Hugh Calloway

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

There is something about September in Iowa that turns an ordinary weekend into a memory-making mission. The corn…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 1

Fried chicken stacked in a steam pan, golden and steaming, sitting a few feet from a salad bar…

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 1

Iowa takes its pork tenderloin sandwiches very seriously. Honestly, it should. A great one is crispy at the…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 31

I like farm cafes best when the season is changing and the menu seems to notice before I…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 31

I did not expect one of my most memorable seafood meals in Iowa to begin by staring into…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 30

I like Iowa lake towns best when summer starts loosening its grip. The docks are quieter, the sidewalks…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 30

For most of the year, this looks like working Iowa farmland. Then late summer arrives and suddenly whole…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 29

Iowa apple treats do not wait around for sweater weather. Before summer fully lets go, orchard bakeries are…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 29

The coffee usually hits the table before the plan fully wakes up. Pancakes steam, hash browns crackle at…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 28

Late-summer drives across Iowa have their own rhythm. Long stretches of corn, a water tower in the distance,…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 28

Late summer makes flower fields feel a little more urgent. The colors are still loud, the bees are…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 27

Labor Day weekend is your last big excuse to roll down the windows, point the car toward a…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 27

Weekend brunch in Des Moines, Iowa has a habit of starting with optimism and ending with your name…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 26

Iowa does not wait for sweater weather to start flirting with fall. Before the leaves fully change, the…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 26

Labor Day weekend is not really the time for delicate portions. It is the time for smoke in…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 25

A great Iowa deli can turn a road trip into a sandwich mission very quickly. One good counter,…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 25

I have eaten in plenty of historic buildings, but this Iowa stop made me forget about the menu…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 24

I have walked into a few Iowa buffets where the clock seems to slow down the moment you…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 24

I have a bad habit of walking into a used bookstore “just to look” and leaving with a…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 23

I have passed plenty of Iowa roads without wondering what was hiding a few miles beyond the turnoff.…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 23

Antique shopping gets dangerous the moment a building is big enough to have aisles you can actually get…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 22

Iowa is surprisingly good at giving families a full day out without turning the budget into a casualty.…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 22

The line moves slowly enough to make you study the pastry case twice. That is usually when the…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 21

An Iowa cafe inside an old bank already has a head start in the character department. Add coffee,…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 21

Rural Iowa has a funny way of making lunch feel like part of the drive rather than a…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 20

Some Iowa dinners are worth checking the calendar for before you even think about the drive. This is…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 20

The best clue is usually the parking lot. A place can look completely ordinary from the street, then…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 19

Some of the best meals I have ever eaten came at the end of long country roads, where…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 19

The first clue is the hash browns. They spread across the plate like the kitchen briefly forgot anyone…

By Hugh Calloway · Aug 18