Iowa

One haunted house on this list raises money for 4-H, and it sits inside an old abandoned county…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 16

Nothing is impossible. That is the slogan of one taco counter on this list, and I honestly can’t…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 16

I went in thinking I would grab a few pantry basics. That plan lasted about five minutes. Iowa’s…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 15

I did not expect to find a proper British tea room on a quiet Main Street in northeast…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 15

October road trips in Iowa get better the moment dessert becomes part of the route. A country road…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 15

Some October drives in Iowa make it surprisingly hard to keep moving. You round a bend, spot a…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 15

October feels a little early to think about a holiday roast, but apparently that is exactly when the…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 14

I could smell the smoke before I even made it through the parking lot, which felt like a…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 14

Fall lunch cravings hit differently in Iowa. The minute the weather cools down, I start looking for places…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 14

Some Davenport restaurants are the kind of places people grow up with. You go as a kid, come…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 14

Pumpkin picking always sounds like a quick fall errand until the farm has other ideas. You pull in…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 13

Fall is usually when I remember how expensive a new jacket can be. That is also about the…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 13

Eating Sunday lunch inside an 1878 grist mill was enough to get my attention. Then I learned the…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 13

A pizza score can get my attention, but a place still has to earn the drive. Centro did…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 13

The trouble with visiting an Iowa orchard market for apples is that the apples rarely get the final…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 12

I was expecting the usual RV park entrance. I was not expecting horses to be part of the…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 12

A town can keep the same courthouse, Main Street, and familiar faces while quietly becoming a very different…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 12

Some Iowa towns make me want to park the car before I have even figured out what I…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 12

I expected a quick breakfast stop. Then I walked in and realized the whole place was basically one…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 11

Iowa back roads get dangerously distracting in October. I have missed more than one turn because a hillside…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 11

I used to think the stretch of I-80 between Des Moines and Iowa City was mostly something to…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 11

October is when I start finding excuses to take the longer road through Iowa. A quick drive can…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 10

I knew this was not going to be a normal grocery run when I looked at the total…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 10

People really do drive into Marshalltown just for this little burger spot. That claim sounded slightly ridiculous to…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 10

There is something about an Iowa diner on a cold fall morning that makes me want to stay…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 10

I meant to make a quick stop near the Mississippi and somehow ended up climbing three floors of…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 9

I knew dinner was going to be a little different when I found the staircase leading beneath the…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 9

Some of Iowa’s best BBQ spots are surprisingly easy to miss. I have driven past places that barely…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 9

I know I am in trouble when a plain roadside sign in rural Iowa says “bulk foods” and…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 9

A dining table has a rough job in my house. It has to handle everyday meals, paperwork, family…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 8

I knew breakfast was going to be serious the moment the plate hit the table and I started…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 8

A full parking lot on a random Tuesday night usually tells me more than a billboard ever could.…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 8

The first cool Saturday in October is usually when my Iowa map starts collecting circles. A park I…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 8

I knew I was in trouble when the quilt backing alone needed more yardage than anything left in…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 7

There is something very satisfying about finding an Iowa diner with the lights still on when almost everything…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 7

The Iowa breakfast stops I remember most are usually the ones I nearly drove past on an October…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 7

By October, some Iowa trails barely look like the same places I passed earlier in the year. Leaves…

By Hugh Calloway · Oct 7

The view was already good before the sun went down. Then the blue lights came on, and I…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 6

I walked in looking for pierogi and immediately forgot about my shopping list. Cyrillic labels covered the shelves,…

By Nadia Corwell · Oct 6