I’m in Des Moines and have always kept a wide berth from Iowa City because I have always had it strongly associated with the “binge-drinking-and-college-football are my entire personality“ crowd; I’m happy to hear there is another side of it and I’d be interested to check it out. Any recommendations for a chill day trip? Favorite cafes or museums or similar?
Absolutely! There's no shortage of drinking and football, we are still a college town, but Summer's right around the corner and while the students are (mostly) away, the townies come out to play.
The Iowa City Arts Festival or Jazzfest would be great times to visit.
I'd recommend stopping by Kindred for coffee, and Prairie Lights for the books and ambience. Museum-wise, the Museum of Natural History, the Old Capitol Museum, and the Stanley Museum of Art are all worth your time and free to the public.
Dinner is hard to go wrong, but Trumpet Blossom Cafe is very popular, and Vue is on the 12th story of a hotel has great views of the airport and city, and outdoor seating. I'd also recommend checking out the Iowa City Public Library and the rest of the Pedestrian Mall, and maybe catch a movie at FilmScene in the Chauncey on the next visit.
World of Bikes rents bikes for the day, and the river trail is a pleasant ride between City Park (where you may catch Shakespeare in The Park in the Summer) and Big Grove Brewery, and extends down to Terry Trueblood Recreation Area in the South.
I think the biggest thing that's hard to communicate with a day/weekend trip is how incredibly lovely living here is every day. The hardest part is choosing between all of the activities available.
We have FilmScene where you can see some Hollywood movies but also rarer and more artsy stuff:
- https://icfilmscene.org/
As far as cafes:
- Press Coffee
- Kindred Coffee
- DayDrink
The main reason I've lived here as long as I did is because of the live music, so if you're into that there are lots of great venues (also check out the Mission Creek festival next year):
- The Englert
- The James
- Trumpet Blossom
- Gabe's
- Hancher
I get annoyed by the same crowd you're talking about, but if you come during the summer most of those people are gone and it's the cool people that are left.
I actually don't get to Des Moines very often but have been meaning to, but what kinds of things would you recommend for Des Moines? I've heard the Des Moines Art Center is really good and have been meaning to go.
