1 Week In Iowa City – Here’s What We Did

After spending a week in Des Moines, IA, Shae and I moved on to another city in Iowa for a week – Iowa City itself.

Iowa City seemed to primarily be a college town and didn’t have as many attractions as some other places. However, it was within a short driving distance of quite a lot of other stuff, so we still found some fun things to do.

Here’s a roundup of everything that we did during our week there.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at the Hyatt Place Iowa City Downtown for the entire week having booked it using points. It was a great hotel and was particularly special because of how amazing the staff were. I wrote a full review of our stay here, so be sure to check that out.

What We Did

World’s Largest Wooden Nickel

Iowa is full of quirky roadside attractions and Iowa City is only a short distance to quite a few of them! Shae was training for RAGBRAI during our stay (at the time of writing this she’s actually in the middle of it!), so one afternoon she went on a bike ride which included a stop at the World’s Largest Wooden Nickel.

Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan

As if the World’s Largest Wooden Nickel wasn’t enough, we also had the privilege of visiting the Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan in nearby Brandon, IA. I particularly loved that it’s not even the world’s largest frying pan – it’s just the largest one in Iowa!

The frying pan was constructed in 2004, has an 8 ft base, is 9 ft, 3″ at the rim and weighs 1,020 lbs. The pan could hold 528 eggs, 352 pork chops or 88 lbs of bacon. The day we visited all it held was some of the water from the rain that afternoon.

John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum

Both of those quirky attractions were free, as was somewhere else we visited that day – the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum. This is a free museum in Waterloo, IA that shares about the history of John Deere tractors and engines, thereby spreading their cropaganda (I was very proud of that pun when saying it to Shae 😉 ).

I was surprised at how interesting the museum was considering I don’t have a particular interest in tractors and engines. They’ve put together a museum that’s the right balance of things to see, information to learn and hands-on, interactive exhibits.

What made it even better was that they were happy for Truffles to come in with us in her backpack.

I’ve Pet That Dog

For a few years Shae has been following an Instagram account called I’ve Pet That Dog. It’s an account for a 13 year old called Gideon who shares all the dogs he’s petted which, based on how many Instagram posts he has, amounts to almost 1,500 dogs!

Shae found out that he lives north of Iowa City, so she got in contact via the Instagram account (Gideon’s mom controls the account) and arranged for him to meet Truffles.

We all had a great time meeting him and Truffles particularly loved getting all the attention; she was even good about posing for some photos!

 

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Amana Colonies

Amana Colonies is a collection of seven villages 25 miles northwest of Iowa City. They were set up by German Radical Pietists to escape persecution by the Lutheran Church and German government.

They lived in community with each other, with everyone contributing in some way and sharing everything they produced. The colonies now have lots of boutique stores, wineries, eateries, etc. that anyone can visit.

Shae’s training for RAGBRAI meant that she wanted to bike 60 miles that day. She therefore biked the 25 miles to Amana Colonies, then I drove there with Truffles later on so that we’d arrive at the same time. The sun was brutal that day (I don’t know how Shae survived biking so far!), so we spent a little time wandering around, but then Truffles and I needed to get some shade so we headed back to the hotel. Shae meanwhile hopped back on her bike and rode back via a longer route to get in the full 60+ miles.

Future Birthplace of Captain Kirk

The quirky roadside attractions continued as we left Iowa City to head back west to Omaha, NE. About 20 minutes south of Iowa City is the Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk – yep, Captain Kirk from Star Trek.

In a book written by Gene Roddenberry, he mentioned that Captain Kirk was born in a small Iowa town. He didn’t specify which town that was, so a council member from Riverside, IA decided that their city should lay claim to this piece of fictional future history (if that’s even a thing!)

There are Star Trek flags on street lights lining the road running through Riverside, then in a little gap to the left of City Hall is a plaque dedicated to this auspicious occasion.

Matchstick Marvels

We had another stop to make on our way to Omaha – Matchstick Marvels. This is a roadside attraction that I was initially a little dubious about, thinking it might be a little hokey.

It’s a collection of sculptures made using matchsticks by an artist called Patrick Acton. I’d been picturing some small creations that wouldn’t be particularly impressive, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only were the sculptures massive, but they were incredible works of art.

I wrote this separate post about Matchstick Marvels, but here’s the Cutty Sark that he created. It took him 500 hours to plan and build it, 38,000 matchsticks were used in its construction and yes – even the sails were made using matchsticks.

Where We Ate & Drank

Big Grove Brewery & Taproom

Big Grove Brewery is one of the sponsors of RAGBRAI, so we wanted to check out their brewery and taproom in Iowa City. What we hadn’t anticipated was how massive this location is – it covers 28,000 square feet with tons of space both indoors and outdoors.

We sat outside because their large patio area is pet-friendly and so we brought Truffles along with us. I enjoyed their beer, while Shae liked the cocktails she tried (Shae doesn’t care for beer).

Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery

One evening we went for a drink at the bar at the Hyatt Place we were staying at. I ordered some kind of name brand whiskey and Mason asked if I’d tried the bourbon from Cedar Ridge – a local distillery.

I hadn’t, so I decided to give that a try instead and enjoyed it. Cedar Ridge not only produces whiskey but other spirits and wine too, so Shae and I stopped there after visiting the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum and Iowa’s Largest Frying Pan. It’s a really cute place – far more scenic than I’d have given a winery in Iowa credit for.

I ordered their bourbon and also got a bottle to take with me, while Shae ordered a wine flight to try out a few of their different wines, ordering a bottle to take back with us as well.

It was dinner time when we visited, so Shae got a charcuterie plate that came loaded with meat and cheese.

I ordered their Smoked Everything wood-fired pizza which was tremendous. It comes topped with smoked brisket, pulled pork, smoked ham, pepperoni, four cheese blend, sriracha ranch and green onion. It was absolutely loaded with the toppings and tasted delicious.

Thai Flavors

On the evening we arrived in Iowa City we ordered dinner from Thai Flavors which was only a block or two from our hotel. Shae got their Thai red curry which she liked, but the real winner was the curry fried rice I ordered. It was amazing – the most flavorful fried rice I’ve ever had. Shae doesn’t normally order fried rice and even she wished that she’d gotten it because it was that good.