedar Falls and knew there would be great places to dine. My friend Mary, who lives in town, recommended a restaurant called Montage, so I made reservations for Friday night. Turns out we didn’t need the reservation because A) the place is huge and B) it wasn’t busy at all.

Montage was a great recommendation for us. The menu had many adventuresome vegetarian options (not just “I’ll have a salad, hold the chicken”) as well as yummy-sounding gluten-free items (not just “here’s a plain chicken breast for you”) and plenty of meaty dishes for Dave. We ordered beers (because I was too cheap to pay $9 for a glass of red wine, though they did have a robust wine list) and started out with a goat cheese torta with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil pesto served with skinny toasted slices of baguette ($8). I have to admit I didn’t know what a torta was, but the ingredients sounded delicious. Turns out that the torta was a little molded serving of goat cheese layered with the other ingredients (see below). It was a terrific spread for the toasts.

For my entrée, I paired an Asian slaw salad ($6) with a side of goat cheese risotto ($6), both really good choices and so filling that I didn’t even finish the risotto. The “sides” section of the menu actually appealed the most to me – I think I could go back half a dozen more times and find something new to eat each time. Dave ordered beef kabobs that also included veggie kabobs, all over a brown rice with Asian marinade ($18).

We really liked this restaurant. It has a great interior with several rooms, plus a rooftop bar/dining area. The menu includes lots of pasta, chicken, seafood, and unique single-serving pizzas. The dessert menu sounded great, too. Gosh, when can I go back?

In fact, when can I go back to downtown Cedar Falls, period? I love this town and would love to explore the shops, bars, and restaurants at a leisurely pace someday.

But we had to move on. We had a two-hour drive ahead of us.

Our destination was the Moon River Cabins in Bellevue. South of Dubuque and right on the Mississippi River, these cute little cabins were part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA program in the 1930s. The cabins were built to house the workers who were building the Lock and Dam No. 12 on the Mississippi, over which the cabins look. Over the years they were used as fishing cabins, fell into disrepair, and were renovated in 2004.

We arrived around 9 o’clock in the evening, so it was pretty dark, and we missed the cabins on our first attempt at finding them. We turned around and tried again, and this time we spotted them easily just south of downtown Bellevue right along the main highway.

There are four cabins: The Paddle Wheel, Riverstone, Mill Creek, and the Twain. Our second challenge (after finding the cabins in the first place) was figuring out which one was the Riverstone, our cabin for the next two nights. It was dark and I didn’t see a name on any of the cabins. When I made the reservation, I was told the keys would be in the door. So I went to a cabin with keys in the door, but the key chain said “Twain.” I tried again, and found keys for the Riverstone as promised. (The next morning, in the light of day, I easily found the cabin names. They were etched into large rocks in front of each cabin, below.)

The Riverstone was comfortable and quaint. It came equipped with a small kitchen, two beds (one queen and one double), ceiling fans, flat-screen television, free-standing “fireplace,” window AC unit, and a teeny bathroom with a shower. The bed was very comfortable. Dishes and linens are provided. My favorite part of the cabin experience was actually the two-person wooden rocker outside (below), where we sat and watched the river flow.

SATURDAY

Our breakfast destination Saturday morning was Breitbach’s Country Dining in Balltown, about an hour’s drive from Bellevue. This is clearly a destination restaurant, given that it is Iowa’s oldest restaurant, originating in 1852 by the great-great grandfather of the current owner, Mike Breitbach. Sadly, the restaurant burned down and was rebuilt not once but twice in this century – in 2007 and 2008. Both times the community rallied to help rebuild. This historic restaurant has been on my list of places to visit for years.

The drive to Balltown, northwest of Dubuque, is quite scenic, and we were hungry when we arrived. We were met at the door by Mike himself, one of six generations of Breitbachs to run the restaurant. He introduced himself as “owner/custodian,” as he was working on some maintenance issues at the moment.

The restaurant is lovely and rambling, with many dining rooms, a bar, a lower-level bar/event space, and outdoor dining/event spaces. From what I observed, it’s THE hopping place in Balltown.

We ordered breakfast. I had two eggs, hash browns, and toast for $4.50, plus a cup of coffee. The food was decent, but nothing special, and the coffee was fairly awful. But I very much enjoyed the visit anyway.

The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday, serving breakfast until 11 a.m., lunch, and dinner, with lunch buffets and weekend dinner buffets Friday through Sunday. You can find steak, prime rib, chicken, homemade soups, and pies. I say it’s worth the drive.

Our next destination has also been on my list of places to visit since I launched this blog in 2010. In fact, I’m sort of embarrassed to say that I’m an Iowa travel writer and I’ve lived in Iowa for nearly 20 years and I’ve never visited the Field of Dreams movie site. Honestly, it always struck me as a tourist trap and someplace I wouldn’t enjoy. But dammit, I’m an Iowan, so I went.

Field of Dreams, the sappy baseball movie starring Kevin Costner, was released in 1989, so this is the 25^th anniversary of the rural Iowa movie site. It’s located between Dyersville and Bankston. We found it easily (Dave had visited before) and there were a couple of cars in the parking lot. It’s not a particularly interesting place, especially if you’re like me and didn’t love the movie. There’s a baseball diamond, of course, with a backstop and a couple of small sets of bleachers. The white house surrounded by a white picket fence is very pretty. Nearby is a small gift shop, which I didn’t go in, but I could see that they were selling T-shirts.

I think this place would be worth visiting if the corn in the surrounding fields had grown a few feet tall and if a baseball game was actually being played. This summer, the Field of Dreams Movie Site Ghost Players will perform in uniformed baseball games on five Sunday afternoons: July 3, July 17, July 31, Aug. 14, and Aug. 28.

Well, meanwhile, it’s free to visit, so you get what you pay for. The movie site is open April 1 through Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., plus weekends in November. You’re encouraged to bring a ball and glove and play catch.

OK, so now we’re off to our next stop: Park Farm Winery. Located outside Bankston (and not really all that far from Dubuque), this may be the prettiest location for a winery in all of Iowa.

I had visited this place once before for a story I did on Iowa State University connections to the Iowa grape and wine industry several years ago, and I just fell in love with the setting. The main building sits atop these lovely rolling vineyards that bring to mind the landforms in Tuscany.

Inside the tasting room, we were invited to taste five varietals for $3, plus we got a small bonus taste of dessert wine for free. So nice! I mainly tried the driest wines, with names like House Series Brianna, Sunday Afternoon La Crosse, Vintner’s Reserve Marechal Foch, and Mississippi River Red. I also tried a limited-edition Nouveau 2015 red, and that was my favorite. I bought a bottle.

Park Farm is a great destination for a summer or fall afternoon. Hours are noon to 5 or 6 p.m. on Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The tasting room and a deck overlooking the vineyard are open to the public during these hours, and private events are held in the event room or south deck. The winery even serves wood-fired, artisan pizza.

When we left the winery, the day was still young. We headed toward Dubuque and found a place to park in the downtown area near the site of an already-in-progress fine arts festival. We strolled by the vendor tents, food trucks, and musicians and then stopped at the welcome center on Main St. to pick up some local-travel brochures (and a few more for future adventures). It was a warm day, so we headed to the Riverboat Lounge in the Hotel Julien, where we got a couple of good, cold beers and sat outside on the patio overlooking the nearby National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. (This museum is a great place to visit, but I’ve already been there a couple of times, so we didn’t stop by.)

With the sun and the wine and the beer, I was sort of ready for a nap at this point, but we decided to do something more active: take a hike at Bellevue State Park. This very nice park, right along the Mississippi and very close to our cabin, features a butterfly garden, restored prairie, view of a former limestone quarry, and a fair number of hiking trails from which to choose. We opted for a walk through the prairie but were inundated by bugs and heat, so it didn’t last long. A better option was the river overlook (above), which was spectacular.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the back porch of our cabin until it was time to get dressed for dinner. We’d considered going back into Dubuque for our evening meal but then we realized that we had a unique restaurant right across the highway from our cabin in Bellevue: Potter’s Mill. The historic grist mill built in 1843 is home to Flatted Fifth Blues & BBQ; it’s also an inn with three B&B rooms. Back when it was a flour mill, the operation turned out 200 barrels of flour each day before closing in 1969 after 126 years of service.

Not unlike Montage and Breitbach’s, this place had a rambling choice of dining rooms. We were seated in what felt like a cellar, with stone walls and chilled floors. The menu was fun, with starters like fried pickles, pork belly cracklins, and fried green tomatoes. Southern specialties included red beans and rice, jambalaya, chicken pot pie, corn bread, cheese grits, southern greens, shrimp po’boy, catfish, and a muffaletta sandwich. I felt like I was in New Orleans! (Sadly, the dessert menu did not include beignets.)

I did my usual weird vegetarian order, choosing the fried green tomatoes appetizer (pictured above) for my entrée ($9.99) and adding $2 sides of grilled pineapple cole slaw and corn muffins. Dave had the smoked chicken dinner ($13.99) with a corn muffin, baked beans, and a corn dish called maque choux. We both ordered a local beer. And ate dessert.

Live music began at 8 p.m., but we didn’t stay.

SUNDAY

We said goodbye to our sweet little cabin and the town of Bellevue (above) and drove southwest to start our day’s adventures.

We didn’t really have a plan for breakfast, but I figured there would be a family-owned restaurant in downtown Maquoketa, and I was not disappointed.

Known for its unique Maquoketa Caves State Park, which I featured in this blog last September, Maquoketa also has a thriving business district. We found the Main Street Café to be pretty much what you’d expect: mostly local diners, a menu featuring liver & onions and homemade pie, friendly service, basic breakfast items – and coffee that tasted only slightly better than Breitbach’s.

I enjoy visiting mom-and-pop-style diners in small towns – you can’t compare them to the ubiquitous Subway sandwich shops and Pizza Ranches – and I especially like eating breakfast there. Everything is predictable and usually very tasty. I ordered two eggs and two pancakes. They came out hot and fast, and for $4.95 I’d have to say they were darn good.

Our bellies full, we continued on through Anamosa toward our Sunday destination: Cedar Rapids. I’ve visited Cedar Rapids so many times now that I’ve lost count, and I’ve blogged about attractions in this city many times. But I had three good reasons to make this our day’s adventure: An Andy Warhol exhibition at the National Czech & Slovak Museum, the NewBo City Market (which always seems to be closed when I’m in town – but it’s open on Sundays), and most of all, the Overalls All Over Grant Wood Experience.

I love Grant Wood – I did a three-part feature on the Iowa artist between August 2011 and June 2012 on this blog – and I really love this project. “Overalls All Over” features 25 life-sized fiberglass statues depicting the farmer and daughter from Wood’s American Gothic painting. Each is unique.

 

For me, finding the statues is at least half the fun. I printed a map from this website (go to “overalls” on the top navigation bar for thumbnail photos, links to details, and that all-important map); we parked the car on First Ave. and Fifth St. and started walking. From that parking space, we walked easily to 10 of the statues. It was so much fun! I really loved the “American Hipster” sculpture at McGrath Amphitheater (directly above) and “American Artist” located right in front of the historic Grant Wood studio at 800 Second Ave. SE (below). But, really, all of them were cool.

From that parking place we drove just a few blocks to see “Couple Beers?” at the Iowa Brewing Company (708 Third St. SE). The next two statues we viewed were at the National Czech & Slovak Museum and at NewBo City Market, our next two destinations. Win-win!

Our journey now took us to the National Czech & Slovak Museum, which I visited in June 2013 and wrote about here. I remember at the time being really impressed with the building (and the fact that they had moved it from its formerly flooded site) but disappointed that the main exhibit, “Faces of Freedom: The Czech and Slovak Journey,” was a mere two days away from opening.

So I was excited to go back to the museum to see that exhibit, plus I wanted to see the new exhibit by pop icon Andy Warhol that just opened on May 14.

Both exhibits were terrific. The “Immortal: Warhol’s Last Works” exhibition features images of John Wayne, the Wicked Witch of the West, Mick Jagger, and more. (Sorry, I can’t show you these…they don’t allow photography in that part of the museum.) A short film chronicles his last days.

Coming up soon is the Warholmania! costume party, June 10 from 6-9 p.m. The Warhol exhibit runs through Oct. 2.

The 7,000-sqare-foot Faces of Freedom exhibit gives an extensive look at the Czech and Slovak immigration story. It traces the experience of traveling by steamer ship to America and shows a world at war during World War II, the Velvet Revolution, native costumes (above), artifacts, and more. Parts of this exhibit would be appropriate for older children as well as adults. I took the selfie in a mirror, below, in the steamer ship exhibit. A close-up of the display follows.

 

Another current exhibit is “Bohemian Boudoir” (above), a display of Czech vanity glass. It’s cooler than it sounds.

All in all, I really loved my repeat visit to this museum. And I got to check off another of the “Overalls”: “Andy and Edie” by artist Julius Cavira portrays Andy Warhol as the pitchfork-wielding farmer. It’s awesome.

We were lucky and visited the museum during Houby Days, so our admission cost was just $5. Normal admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $5 for veterans and active military, $5 for students, $3 for youth aged 6-13, and free for kids 5 and under. (I always think parents who bring really little kids to adult museums should have to pay a premium instead of getting the little rugrats in for free, but that’s just me.) Located at 1400 Inspiration Place SW in Cedar Rapids, the museum is open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you go, be sure to catch the short film about the monumental task of moving and expanding the museum after the flood of 2008.

The last of the American Gothic statues we saw was at NewBo City Market. It’s called “Advance to Go-Go,” and the best way I can describe it is he’s the Monopoly man and she’s a ’60s girl. I don’t quite understand that, but it’s very cute.

 

This year-round indoor market, located at 1100 Third St. SE, has been around since 2012. Its roots began in 2008 when the industrial area in which the market now sits flooded horribly. Many blocks of land found themselves empty or neglected. The market was formed in 2010 as a nonprofit corporation and raised $6 million from the city, state, county, and other sources. Today the market takes up an entire square block in the heart of New Bohemia, not far from the Czech Village and just over the river from the Czech and Slovak Museum.

This is definitely a fun place for lunch, and that was our goal: to find something interesting to eat before ending our weekend adventure and heading back to Ames. Merchants line the edges of the cavernous space, with more vendors in a row down the middle and a space at one end to sit and dine. There are a lot of choices: gourmet grilled cheese, a Czech deli/bakery, freshly baked bread, ice cream, cupcakes, coffee, Mediterranean, Mexican, and more. There are also a few non-food vendors.

I initially gravitated to the Mediterranean vendor but wasn’t crazy about the vegetarian options available, even though there were several. I ended up getting a salad at City Melt, the grilled cheese vendor, and added an almond scone from the Rustic Hearth Bakery, which turned out to be a bit TOO rustic (read: hard, dry) for my taste. Should have held out for ice cream.

NewBo Market hours are Thursday-Friday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Thus ended our anniversary/blogging adventure. We headed home to tackle laundry and yard work. Why can’t vacations last forever?

 

The über-popular “Nature Connects” LEGO exhibit has returned to Reiman Gardens in Ames this summer.

This year’s exhibit features 13 garden-themed displays made with a total of 500,000 LEGO bricks by artist Sean Kenney. I visited the Gardens recently, and it seems as though there’s a new colorful LEGO sculpture around every turn: a family of deer, an oversized Galapagos tortoise, a bee on a giant purple pansy, a dragonfly, the signature hummingbird, a birdbath, a monarch butterfly on milkweed, an adorable wheelbarrow, a hanging corn spider, and more.

 

Reiman Gardens director Ed Lyon told us during a group tour that the sculpture titled “Gardener with Grandchild” (above) makes him do a double take every morning when he drives in to work. “Why is someone working in the garden so early in the morning?” he asks himself. And then, “Oh, right, it’s a LEGO sculpture.”

A colorful peacock made of 68,827 LEGO bricks holds a special place in the Gardens Conservatory, surrounded by plants and peacock feathers.

You can find out more about the Nature Connects on the Reiman Gardens website, including photos of each of the sculptures and information such as how many LEGO bricks make up each one. But it’s much better to visit in person – and signs adjacent to each sculpture will give you the same information.

Reiman Gardens is located on the south edge of Iowa State University on University Blvd. Summer hours, beginning on Memorial Day, are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the must-see indoor Butterfly Wing closes at 4:30 p.m. Admission cost is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, $4 for kids aged 4-7, and free for the little ones. Nature Connects is on display through Oct. 31.

Welcome to the Iowa Taproom, a unique restaurant/bar in a historic setting just waiting to be explored.

The Iowa Taproom is located at 215 E. 3^rd St. in Des Moines’ East Village. It’s in the old Dilley Manufacturing building (1971-2014), but its history goes way back. The building started out in 1882 as home of Jaeger Manufacturing; it housed Hawkeye Cord Tire Company (1916-1930) and Beal’s Lithography and Printing Company (during WWII).

According to the company’s website, the north half of the building served as a warehouse for Old Style Lager from 1936 to 1949. In 1949 a fire destroyed much of the building, but it was rebuilt in 1952 and returned to operation in the wholesale/retail trade and in the printing and lithography business until being purchased by Dilley Manufacturing.

I actually toured the space a couple of years ago when I took a group walking architectural tour of downtown, sponsored by the Iowa Architectural Foundation (and wrote about it here).

At that point, the space was being remodeled for a new Full Court Press restaurant, but it was a long way from being finished. During our tour, one of the owners, Jeff Bruning, told our group about the concept of an all-Iowa craft beer hall (above). So I feel like sort of an insider.

I visited the Iowa Taproom, which opened in early March, a few weeks ago. It’s such a great space, and I love that it has ONLY Iowa-made beers on tap. It’s truly unique.

I sampled four beers from the menu of about 128 that range from light/easy drinking to complex/effervescent to strong/bold and more. There’s really a huge variety.

Of the four I initially ordered in a create-your-own beer flight (6 oz. each for about $10), only one was available (the Toppling Goliath Dorothy’s Lager), so apparently not all beers on the menu are available at the same time. I adjusted my order and the server came back with four small beers: The aforementioned Dorothy’s from Decorah, West O Marzën from West Okoboji, 515 Brewing’s Dubbel B from Clive, and Lost Duck Pintail Red from Ft. Madison. I liked the West O Marzën and the Dubbel best; my friend also really liked Dorothy’s Lager.

The beer-hall environment looks ripe for large groups and parties, and I’m sure the big-screen TVs will delight sports fans. Walls are exposed brick; floors and ceilings are wood planks. Vintage metal signs dot the interior. The bar itself, with taps installed on an Iowa-made grain bin, is huge and awesome.

I didn’t eat anything during my visit, but food offerings seem pretty meaty and sports-bar-ish. Burgers are a large portion of the menu, and they range from the average to the odd, with Maytag (Iowa’s most famous cheese), peanut butter, and ham-and-egg toppings. There are various fried appetizers, wings, corn chowder, ribs, meatloaf, chicken, Iowa chops (of course), tenderloins, loose meat sandwiches, a Graziano sausage melt, etc. A few salads are also available for those less carnivorously inclined.

Even though meat and big-screen televisions are decidedly NOT my favorite things, I’m inclined to go back and sample more of the Iowa brews. Cheers!

When I was a little kid, my parents took my sisters and me to the Kansas City Zoo all the time. It was the zoo that was closest to where I grew up in Independence, Mo. I have memories – both fond and otherwise – of playing inside a giant concrete whale, feeling the rough tongue of a giraffe, watching Big Man (the patriarch of the gorilla family), and being scratched (or was it bitten?) by a naughty monkey.

At some point, I think I realized that the KC Zoo, which opened in 1909 in Swope Park, was not a great zoo at all. Many of the animal cages were too small, and the buildings were dark and stinky. Basically, the habitats were not very pleasant for the animals, nor for the humans who came to visit them.

But in 1991, after bringing it to a vote and with financing from a grant, the city took on a massive overhaul of the zoo, expanding it to the current size of 202 acres, and improving it to the point that it has become nearly unrecognizable as the zoo I visited as a child. A unique Australia exhibit was added in 1993, and an enormous Africa exhibit, opened in 1995, made the Kansas City Zoo truly world-class.

By the time I had kids of my own, I often took them to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, because it was closer to our home in Maryville, Mo., and because I truly thought it was a better zoo. But we did take them to the KC Zoo occasionally. Memorably, my daughter Katie and I spent the night at the zoo as part of a class field trip one summer.

I thought of that overnight adventure a couple of weeks ago when my husband Dave and I visited the Kansas City Zoo on a rainy Monday. As we arrived at the chimpanzee exhibit, it all came back to me: The night we spent in the zoo was hot, maybe over 100 degrees during the day and not much cooler at night. We slept on the floor of the chimp viewing area, and believe me, the chimps had it better outside in the trees. We were bunched up – a whole class of kids, their parents, teachers, college student helpers – on the concrete floor, sharing just one bathroom for girls and one for boys. I remember getting very little sleep, hanging out with my friend Jane Poe and her daughter Laura, who was Katie’s best friend at the time. I remember that the hot-dog campfire cookout was so intensely hot that most of us ate our hotdogs cold because we couldn’t stand to be close enough to the fire on that hot, hot night long enough to get the food to cook.

I remember getting up very early the next morning to the sounds of the African animals waking up and becoming active. I walked around the compound in the early morning light, all alone, and enjoyed the relative break from the heat. I remember the zoo staff taking pity on us a few hours later and letting us eat our sack lunches in the air-conditioned visitor center instead of making us eat outside as planned. I remembered that even though it was hot and the conditions were not ideal, it was a magical experience.

I remembered all those things as Dave and I walked through the zoo this spring. It had been several years since I’d visited. The rain had stopped by the time we got there, but the earlier showers had kept most of the visitors away, so like my early morning experience so many years ago, we had the zoo pretty much to ourselves.

This time around, I really loved watching the adult kangaroos and wallabies – and one baby – who hop around in a wonderful Australia exhibit with nary a visible fence to keep them confined. I loved the polar bears and tigers and lions and the lone cheetah on display that day. I loved the penguin exhibit, which opened in 2013 and was totally new to me.

 

 

 

Most of all, I loved the chimpanzees in their three-acre natural habitat. We arrived to see just two adults lounging quietly, but within minutes many more chimps came down from the hill and from the tops of the trees, and pretty soon there was chimp activity galore, including the antics of a little one that I’m told was just a year old. I wondered as I watched the chimp family interact if any of them were there the night I spent in their world.

I’m not alone in my adoration of the chimps and the kangaroos, by the way. In 2008, when the Kansas City Zoo was voted one of America’s best zoos, it was ranked No. 1 in the nation for African animals and exhibits, and also No. 1 in the nation for viewing both chimpanzees and kangaroos.

We were almost through the Africa exhibit when dark, threatening clouds rolled in. We headed for the exit, but we were too late. By the time we ducked into the Learning Center at the entrance, we were soaked. But it was still a great day at the zoo.

 

For 28 years, the AIDS Walk Kansas City has raised funds, inspired hope, and raised awareness of HIV/AIDS.

This year my family and I were a part of Team Erick, walking in memory of my dear brother-in-law, Erick Butler, who died last December of AIDS-related cancer at the age of 57. Erick had been very involved in helping organize the KC AIDS Walk for many years.

Despite a rainy, stormy forecast, more than 2,000 walkers participated in the 3-mile walk that started and ended at Theis Park across from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, just east of the Country Club Plaza.

Team Erick, led by my niece Madison and my sister Donna, raised $820 for research, education, and support for people in Kansas City living with AIDS. Fundraising is still ongoing, but the last time I checked the event had raised more than $130,000 in total.

Pictured above at the Country Club Plaza’s J.C. Nichols Fountain are my husband Dave, daughter Lauren, me, and daughter Katie.

Scott Siepker is the man who, in the character of the now-famous Iowa Nice Guy, memorably told America, “So I hear you think you know something about Iowa? Fuck you.” And then goes on to admonish viewers that the state of Iowa voted democratic in five out of the last six presidential elections, was one of the first to legalize gay marriage, feeds the world, invented the computer, and a host of other facts that most of the world doesn’t know about us.

That was during the last presidential election cycle’s Iowa Caucus.

Scott is an Iowa State grad, and I met him several years ago while working on a magazine story about one of his Iowa Filmmakers partners. He’s a very talented guy. And he’s everywhere these days, it seems: The Murph and Andy radio show, Soundoff on Channel 13, on stage – most recently as Macbeth – hosting Iowa Outdoors on Iowa Public Television, and in speaking engagements all over the state.

But the Iowa Nice Guy character made him famous and spun off Cyclone Nice, Hawkeye Nice, Love Letters to Fred Hoiberg, and a gig on ESPN. That original expletive-filled Iowa Nice video generated 1.4 million views on YouTube. I’ve watched it a dozen times myself, and it still makes me laugh. It also makes me proud to be an Iowan.

I’m now working on a story about Scott for the summer issue of the magazine, and photographer Jim Heemstra and I met up with him a couple of weeks ago in the East Village. I just had to share this picture of us together.

I guess great minds do think alike. Back in 2010, the year I launched my Iowa Girl on the Go blog, Colette Johnson was launching a company called That Iowa Girl. Such a coincidence!

I met Colette for the first time this week. That’s her on the left.

Colette lives in Clarion, Iowa. She has a husband, three kids, and two refrigerated trucks, with which she and her staff deliver Iowa-made products all over the state and beyond. That Iowa Girl – the company and the person – does a terrific job of promoting such unique Iowa products as Gino’s dressings and sauces, Madame Mary’s bloody Mary mix, and LaCasa chili con queso.

Her store in Clarion – a former gas station – is stocked with cheese and milk produced on small dairy farms, Do-Biz cookie dough, popcorn, Sterzing’s potato chips, frozen meat, Amish candy, organic granola, Monastery chocolates from Dubuque, Iowa wines and beer, and a whole lot more. It’s a fun shopping destination!

Find That Iowa Girl store on Hwy. 3 in Clarion.