Iowa Girl on the Go

My latest VISIONS Across America travels took me along a familiar route (I-80 to I-74 to I-70 east) but to suprisingly unexplored territory: Indianapolis, Ind.; Columbus, Ohio; and Wheeling and Morgantown, W.V.

I’ve been through these towns before, even stayed the night here and there, but I was always en route to other places. It was fun to immerse myself in these cities if only for a little while.

INDIANAPOLIS

Indianapolis is a great city if you’re a sports fan. The NCAA headquarters is located there (with its Hall of Champions), along with the Indianapolis Colts football team and Indiana Pacers basketball team – plus the obvious Indianapolis 500, the world’s largest single-day spectator sporting event. If, like me, you’re not a sports fan, the city may hold somewhat less appeal.

I found the downtown architecture a little disappointing, and the highly touted Canal Walk (pictured above) pretty ho-hum. I searched for a restaurant in the downtown area and found mostly chains – most of which seemed to cater to sports fans. I did end up finding Napolese, an artisanal pizzeria, where I got a lovely, simple margherita pizza topped with arugula. What I really wanted was a glass of prosecco to go with it and time to linger, but unfortunately I was working.

I did visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which was very good, and there are a number of other non-sports-related museums in the city, including the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, the Indiana State Museum, and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. There’s also the Indianapolis Zoo, which is rated one of the nation’s top 10 zoos. And, if you go, don’t miss the Soldiers & Sailors Monument (above) located downtown Indianapolis in Monument Circle. Find a complete list of top Indianapolis attractions here.

COLUMBUS

Who knew Columbus, Ohio, was so cool? In addition to Columbus being the home of The Ohio State University – one of this country’s largest institutions of higher education – the city also has a vibrant downtown, cool architecture, wonderful parks, and great restaurants. I happened to be in town during the annual community festival known as ComFest (slogan: “Party with a Purpose”), so I strolled through the food, craft, vintage goods, music, and propaganda tents until I got way too scorched by the afternoon sun and began to feel way too old and un-funky, given the crowd.

I had time to kill between jobs, so I visited the Short North neighborhood just north of downtown, walked briefly through the German Village, took a quick tour of campus (which was much nicer than I expected, what with its terrible logo and uninspired alumni magazine), and sat in a park one evening to watch the ducks.

I have to put in a plug for an Iowa State business in Columbus: Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties, co-founded by Mark Ballard, a 1984 Iowa State grad. Mark rolled out the red carpet for us and sent us on our way with the most delicious box of brownies and blondies you can imagine. (When we got back to Iowa, the rental car was covered in brownie crumbs.) I don’t follow such things, but apparently it’s a big deal that Mark’s Tahiti Blonde Sweetie won a throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. All I know is it tastes really amazing and decadent and it’s a good thing I don’t live in Columbus.

I stayed two nights in the Hawthorn Suites on the north side of town in the Worthington area. I do not recommend this hotel (it was awful), but it turns out it’s actually very close to a really nice stretch of North High Street that I found to be much more suited to my 50-something sensibilities than the grungier, funkier Short North. The first night my traveling buddy and I ate a cheese plate and drank beer on the very civilized front porch of The Worthington Inn. We enjoyed it so much we went back the next night (why mess with a good thing?) and sat on the porch again, but with the added entertainment of a severe thunderstorm complete with hail. We had the best seats in the house if you like a good storm.

The morning we were heading out of Columbus we went back to the same area but ate breakfast a block south of the Worthington Inn at the La Chatelaine French Bakery. The baked goods looked delightful, the waitress greeted us in French, and the bistro menu was great. In the evening, the place even turns into a bar. What more could you want?

WHEELING

I love driving through Wheeling, West Virginia, on I-70 for three reasons: First, it’s just a great-looking, old-fashioned river town. Second, it seems like it’s sort of the entrance to the eastern part of the U.S. Third, and most importantly, the town reminds me of the town in Scuffy the Tugboat, one of my favorite childhood Little Golden Books. Have you read this book? Then you know what I’m talking about. (Isn’t this cute? Scuffy has his own Wikipedia page.) Anyway, besides driving over the main river bridge to view the town, you can also visit the Wheeling Island historic district and walk (yikes!) and drive across the scary old river bridge (above).

MORGANTOWN

Morgantown, West Virginia, has a lot in common with my town of Ames, Iowa. Our universities – Iowa State University and West Virginia University – are roughly the same size with many of the same academic programs. Their beautiful alumni center opened at the same time as ours. The towns are similar in size and have historic downtowns.

The striking difference is the land. While Ames is located in flat, flat, flat central Iowa, Morgantown is in hilly, hilly, hilly West Virginia. The town is situated along the banks of the Monongahela River, and its narrow, winding streets make me shudder to think of ice, snow, and gameday.

I stayed at the Euro-Suites Hotel, which I have to say is one of the very nicest places I’ve ever stayed for the price (under $100 per night). The rooms were huge, clean, and well appointed, and the common spaces were nicely decorated. Even the free breakfast (a concept I’ve come to loathe) was better than most.

Just outside of town we met with an Iowa State alum who runs a 38-acre hobby farm complete with a flock of Coopworth sheep, geese, chickens, peacocks, angora goats (above), a house full of purebred Maine Coon cats (!), and a couple of Great Pyrenees – the polar bear of dog breeds – to guard the sheep. I walked away smelling of wet sheep (did I forget to mention that it was raining?) and covered with cat hair (my own fault, I’ll admit).

I’m back in Iowa for a few weeks now – just in time for the Fourth of July!

The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids is worth a visit – if only for the building.

It’s an impressive sight, this museum. And what makes it even more impressive is how it got where it is.

The original 16,000-square-foot structure was built in 1995 on the banks of the Cedar River. In 2008, during Cedar Rapids’ epic flood, the museum took on eight feet of water (below), causing $11 million in damage and destroying some of the contents. Following conservation of the artifacts that were salvaged, some exhibits were displayed temporarily in other locations.

Meanwhile, what to do about the museum? Restore it, only to have it flood again? Rebuild it elsewhere?

With Iowa ingenuity and a whole lot of moxy, the staff and board chose to move the building – all 1,500 tons of it – 480 feet from original site. I had a hard time imagining this – but you don’t have to imagine, because when you visit the museum, you can watch a seven-minute film titled “A Monumental Move” that explains how the museum was moved and even shows, in time-lapse video, the move itself. (You can also view an animated version of the move and read more about the history of the museum here.)

The museum was moved in 2011 – it now sits 11 feet higher than it did in its original location and a full three feet above 2008 flood level – and expanded. The museum reopened in 2012.

It’s really a beautiful building. You walk in to a grand hall with towering ceilings and a huge chandelier. To the right is the Hemphill Theater, which shows the “Monumental Move” video among other films, and to the left is a large museum store.

One of the museum’s current exhibits is “Read My Pins,” a collection of brooches won by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. I didn’t realize Albright was born in former Czechoslovakia, and I was unaware of her obsession with large, exotic pins. But sure enough, there she is in many photographs with world leaders, all decked out with huge spiders and such on her shoulder. You’d think this would not be terribly interesting, but I assure you that if you take a close look and read the accompanying stories, this exhibit is strangely engrossing. The display runs through Oct. 27.

Other exhibits are “Bobbins, Bows & Beads” (a traditional costume exhibit) and the immigrant home. The small home, just outside the main building, is open by docent-led tours only (on the hour and half-hour). It’s a mildly interesting look at the home life of an immigrant family in the 1880-90 period.

Another exhibit, “Leaving Czechoslovakia” is not terribly visual, but the stories are gripping. That exhibit is in the Skala Bartizal Library room, which would be a great place to search for your ancestors if you happen to be of Czech descent.

Here’s the disappointing thing: I visited the National Czech and Slovak museum on June 13. Fully half of the building was closed off in preparation for the opening of a huge exhibit titled “Faces of Freedom: The Czech and Slovak Journey” on June 15. I missed the damn thing by TWO DAYS. (I had no idea.) I sort of feel like they shouldn’t have been charging the full $10 admission fee since half the museum was unavailable.

But, OK. By the time you read this, the exhibit is open, and it looks amazing. The brochure and website descriptions of this permanent 7,000-square-foot exhibit makes me think fondly of my visit to the immigrant museum on New York’s Ellis Island:

Visit the replica of the steerage section of a steamer ship that brought immigrants to America. Stand in Wenceslaus Square amidst shaking keys at the height of the Velvet Revolution…. Visit a recreated WWII-era loving room, where you can hear news about the war as it happened…. View a Tatra secret police car, an authentic JAWA motorcycle, a replicated communist watch tower, glass, porcelain, and more.

Sigh. Sure woulda liked that. Too bad I was two days early.

Cutting my losses, I left the museum and walked the length of the Czech Village (16^th Ave. SW and C Street SW). It’s one block long, with small businesses on each side of the street. I found authentic Czech food at the Blue Toad café (chicken paprika, red cabbage, potato dumplings, chicken liver soup, cabbage rolls) but none of the entrees were vegetarian so I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich off the kids’ menu. I did have a big-girl drink, however – a Staropramen lager from Prague – and found it quite tasty.

The Czech Village has several antiques shops, a couple of other places to eat and drink, and the Sykora Bakery, where I sampled cream cheese and apricot kolaches.

As I explored the eastern edge of North and South Dakota last week, never wandering far from Interstate 29, I thought a lot about Iowa. About how most travelers drive straight through the state – either east-west along I-80 or north-south along I-35 – or worse, fly right over, and either way, never see what Iowa has to offer.

The Dakotas, as I was reminded on my travels, would make more geographic sense if they were East and West Dakota, dividing the states into the “wild west” – home to Mount Rushmore, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and the Badlands – and the flat, agricultural, eastern side that’s prone to powerful blizzards.

I spent one night each in Brookings, S.D., Fargo, N.D., and Sioux Falls, S.D. (all three interstate towns, two of them college towns). Each of the cities far exceeded my expectations.

BROOKINGS, S.D.

We started out in Brookings, home of South Dakota State University. It’s a nice campus…not beautiful, but tidy and well laid out. Brookings has excellent signage and seems to have a good sense of community. It’s the fourth-largest city in South Dakota but only has a population of 22,000, so it’s not huge. There’s the usual highway chain restaurants and motels, but there’s also a nice downtown. I was taken by the number of theatre/arts/cultural/museum offerings, both in town and on campus. There’s a cool-looking children’s museum, where I snapped this photo of a dinosaur peering over the trees. There’s also a garden and arboretum on the campus.

FARGO, N.D.

The next day we drove the rest of the way to Fargo, a total of about 7 hours from Ames. We were headed there for work on our VISIONS Across America project. Fargo is the state’s largest city.

We arrived on a Sunday, and the downtown area was pretty quiet. We walked up and down the main street and I peered into a lot of shop windows, wishing they were open. Even most of the restaurants were closed, so I guess we were there excessively early.

Downtown Fargo is filled with retro neon signs and historic architecture. There’s the Fargo Theatre, a restored 1926 movie palace with an original vaudeville stage. The Coen Brothers’ 1996 film “Fargo” had its debut at that theatre. (And the infamous woodchipper from the movie is on display at the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center.) We ate lunch at Atomic Coffee because it was the only place open – but it was charming and offered good coffee, sandwiches, and desserts.

By the time we finished with our work and returned to the downtown area, it was a little livelier. (I wish we had been there on a day other than Sunday, because I missed the shops entirely.) We had a couple of beers and a good cheese plate at the HoDo Lounge inside the historic Hotel Donaldson. It was there I learned the meaning of the word “pescatarian” – it describes a vegetarian who also eats fish and seafood. I learned this from a fellow diner, who offered, when I jokingly said I was raised Presbyterian, that perhaps they eat only Jesus fish. People in Fargo seem to have a heightened sense of humor.

The weather in Fargo was lovely the day we were there, but Fargo is often voted the Worst Weather City by the Weather Channel viewers. Winters there are long and cold, with powerful winds and snow, making for serious blizzards. And in the spring, all that snow melts and the river floods.

Fargo is home to North Dakota State University, a really lovely campus with some great architecture and a cool bison statue at the entrance. Like Brookings to the south, Fargo and the NDSU campus seem to provide a mecca for art, theatre, and culture in eastern North Dakota.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.

We left Fargo the next day to drive back south to Groton, S.D., to meet with an Iowa State alumni couple. Groton is a very small farming community with, from what I could tell, one restaurant/bar, the requisite Subway (does every small town in America now have a Subway?), and one grocery store. I was tempted to drive 15 miles out of the way to Aberdeen because it has an attraction called Storybook Land, which includes The Land of Oz. Apparently L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, lived in Aberdeen from 1888 to 1891. Who wouldn’t enjoy that? I’m also sort of disappointed that we didn’t stop at the International Vinegar Museum – “the world’s first and only museum that is dedicated to the wonder that is vinegar” according to its website – in nearby Roslyn, S.D. I’m serious! It sounds really cool.

But we wanted to get to Sioux Falls. There’s plenty to do there – you could make a weekend of it.

First and foremost, there’s Falls Park, 123 acres of rocky waterfalls, open spaces, and historic structures. (Each second, according to the promotional brochure, an average of 7,400 gallons of water drop 100 feet over the course of the falls.) There are walking trails, remains of the Queen Bee Mill, the Falls Overlook Café, and a five-story viewing tower.

In nearby downtown Sioux Falls, you’ll find SculptureWalk, an art project that began in 2004. There’s also shopping, dining, nightlife, and entertainment all within easy walking distance. We peeked into Minerva’s restaurant and deemed it a little too spendy, but tempting, and we walked through Zandbroz Variety store, which is far more artsy and eclectic than its name implies. We settled on a local tavern called Skelly’s.

Summer in Sioux Falls is filled with events, much like Des Moines. There are street musicians Friday and Saturday nights from June through August, First Friday celebrations, Restaurant Week, loft tours, downtown block parties, moonlight movies, horse and carriage rides, and a Hot Summer Nites festival. And there’s a free Sioux Falls Trolley to take you where you want to go. Everything you’d want to know about “DTSF” (downtown Sioux Falls) is at http://www.dtsf.com/

On our way back to Ames, we zigzagged through northwest Iowa, stopping in LeMars (disappointing) and Cherokee, population 5,900 – a town I’ll have to go back to visit for two reasons. The first is the Sanford Museum and Planetarium, which has exhibits on archaeology, art, astronomy, geology, history, natural history, and paleontology, all in a very small space. The second is the Cherokee Mental Health Institute, formerly known as the Cherokee Lunatic Asylum. It’s super historic (built in 1902), has fabulous Kirkbride buildings, and looks like every psychiatric hospital you’ve seen in the movies – complete with the long, winding, tree-lined drive. The south wing is surrounded by razor wire and holds criminally insane and violent patients. Tours of the facility are apparently available, and a museum of original asylum artifacts and history is kept in the basement and is open to the public by appointment.

When you envision the Ice Cream Capital of the World, what comes to mind? The best ice cream you ever tasted? More ice cream than you’ve ever seen? New flavors that blow your mind? Ice cream trivia, memorabilia, history, games, and fun? Maybe an opportunity to build your own sundae?

Well, as it turns out, Le Mars, Iowa, was designated the Ice Cream Capital of the World in 1994 because the tiny town is home to Wells Enterprises, Inc., makers of Blue Bunny ice cream, and more ice cream is produced in Le Mars by a single company than any other city in the world.

OK. So it’s the Budweiser of ice cream. That doesn’t make it good. Or even interesting.

I have to say that I’ve had Le Mars on my list of places to visit for a long, long time. I stopped there recently on my way back to Ames after traveling to North and South Dakota. I am really glad I didn’t make a special trip.

Basically, all you’ll find in the Ice Cream Capital of the World is a Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor, in which you can order a cup or cone filled with the same ice cream that you can buy every day in your local grocery store. (I had caramel chocolate cashew something-or-other.) The ice cream parlor is sort of old-fashioned, but not that cool. After you eat your cone, you can shop in the adjacent gift shop, filled with promotional T-shirts, ice cream bowls, rubber cows, cookbooks, aprons, candles, and other random stuff.

Upstairs is a museum, but not much of one. There are Blue Bunny logos (the original one is pretty cool), signs, and clocks; some historic photographs; cartons of Wells products through the ages; and a few newspaper clippings. There’s also a looped video showing on a TV screen that I didn’t watch – it seemed more like a Blue Bunny commercial than anything historic or interesting.

Really? This year is the 100^th anniversary of Wells dairy. The signs are everywhere, but where’s the party? I expected so much more.

All in all, it was a giant yawner. And it made me nostalgic for the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour in Waterbury, Vt. Now THAT was a good time!

Here’s an awesome idea for a summer Saturday night: movie night at Jack Trice Stadium.

It’s a simple concept, really. Throw the doors open to the Iowa State football stadium in Ames and show a FREE movie on the huge, state-of-the-art, high-definition scoreboard. Sell popcorn and nachos. Done.

Dave and I were two of the only adults there without kids. (Did I mention the movie was Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph”?) How many kids were there? I guess the question should be, “How many kids live in Ames?” That’s about how many kids were there.

But, hey, it was fun, even with little kids running around during the whole movie. It was a beautiful, warm summer night. And afterwards we went out for ice cream.

Kudos to Iowa State Athletics and the Jr. Cyclone Club for starting what I hope will become a summer tradition.

My recent adventures out of the state of Iowa took me to Philadelphia, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York with my friend, photographer, and intrepid traveler Jim Heemstra. As always, even though we were traveling for work, we managed to find time to eat good food and have a lot of fun.

PHILADELPHIA

We stayed in historic Alexander Inn at 12^th and Spruce in Philadelphia’s City Center. It was a great neighborhood, with historic architecture and wonderful restaurants within easy walking distance. The rooms are small, with sort of a European-hotel feel to them, but the price was reasonable and we only had to park about three blocks away for an extra $15 a day.

From our inn we set out to explore the Mural Mile, part of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, which can actually be seen all over the city (later, in our rental car, we saw murals in even the most run-down neighborhoods, which I thought was refreshing because that’s where art matters most). On our Mural Mile Walking Tour (download a map here) we saw nearly a dozen of the 17 featured murals before my feet gave out and I was forced to sit down and drink a glass of wine. (You can also take a guided tour of the murals via trolley.)

Beyond murals, Philadelphia is just such a great walking city. The architecture is grand, as is the history and culture. We did visit the Liberty Bell, but it was not a highlight.

I preferred the parks and squares, especially Rittenhouse Square. Frommer’s guide recommended stopping for a latte at Parc Bistro next to the square, so we did that one morning and watched the world go by.

The real highlight of our visit to Philadelphia was the Eastern State Penitentiary. Maybe that sounds weird at first, but just look at these pictures:

Amazing, yes? The cathedral-like architecture at America’s most historic prison goes on and on, with creepy/cool peeling paint and crumbling cells. It’s a photographer’s dream. They even have events here – but apparently not too late at night, because one of the museum guides told us that when the lights go out, the bats, rats, and various huge insects come out. We made sure to get the hell out of there before we got locked in. (Insert your choice of Hannibal Lector lines here.)

ATLANTIC CITY

We had time after one of our morning interviews/photo shoots to take the Atlantic City Expressway (just a short drive from Philadelphia) to Atlantic City. I’ve always wanted to visit this place, just to see what it’s like, but I was under the impression that it had been damaged so much by Hurricane Sandy that it would never be the same. That made me sad.

I did a little research before we left on our trip and learned that the damage was overhyped by the media to the point that Atlantic City is really struggling to get back its conventions and tourism. The portion of the famous boardwalk (at left) that was destroyed by the storm (and shown over and over on TV) was not really part of the main walkway, and it was actually scheduled to be removed. So even though the town did get hit pretty hard by the storm, the main tourist section and the historic areas looked just fine to me.

Atlantic City is a kind of Las Vegas/Coney Island hybrid, with casinos and hotels and outlet malls mixed with ice cream vendors and souvenir stores and an authentic seashore/resort vibe. I’m not sure I’d want to spend a lot of time there, but it was fun to explore. We ate lunch at the White House Subs sandwich shop on Arctic Avenue – apparently a destination diner since 1946. We walked the boardwalk and the adjacent beach, thought about eating ice cream (but didn’t), and visited the damaged part of the beach/boardwalk, near the Absecon Lighthouse.

NEW HAVEN

We spent one night near New Haven, Conn., home of Yale University. Jim and I both love to visit other college campuses, so walking on Yale’s Old Campus (with its Gothic architecture) and the New Haven Green was a real treat.

We also ate some of the famous New Haven-style pizza at the original Frank Pepe Pizzaria Napoletana. Established in 1925, Pepe’s is said to be one of the oldest and best-known pizzerias in the United States. Its signature pie is a white pizza with littleneck clams. I’m a fan of white pizza but not so much the clams so I ordered mine with spinach instead. New Haven-style pizza has a thin crust and is cooked in a very hot oven fired by coal.

What the website and tourist brochures don’t tell you about this famous restaurant is the random and bizarre seating arrangement in which you wait your turn (forever) in the entryway or out on the street (depending on the line) and then get bad service from your waitress. I literally saw our waitress chase a customer out of the restaurant for a bigger tip and then complain to the other customers about it. Eating here was a strange experience, but I thought the pizza (and the local weirdness) was worth it. The original Pepe’s is located at 157 Wooster Street – within walking distance of the Yale campus.

NEW YORK CITY

Ah, New York. How I do love you.

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve visited this city. I’ve stayed in many parts of New York since my first visit 25 years ago, but I had never stayed in Brooklyn. Honestly, it never occurred to me.

On this trip, given the cost of staying in Manhattan, I researched lodging in Brooklyn and found it to be much more affordable. With the convenience of the subway, you can just zoom to Manhattan in 20 minutes, give or take. And – at least where we stayed, in the Prospect Heights/Park Slope area – it was utterly charming, surrounded by a thousand yummy restaurants, shops, row houses, shady streets, and young parents pushing strollers. We were close (in the Sofia Inn, 288 Park Place) to the famed Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the lovely Prospect Park, a 585-acre public space that rivals Central Park.

We arrived in Brooklyn on a picture-perfect Saturday and (after settling in to our inn) immediately stumbled on a farmers market at the edge of Prospect Park. After a stressful morning driving from New Haven to Newark (through the Bronx) and hauling our luggage and equipment via car service to Brooklyn, I could think of nothing better than sipping a cup of café Americano and eating a muffin on the lawn, watching real Brooklynites enjoy their Saturday afternoon.

Later in the day, after walking what felt like the length and breadth of Brooklyn (but, of course, was not because Brooklyn is huge), we went to Brooklyn Bridge Park to watch the sailboats and see the sun set behind the Manhattan skyline.

The rest of our time in New York was filled mostly with work, but what a great job I have: I spent a full day with an Iowa State alum who is the CEO of Bedell Cellars winery and vineyard on the North Fork of Long Island. Yes, I drank wine on the job and I’m not ashamed. We toured the agricultural region of the island (Long Island, it turns out, is way more than just the Hamptons) and the charming villages and oyster farms that felt more like New England than New York. We ate good food, drank good coffee, and then Jim and I hopped aboard the Hampton Jitney, a very comfortable bus that took us back to Manhattan, at which point we walked to Grand Central Station and subbed it back to Brooklyn.

We also spent a day with another alum on a sailboat on Long Island Sound. Said sailboat was launched from the Larchmont Yacht Club (near New Rochelle), and the experience reinforced my self-awareness that I am, at heart, a Land Person. We also spent time with her (and her very patient and supportive husband) in Lower Manhattan and in Central Park, so it was quite a day.

On our last full day in the city, we met another alum at Carnegie Deli (a good place to eat cheesecake and sandwiches bigger than your head) with the idea that we would photograph her at Carnegie Hall since she’s a professional musician who’s played there many times. The fact that the lower quarter of Carnegie Hall turned out to be covered in scaffolding did not deter Jim; he literally lay down on the sidewalk to photograph our musician friend playing her clarinet with the skyscrapers jutting up behind her. At one point, when I said I felt like I was in a Woody Allen movie, she played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue – and that might have been the highlight of the trip.

After that, our work was done, and my adrenaline came crashing down. We actually struggled to decide what to do with the rest of our day IN NEW YORK CITY. We must have been really tired. So we came up with this plan: Walk to Zabar’s to get food for a picnic in Central Park, then hang out in Midtown, eat dinner at Ray’s Pizza, and take pictures of Times Square after dark.

Here’s what we actually did:

• Bought food at Fairway (W. 74^th and Broadway) because it’s closer than Zabar’s (W. 80^th and Broadway). We got a loaf of Jewish sourdough rye, two kinds of cheese, a kosher dill pickle, and a black-and-white cookie. I accidentally dropped a pickle on the floor, but nobody seemed to notice. We schlepped the bag of food to Central Park and ate lunch on a bench. And then we sat on that bench for a long time.

• Walked through Central Park (above), stopping often to sit on more benches.
• Got a cup of coffee at a café on 7^th Ave. just beyond the park. Sat in the window and obsessed about people’s footwear. (Observation: 100 percent of men wear practical, appropriate, relatively comfortable footwear. A huge percentage of women do not. What is the genetic predisposition women have toward uncomfortable, ridiculous footwear? I want to know.)
• Bought souvenirs at the first tacky souvenir store we found.
• Got our picture taken in front of a different tacky souvenir store in Times Square.
• Drank a beer at a bar on 8^th Ave.
• Walked to Bryant Park (42^nd and 6^th Ave or thereabouts) and listened to a free concert by Straight No Chaser.
• Tried to find Ray’s Pizza but gave up and ate not-Ray’s pizza, which was not as good as Ray’s Pizza but we were so tired we didn’t care.
• Took pictures of Times Square after dark and then took the subway back to Brooklyn.
• Ate cookies.

What a difference a week makes! Last weekend I walked at Ledges and posted a blog about some of my favorite state parks in Iowa. In keeping with the theme, and also in keeping with the glorious weather we are having this weekend, I took a short hike at McFarland Park, a Story County Conservation area in north Ames. It’s really spring!

In all of central Iowa, I dare you to find a better place to view spring wildflowers than McFarland Park. At its peak – which should be in another week or two – it is just bursting with color and diversity.

Today I spotted several early varieties on my nature walk. My favorites, the bluebells, are almost, but not quite, ready to pop out. You can see more McFarland wildflower photos and read more about central Iowa wildflowers on a couple of earlier blog posts (“Early bloomers,” April 2011, and “I love spring,” April 2012).

If you’ve never visited McFarland Park, it’s a gem. I go there mostly to hike and snowshoe, but you can camp, picnic, and fish there, too. The 200-acre park offers a variety of habitats, including tall-grass prairie, woodland, lake, and stream. The conservation center building is open for educational displays and meetings Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sundays 2-5 p.m. April through October. Check out this website for more information about McFarland Park and for a listing of summer nature events there.

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It’s the time of year when I just can’t wait to dust off my hiking boots and head outside. Actually, it’s usually earlier than this time of year when I get that feeling, but we’ve had a crazy-cold, wet spring that’s really looked and felt a lot like winter.

Even today, when I went for a short hike at Ledges State Park (above), the woods look pretty much the same as the last time I saw them – in November. The trees are still in hibernation, but you get the feeling that we’re just on the cusp of spring. In another couple of weeks, I’m sure there will be wild flowers and budding trees.

Iowa has a fine system of state parks. I know that the state has been criticized for not spending more money to acquire new land and for not maintaining the current parks well enough, but I think they’re pretty great. Spring and fall are the best times to visit, in my opinion. The summers are too crowded, too hot, too buggy, and too humid.

I haven’t visited nearly all of the state parks, but I definitely have my favorites:

LEDGES

Ledges is the state park closest to my home in Ames, and boy am I lucky. It’s a fantastic place in which to disappear. I love hiking the wooded trails, climbing to overlooks, and walking into the canyon. I’m not a fan of walking across the streams on the concrete boulders; I’m always sure I’ll fall in. But if you want to walk the length of the canyon, you’ve gotta cross the boulders.

Ledges was one of the first parks in the Iowa state parks system, opening in 1924. Go there to camp, hike the 13 miles of trails, or picnic in one of the many shelters.

BIG CREEK

I’ve spent many, many happy hours walking the bike trails at Big Creek State Park. It’s popular park due to its proximity to Des Moines and its large recreational lake. The bike trails through the park are part of the 91-mile Central State Park Bike Route and also connect, through Saylorville, to downtown Des Moines.

Go to Big Creek for boating, fishing, picnicking, biking, or walking.

BACKBONE

Located in eastern Iowa near Strawberry Point, Backbone State Park was dedicated in 1920, making it Iowa’s first state park. Backbone is named for its narrow and steep ridge of bedrock carved by a loop of the Maquoketa River. Folklore named this high ridge of rock the “Devil’s Backbone.” I have only hiked in Backbone a few times because it’s none too close to Ames, but it’s worth the drive. Besides really great hiking, you can also fish, swim, boat, climb, picnic, camp, or stay in one of the park’s cabins. Cyclists will enjoy the bike path that is part of the 130-mile Northeast State Park Bike Route.

SWAN LAKE

I visited Swan Lake most recently last May and posted a blog about my experience there. The best thing about Swan Lake, to me, is the wonderful walking/biking trail around the entire perimeter of the 110-acre lake.

Though it is a state park, Swan Lake is managed by the Carroll County Conservation Board. The park is located just south of the town of Carroll. The park features a Conservation Education Center, shelter houses, a large cabin you can rent, and a campground with more than 100 sites. The campground always seems enormous to me; I park my car nearby, walk around the lake, and when I get back to the campground I think I’m almost back to my car. But it’s still a long walk!

SPRINGBROOK

Springbrook State Park seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere, but it’s really only about an hour west of Des Moines. I’ve gone to Springbrook to hike a couple of times – there are 12 miles of trails. Others might want to camp in the large campground (120 campsites, 81 with electrical hook-ups), swim, boat, or fish. Like Big Creek, bike trails in Springbrook are part of the 91-mile Central State Park Bike Route.

PINE LAKE

Pine Lake is another of my favorite parks, just up I-35 from Ames and east across Hwy. 20 (near Steamboat Rock and Eldora) – I can get there in an hour. As with many of the state parks, a lake is obviously the centerpiece of Pine Lake. It’s really gorgeous, with lots of water fowl when I’ve been up there. As always, I just like to hike and walk the trails, and there are plenty of them. But there’s also a lodge, campground, cabins, and a connection to yet another bike trail: the Lake-to-Lake State Park Bike Route. If I biked, I think I would really love to try out these trails.

If you go, be sure to stop at Eldora for a milkshake at the Ahoy Fountain on the square. It’s like a step back in time — in a good way.

PIKES PEAK

And finally, there’s Pikes Peak State Park (not to be confused with Pikes Point State Park, also in Iowa), located near McGregor on the Mississippi River. My first encounter with Pikes Peak was in peak fall foliage season, and the entire place was gridlock. There were about 10 cars to every parking place. You couldn’t get in or out. Not my idea of fun. So I went back the next morning and had the place to myself. I also had one of the most spectacular views of anywhere I’ve ever visited in Iowa: fog rising off the Mississippi River, its banks covered with red-leafed trees. I wrote about my visit in this blog.

Besides the incredible view, Pikes Peak has hiking trails, camping, and picnic shelters. The bike trail connects with the Northeast State Park Bike Route (along with Backbone). If you go, be sure to also visit Effigy Mounds National Monument, with more hiking, more views, and a unique piece of Native American history.

AND MORE

Iowa has about 70 state parks and state recreation areas. I’ve visited several more: Lake of Three Fires, Stephens State Forest, Palisades-Kepler, Lacy Keosauqua, Lake Ahquabi, and Lake Anita all come to mind as pleasant spots to take a walk. There are many more I’d like to visit – Mines of Spain, Waubonsie, Honey Creek – and others that, frankly, I just don’t know very much about. Someday I’d like to visit them all.

More than a month has passed since my last post, and I’m sorry to say I have not been “on the go” in Iowa at all during that time. In fact, I’ve mostly been at my desk, planning, scheduling, researching, editing, and writing – all the things that go along with publishing a magazine and putting together a 50-state project for the Iowa State University Alumni Association.

However, the project has taken me OUT of the state of Iowa and allowed me to see much of the country. Case in point: I just returned from a trip out east to Washington, D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland with my project buddy, photographer Jim Heemstra, above. Though the trip was mostly spent working – and traversing D.C. traffic – we did take advantage of a few tourist and historic sites:

LANCASTER, PA.

Lancaster is worth visiting for many reasons. I especially recommend visiting the Lancaster County Amish or “Pennsylvania Dutch” (really German) farmland and small shops and bakeries. One of the highlights of this area for me (besides the giggle-worthy “Welcome to Intercourse” town sign) was seeing groups of Amish children, all dressed in black with their hats and lunch pails, walking to their one-room school houses. Photographing the Amish is discouraged, but when you see scenes like that, you just really want to grab your camera. I did take a few photos (from a respectful distance) of Amish farmers plowing their land with teams of horses and mules, above. The whole area is very picturesque and charming.

In Lancaster, there’s wonderful old architecture and the country’s longest-running public farmers market, the Lancaster Central Market. We arrived at the market very early on Saturday morning as many of the vendors were just setting up. It was painful not to be able to buy more food – everything was so tempting: baked goods and produce, specialties like shoo-fly pie (right) and “whoopie pies,” jams and jellies, dried noodles, prepared meals, ethnic foods, coffee, flowers…just everything you could want.

WILMINGTON, DEL.

Delaware is one of those states that doesn’t seem very interesting until you go there. It sort of gets swallowed up by adjoining states. But it’s got some neat history. In fact, it was the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, technically making it THE first state.

Wilmington seems to be the credit card capitol of the world, and it’s surprisingly affordable. We stayed downtown in a very nice Sheraton for just $79 a night (plus extra for parking and wi-fi). There’s a cool area called Loma (short for Lower Market Street) with shops and restaurants and bars and a history museum. We ate at Loma Coffee, a good place for lunch, and the Chelsea Tavern for dinner, both on Market Street. We also found a really great Whole Foods Market on the north side of Wilmington, with possibly the best bakery I’ve ever seen at Whole Foods (and I’m a Whole Foods groupie).

One of our assignments was a story about a high school crew coach, so we spent a lot of time at the Christina River. I stayed safely on shore while everyone else was in the water. I’m pretty sure I had the best view, above.

Just north of the city, in Chadds Ford, Pa., is the Brandywine River Museum, home to a superior collection of art by N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth as well as some other fine American artwork. The museum itself is interesting for its mix of modern and rustic architecture. Tickets are $12 for adults.

ANNAPOLIS, MD.

Another very historic state, Maryland may be best known for its crab cakes, two of its cities (Annapolis and Baltimore), and for surrounding Washington, D.C., on three sides. We spent a full afternoon in Annapolis – a quintessential American city. The combination of historic architecture (including the Maryland State House), U.S. Naval Academy, and the Chesapeake Bay make Annapolis a wonderful place to visit.

We ate at Chick & Ruth’s Delly (“Crab Cake Central”), apparently famous to viewers of The Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food. I don’t watch The Travel Channel and I don’t eat crab cakes, but I thought the restaurant was fun. It reminded me a lot of Carnegie Deli in New York, sort of a crowded, messy combination of touristy and authentic. I will say that Chick & Ruth’s is much more crowded and messy than Carnegie Deli; in fact, two words kept playing over and over in my brain as I squeezed between tables and around stacks of stuff: “Fire marshal.” The menu was huge, mostly stuff I don’t eat. But besides crab cakes, they’re also famous for their six-pound milkshakes. I ordered a normal-sized chocolate malt and found it delicious.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Of course, there are thousands of things to do in Washington, D.C. We didn’t have much time, so we had to be choosy. One morning (a Sunday) was blissfully unscheduled. So we walked around the Tidal Basin and spent some time with a few of the monuments: the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Jefferson Memorial (above), and Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial (left). It was the start of the annual, famous Cherry Blossom Festival. But there were no cherry blossoms, just gray sky and sharp wind. All around us were disappointed tour-bus visitors. The next day, it snowed, so I can only imagine the unhappiness.

We also had some free time on the day we flew out of D.C., so we headed for the Newseum. This is a great place to spend a whole day – but it’s also good for a two-hour tour of highlights. We focused on the Pulitzer Prize-winning photography, “G-Men and Journalists” FBI exhibit, and the Journalists Memorial. The rest we walked through quickly: The Berlin Wall and 9/11 exhibits, First Amendment gallery, and historic front-page newspapers. There’s also some digital and interactive stuff that would probably appeal more to younger viewers. Don’t miss the outdoor terrace on level 6 – it may offer one of the best views in the city. Tickets to the Newseum are $21.95 plus tax for adults.

After a couple of hours indoors, we walked to the Capitol, above. I doubt I’d ever get tired of seeing this building. It’s just magnificent – from blocks away or up close.

My feet were tired by this point, and I was hungry. We were working our way to the National Portrait Gallery, which is not far from Chinatown and lots of restaurants. We found a good one, though it was not Chinese: La Tasca Spanish tapas restaurant. Really yummy.  (Another good restaurant, if you’re in the city, is Founding Farmers. We went there for lunch on our first day, and the food was fresh and delicious.)

The last thing we did before leaving the city was go to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum, which share the same building.

The Portrait Gallery (above) is amazing. Portraits range from historic (think George Washington) right up to today. Some of the faces are world famous, some are completely unknown. But all are wonderfully photographed, painted, or drawn. The stories behind the portraits are as interesting as the portraits themselves. It was fun to see portraits of Iowa State grads George Washington Carver and Carrie Chapman Catt — right in the same room.

On the other side, the American Art Museum also features terrific art, mostly two-dimensional and very approachable. No Museum of Modern Art stuff here. It’s mostly just good, solid paintings.

As part of the Smithsonian, both museums are free to the public.

As we did two years ago in Florida and last year in Hawaii, Dave and I tagged a couple of days’ vacation on to a scheduled winter business trip (in this case, mine). We flew down a week ago Monday to Orlando and drove directly from the airport to our first destination: Canaveral/Merritt Island National Seashore/National Wildlife Refuge on the Atlantic coast.

I was overdressed in long pants and sneakers in the hot sun and sand of the national seashore, especially compared to most people dressed in shorts and flip-flops, swimsuits, wetsuits (for surfing), or, in some cases, nothing (we found a nude beach on the north end, where we saw one guy wearing nothing but a red baseball cap and a smile. Howdy! Welcome to Florida!)

The seashore was truly lovely. We walked a bit, watched the surfers, and just enjoyed the warm sand and sun. It was a nice break from the Iowa winter.

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing the seven-mile Black Point Wildlife Drive, part of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. We saw tons of cool birds and bird habitat, but no bobcats or alligators, which are both said to live there. The wildlife refuge was established in 1963 when NASA created Kennedy Space Center. The refuge provided a buffer for space operations while protecting key wildlife habitat. Not far from the official “drive” we stopped at a manatee watch area, where we saw the backs, tails, and a tiny bit of the heads of Florida manatees.

The next day we took our sweet time getting to the first of our two Disney destinations, the Magic Kingdom, thinking anyone who is really serious about the park would get there when it opened (like we did when we visited with our kids) and we’d just cruise on in about 10:30 a.m. But no, we waited for the parking lot tram, waited for the ferry, waited while the ferry, well, ferried us slowly to the entrance where we waited in another long-ass line to buy our tickets. (Note to self: Buy tickets before leaving home. At least we were smart enough to buy a two-day pass so we didn’t have to stand in line the next day.) It took us more than an hour to get from the parking lot into the park. Sheesh. And I thought February was the off-season in Disney World?

I turned out that I was wrong, because we battled long lines and huge crowds all day. There were lots of international visitors, making up maybe a third of the total crowd, so maybe they have February spring breaks in Europe? I am baffled.

We walked down Main Street and were greeted immediately by the “Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it!” street party (above), which is like a mini parade. I do love the parades at Disney; we would watch two more before the end of the day.

I’m also a sucker for character sightings. It’s nice not to actually have to stand in line for your kids to meet them. I just hovered near the front of the line where the official Disney photographer takes pictures and snapped away. I loved this little kid’s reaction to Minnie.

Dave and I have visited the Magic Kingdom many times with our girls, so we definitely didn’t feel the need to see everything or ride all the rides. In fact, I found myself feeling quite old when I opted not to stand in line for either Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (above), preferring to walk the park, sit and watch the crowd, and eat Mickey ice cream on a stick. (I’ve ridden both of those rides many times, plus Splash Mountain, which was closed down for maintenance. On previous trips this would have been a disappointment, but now, eh, no big deal.)

We visited New Fantasyland and were not wowed. We grabbed a fast pass for Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid and were underwhelmed by the slow, old-school animatronic ride in a clamshell. Yawn. Basically, it made me want to watch the much more entertaining film. We stood in line for what seemed like an hour for Enchanted Tales with Belle (Belle is my favorite princess, if you were wondering) and were downright horrified at the sheer lameness of this “storytelling experience.” If eye-rolling were an Olympic sport, I would win a gold medal. (If you have little girls who adore Belle and would spaz out to meet her, I suppose you should stand in line. But even so, I’m not convinced it’s worth the time.)

New Fantasyland looks great – I’ll give it that. All castles and France and mermaids. We loved the look of Gaston’s Tavern (they used antlers in all of their decorating), the Gaston fountain in front, and Gaston himself preening and signing autographs (above, with random children). Dave ordered a big piece of meat at the tavern; I opted for hummus and chips, which turned out to be pre-packaged and not even pita chips, so it wasn’t much of a lunch. We really wanted to see the inside of the Be our Guest restaurant but didn’t want to pay the price; we tried to just go in and get a beer (it’s the only place in the Kingdom where you can order alcohol) but alas, it was open for diners only.

At 2:30 we found a good place to stand for the 3 o’clock Celebrate a Dream Come True parade. This always stresses me out: where do you stand for the best pictures? Which direction is the parade coming from? What if we end up shooting into the sun? Aaaaagggghhhh. But it turned out OK, and, as I said, I do so love the parades.

Later in the day we re-visited some of our favorite places and tried a few new ones: Tom Sawyer Island (relaxing, with no line and few guests), Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor (hilarious), Mickey’s PhilharMagic, and the Disney Railroad.

Once it started getting dark, we positioned ourselves on the second story of the railroad station to wait for the Main Street Electrical Parade (which runs twice, at 7 and 9 p.m.) This turned out to be the highlight of the day: Watching the sky grow darker while standing ABOVE the crowd, with a kick-ass view of Cinderella’s castle and the parade. Once the parade was over and people left, we actually got chairs on the balcony and settled in to watch the Wishes fireworks show. I love the fireworks even more than the parade; I always get a little teary-eyed during the fireworks and believe that this is truly the most magical part of the Magic Kingdom experience.

After the fireworks we got the hell out of the park and – surprise! – were able to get on the second monorail (no more ferries for us), which zipped us to the parking area where we grabbed a quick tram and found our car.

The next morning we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and got in very quickly compared to our Magic Kingdom experience the day before. We immediately grabbed a fast pass for Tower of Terror (one of our two favorite rides in the park) and headed to Aerosmith’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (our other favorite). The sign said the wait would only be 45 minutes so we decided to stand in line…only to learn that the sign LIED and we would be in line for more like an hour and a half (I do NOT stand in lines for an hour and a half, so I was more than a little peeved). But the ride is AMAZING – I think it gets better every time I ride it. And by the time we finished, we could grab another fast pass, so we got one for the Aerosmith ride (something to look forward to later in the afternoon, after my head stopped pounding from the first ride).

We headed over to Tower of Terror and stood in a reasonable (fast-pass induced) line. I swear that ride is not always the same; I think sometimes you fall further or bounce more often. This time I wasn’t quite as wowed as I have been in the past. Maybe they just changed it?

Our heads were sort of spinning from all the rides by this point, so we took it easy and rode the Great Movie Ride (the movie clips at the beginning and end are my favorite part…Disney could have saved itself a lot of money by just doing a bunch of movie highlights).

The Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun! parade began at 3 o’clock, so we jockeyed for a good place to stand where we wouldn’t be shooting into the sun. Afterwards we went to The American Idol Experience, which was sort of cool but also really annoying.

I was getting tired by this time and wondered how we ever did four parks in four days when the kids were little. We went to Muppet Vision 3-D, which apparently will never change, and scored fast-pass tickets from a passing couple to the Toy Story Midway Mania! ride, which had an incredibly long stand-by line (longer than I would ever stand in) and no more fast passes. So that was fun.

The park closed at 7 o’clock, but at 6 o’clock the sky darkened and I was in no mood to get rained on, so we headed for the exit. Got to our car in record time, just before it rained.