OT. Planning trip to Iowa, what to see??

My wife and I are planning to go to the National Farm Toy Show in Dyersville. After Dyersville we need suggestions of what to see. Planning on traveling in a circle back to Maryland. My wife can,t stand to be away from the grandkids for more than 2 weeks. We've never been that far west.


Thanks Robert in Md.

Watch for those cameras in stop light intersections. The yellow is timed short and fine is 200.00 for out of staters.

Grandkids will still be there. Enjoy the trip and whatever you happen to find along the way. Making a schedule will just make you miss out on some real nice stuff.
Just don't ask these clowns about NYC :roll:

Dave

I worked in that area awhile back. Be sure to see the Field of Dreams and a little south of there is the Amana Colonies. Great food and shops. Historic Galena Ill, and scenic Jo Daviess County are close by in Illinois. Galena has the home of President Grant that can be toured. It also was where some of the Field of Dream movie was shot.

small town Iowa is a fabulous place. You wont find better people or prettier girls anywhere.

I live just a little south of there. If you like old churches then you should see the The Basilica of St. Francis Xavier. It is a beautiful double spare church. It is right there in Dyersville. Then for good food the Country Junction restaurant is right by the Toy show. Even better is going north about ten miles to Balltown and eating at Breitbach"s Country Inn. It is the oldest one in continuous operation in Iowa. Both have great food. Also Dubuque has River boat museum and aquatic center.
If you are John Deere fan then you should stop in Moline, Il. at the John Deere Pavilion. Like someone else said here The Amana Colonies are a great place to visit to.
Also near by in Wisconsin at Dodgeville is " The house on the rocks" you can spend a day just there.
Come on out and I am sure you will have a great time.

Clermont has a neat farm equipment display. DesMoines has Living history farms , very neat look back at farm life through the ages . Locks and damns on the mississippi are always fun to watch barges lock through . Cedar Rapids does has traffic cameras, but are not timing short or target out of staters , signs are posted . Covered bridges over by Winterset . That and a whole lot more if you dig a little . Enjoy your trip .

Iowas claim to fame to me has always been the Amana Colonies south of Cedar Rapids north and west of Iowa City just off I 80.

The Grotto of the redemption is a neat place to visit. http://www.westbendgrotto.com/

I believe there is a nice IH Museum in Avco on interstate 80 western side of state.
Never been there, but is oon my list of things to do.
http://www.farmall-land-usa.com/museum.html

Have a good trip!

Yes, all of the little shops at the Amanas will keep you and your wife busy for a long time. Last winter Marilyn and I took a two week excursion from here in NW Iowa to New Orleans and back, stopping to see all the attractions along the way, and the Amanas has far more to see in one area than anything else we visited. Never been to the Farmall museum at Avoca but I hear it's really something to see.Jim

Winterset has her covered bridges and John Waynes
birth place. Great museum too and is only 35 miles south west of Des Moines. Lots of slow moving farm equiptment on the county highways this time of year.

It will be raining or snowing that weekend, so wear appropriate cloths.......I will get some information in the next few days, I just do not have time right now.

Good luck there guy. Don't you know the history of "IOWA"..........I OUGHTA WENT AROUND!

Sorry can't really help you. I did an "iron butt" motorcycle run there several years ago, i.e. 1,000 miles in 24 hours.

My focus was the bridges of Madison county, Winterset and the antique shops there.

In May my next door neighbors moved to Iowa and I'll visit with them before long.

With their place as a home base I will spend many hours in courthouses, cemeteries, etc. doing genealogy as there is where many of my ancestors lived before coming to KS in 1886.

While I don't know that I'll learn much of anything new, but I do think it will be kind of neat to visit the current farms where my ancestors once lived.

Enjoy your visit. I know that I will enjoy visiting my friends and my other activities.

Drive the back roads and count Pheasents !

My friend took my son and I to Dyersville and we stopped at Waterloo and went through the tractor works and the engine works factory. I thought that was interesting.

Also need to visit the John Deere World Headquarters display floor in addition to the Pavilion both in Moline IL.

If you're going next weekend, take your car across the Mississippi on the Cassville, WI car ferry. It's a bit pricey, but it's pretty darn fun. It's not too far from Dyersville.

<a href="http://www.cassville.org/ferry.html">Ferry Schedule</a>

Oct 31 is the last day of operation for the year though.

Places to see.
Heartland Acres Independence IA.
Iowa 80 truck stop & truck muesum Walcot IA.
Aquarium Dubuque IA.
Grundy County quilt barns Grundy Center IA.
You can also take the rural roads and see the different barns that are in the area.
Also the Arsenal in the Guadcities.

www.TravelIowa.com is Iowa's website for travel information. They will also send you a large paperback booklet of interesting places to visit and a state road map free for the asking.

There's also a lot of interesting places to stop along your way. Some of my favorites are:

The Henry Ford Museum and Grrenfield village Museum in Dearborn Michigan. There are hugh and great. It's hard to see them both in one day. There's thousands of cars, many locomotives and some planes. Henry Ford liked farming too, so there's a lot of farm equipment displays grouped in different time periods, and displays of household living in different time periods. Both you and your wife will like these. I think they are better than the equivalent Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C.

Downtown Chigaco has the Field Museum of Natural History, a great art Museum, Shed's Aquarium, a Planitarium, the Navy peer, the observation deck at the top of the Sears tower and great food.

A little south of downtown Chicago is a great Science and Industry Museum. It has a captured WW@ German U-Boat and and undergroung coal mine exhibit. Allow at least a half day to see this one.

In Wisconsin someone else already mentioned "The House on the Rock". Allow a half day to see it.

Moline, Illinios has some John Deere Museums. You can check if tours are available through Deere's Waterloo, Dubuque or Moline factories.

If you want to circle back on a different route you can go through St. Louis Mo, and Memphis, Tn. If you like country music Nashville is a great stop. Chattanooga, TN has the Lookout Mountain battlefield with an outstanding view of the city and surounding mountians. It also has a very good knife and gun museumand a great railroad museum. The Stones River Battlefield and Franklin Battle field are between Nashville and Chattanooga. Chickamauga battlefield is nearby too.

Dayton, Ohio has the U.S. Air force Museum that is huge. Wright-Patterson is a major development and testing center for the AF. They have almost every plane the AF has used on display, and many captured enemy planes too: Folkers, Zeros, Messerschmitt ME109 and ME262, MIGs etc. There are many experimental planes: X-1, X-15, XB-70 Valkryie, B-1A, Mercury, Gemini, and Appollo spacecraft, and a large outdoor missle display. It's hard to see it all in one day.

Most states hve websites for travel information. There should be a lot to see in Pansylvania and Virginia too.

Have a good trip!

Thanks for all the ideas. My wife says to ask your wifes for some ideas tailered for her. She does really well visiting all my favorite places but I have to find someplace once in a while for her. I agree Henry Fords Greenfield is a great place, We were there about 2 years ago and could return several times

Thanks again
Robert in Md.