Iowa

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

By Hugh Calloway · Sep 11

I went looking for fresh dairy and somehow ended up eating apple ice cream while cows watched from…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 10

I knew this was more than a normal grocery run when my cart held cheese, bulk spices, quilting…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 10

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

I usually do not expect much from a café inside a public garden, which is exactly why this…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 9

I have driven through plenty of tiny Iowa towns where blinking feels optional, but very few have rewarded…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 9

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 have learned that the most dangerous words on an Iowa road trip are “let’s just stop for…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 8

I take steak rankings far more seriously than any reasonable person probably should. Once Iowa puts a sizzling…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 8

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

I have learned that the best Iowa road trips usually start with a full tank and end with…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 7

I walked in expecting a quick look at a few old race cars. Two hours later, I was…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 7

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

If September in Iowa has a smell, it might be warm cinnamon drifting out of a farm bakery…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 6

I thought two hours would be more than enough time for dinner. Then I sat down at a…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 6

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

A good bookstore bends time. You walk in for one book, spot the wrong shelf in the best…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 5

The fruit filling usually gives the first clue. Apples bubble under flaky crust, cherries stain the slice bright…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 5

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 plain Friday night feels very different when dinner includes as much snow crab and slow-roasted prime rib…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 4

Oh, Iowa, you charming, understated darling of the Midwest. You are often thought of for cornfields and friendly…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 4

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

The best fish plate in Iowa usually announces itself before it reaches the table. You hear the crunch.…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 3

The street parking gives the secret away first. Cars line up along a tiny Iowa main street, the…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 3

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

I planned to spend a couple of hours at this Iowa orchard. Eight hours later, I still had…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 2

Breakfast tastes a little different when the Mississippi is moving past the windows or morning light is spreading…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 2

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

I drove past cornfields and gravel side roads in southern Iowa expecting a sleepy fishing dock, and instead…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 1

Something magical happens when you leave the highway behind and follow a gravel road toward an Amish store…

By Nadia Corwell · Sep 1