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 by dreamworld
IOWA CITY...this is a beautiful town (the most in Iowa for us). The Old capitol (PICTURED) being great, as well as some downtown buildings. There should be some fun at night since it's something like a 'college town' (lots of teenagers...).
South of Iowa City, you'll find the area where there is the biggest Amish settlement west of the Mississippi river.
North of Iowa City and of the IS highway, you may do an excursion to the AMANA COLONIES. It's a 'rebuilt' old German village, showing German crafts and food. A lot of German emigrants showed up in Iowa during the 1800's (also numerous Scandinavians). Amana is extremeley touristic if you compare with other Iowa places but I guess it's worth the detour.
DES MOINES...Nice capitol but the city itself is not really interesting apart some nice churches. Still it's the only 'big' city in Iowa and about 25% of all Iowans are living within the metro area of Des Moines.
South of Des Moines, go to Winterset in Madison County. This is the place where famous actor John Wayne is born !!! The house doesn't look really nice but you can come back home telling that YOU SAW John Wayne's birthplace !!! Within the Madison county are beautiful and photogenic 'covered bridges'.
Also not far from Winterset, you may see the Amish with their carriage and old 'dressing' way. The image of a huge modern American truck passing this small 'Middle-Age' carriage is really great....
West of Des Moines, on the IS highway, exit at AUDUBON, a few miles north of the IS, you will enter this small town which of interest is : ALBERT THE BULL !!! Piece of kitsch, it's actually a giant plaster statue of a bull. This shows how important is ranching in Iowa.
SIOUX CITY...well sorry for my friend who is living there right now...but this city is NOT BEAUTIFUL. It's a purely industrial city with lots of factory's chimneys throwing out bad fumes. Downtown is nothing to talk about (apart maybe the coffee bar where we had a drink...Uncle...John ?).
Still we were positively impressed by an unusual thing...Sioux City holds an 'open-air' cathedral, yes ! It's called Trinity Heights and it's located north of the city...Really nice place even if you're not into religion. And good views from there since it's on a hill. The bad point being that road signs are not very popular around !!! We spent a long time trying to find the way.
Hundreds of farms located in the middle of nowhere, with green fields all around...silos and agricultural machines. Leave a Comment
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 Riverbaot Museum by seagoingJLW
Also see the Milwaukee Railroad Roundhouse Historic Site. Leave a Comment
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 by Ekahau
Oh such wonderful people all would spend time to talk with this strange person from another world. Leave a Comment
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 by traveldave
Today, there are over 200,000 people in the area, and although it is a relatively small city, it has many of the cultural amenities and attractions of larger cities. Leave a Comment
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See the state capitol building. It has several cupolas and is Gold topped. The only other gold topped capitol dome I ever saw was in West Virginia. It is really different from any other capitol building.
Shooting shotguns in a long quonset hut style building. Leave a Comment
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 by KLomaskin
This event attracts the friendliest people from all over the world, in a state with the friendliest people in the USA. Leave a Comment
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While Iowa holds true to its image as being a major producer of corn and other agricultural products, there are some neat places to visit so don't immediately disregard Iowa as a possible destination. Besides visiting Grinnell College, we went to a neat little town called Amana. We found this to be a very inexpensive, relaxing and overall fun experience. While Amana is famous as a brand-name for household appliances, Amana is also amidst Iowa's Amish community. As some may know, the Amish community in the states is a peaceful, agrarian group that doesn't fully endorse the lifestyle of industrialized, modernized and commercialized America. So while hotels in Amana will likely offer such amenities for the traveler, it is nice to visit this town where the pace of life is a little slower. Leave a Comment
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 by Martin_S.
Leaving. I would assume that the majority of accidents on Iowa roads are caused by boredom from driving for miles and miles between fields of corn, wheat or other uninteresting things.
I must add an apology to CLDCLD (Cheryl Dieter)on this page as she has shown me an aspect of Iowa that I had not seen when I was there. Do take a look at her page if you want the positive side of Iowa.
Live and learn, and learn to live.
Just to show you that CLDCLD is right, here is a picture from Maquoketa Caves State Park. Leave a Comment
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When I was fourteen I bought a moped and I would drive out in the country on the gravel roads. One day I stopped at the top of a high hill and I had one of those mystical moments when everything seemed so much more than beautiful. I remember it now as the first time I actually saw and recognized the curve of the earth.
As Plato said,'What if man had eyes to see the true beauty,... pure and clear and unalloyed,.. - thither looking, and holding converse with the true beauty simple and divine?
Remember how in that communion only,beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality)' Leave a Comment
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 by meta4r
See travelogue for more pics. Leave a Comment
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