Hugh Calloway

I know fall has really arrived in Iowa when a sandwich suddenly feels incomplete without soup beside it.…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 21

I have learned one thing about exploring Iowa’s Dutch food shops: showing up with an empty trunk is…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 20

Once Iowa mornings turn cool, I start thinking less about getting somewhere quickly and more about where breakfast…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 20

The best catfish stop I found in Iowa did not announce itself with much more than a parking…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 19

You know those restaurants that seem completely happy doing things the same way they always have? I have…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 19

I knew I was in the right kind of Iowa diner when the plate landed in front of…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 18

I have learned that Iowa covered bridge trips rarely stay as simple as they look on the map.…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 18

I have learned one thing about antique malls in Iowa: the building usually looks much smaller from the…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 17

I have learned that some of the best fall meals in Iowa require a little commitment from the…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 17

There is something about seeing fall from a train that makes you forget how slowly you are moving.…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 16

By the time I reached Donnellson, Iowa, I had already passed enough soybean fields to lose count. Then…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 16

I thought ranking apple cider donuts across Iowa would be a pretty easy fall assignment. Then I started…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 15

September in Iowa has one foot in summer and one muddy boot in fall. Cool mornings, warm afternoons,…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 15

September turns Iowa farm roads into a pretty convincing reason to ignore the original plan. A quick stop…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 14

I have very little resistance to a fall breakfast menu, especially once pumpkin pancakes and cinnamon start getting…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 14

I have learned that an Iowa fall drive gets considerably better when pie, a giant tenderloin, or a…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 13

I have learned that stopping at a country bakery “just to look” is a very expensive form of…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 13

I am usually reluctant to call any pizza worth a three-hour drive. Then I followed a gravel road…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 12

I have learned to pay attention when locals mention an Italian restaurant without needing to explain why they…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 12

A one-pound burger is already hard to ignore. Put it in a tiny northeast Iowa community reached by…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 11

I have a weakness for restaurants that look completely ordinary from the parking lot and then make me…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 11

I have made the mistake of ordering breakfast in Iowa like I was only mildly hungry. Then the…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 10

Iowa apple season has a dangerous side effect: suddenly, pie feels like a very reasonable road-trip goal. These…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 10

My favorite Iowa road trips usually start with a full tank and very little planning. Give me a…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 9

Iowa prairies know exactly how to make a quiet fall entrance. After a summer of green, the grasses…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 9

I knew I was in for an interesting shopping trip when the scenery included cornfields, horse-drawn buggies, and…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 8

I have learned that apple picking becomes considerably more appealing when there is a country café somewhere nearby.…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 8

If you like finding the kind of Iowa restaurant where regulars already know what they are ordering before…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 7

September in Iowa smells like cinnamon, cider, and warm sugar drifting across gravel parking lots. Apple cider donuts…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 7

I used to think September was just the warm-up act for fall. Then I started visiting Iowa farms…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 6

There’s a certain magic that sweeps across the countryside when the air turns crisp and cinnamon starts wafting…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 6

The first clue is the smell drifting out of an old brick corner in Iowa City. Then you…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 5

Loose meat sandwiches do not photograph well. Steamed ground beef, piled into a soft bun, spilling over the…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 5

A grocery cart can fill up surprisingly fast when paper goods are heavily discounted and snacks are marked…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 4

I did not expect my favorite sushi counter in the country to sit on a corner in Iowa,…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 4

You can eat homemade quiche inside a 100-year-old Iowa barn, then climb into the original hayloft to hunt…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 3

Labor Day weekend is Iowa’s last big chance to let summer show off a little. Across the state,…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 3

Eastern Iowa has the kind of quiet places that reward you for slowing down. This wildlife refuge is…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 2

September is when Iowa nature starts whispering instead of shouting. The prairies turn gold, river bluffs soften in…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 2