Iowa "Must Sees"?

I would vote for the Ammana colonies and Bill Zubers restaurant or the Ox Bow.

If you're baseball fans, the Field Of Dreams movie site set in the corn field near Dyersville is fun to see.

If you have any interest in agriculture and history, then Living History Farms on the west side of Des Moines are well-done and interesting.

http://www.lhf.org/

There is a good restaurant nearby...the Iowa Machine Shed.

American Pickers has their store in Le Claire.

I also liked the Amana Colonies--and the Herbert Hoover Museum. We're suckers for state capitols, but I don't think many people share our odd fascination.

abram: When we are visiting a state, we tour the capitol if it's feasible. Tells a lot about what the state thinks is important. So you're not as odd as you may think.

However, speaking of odd, I've long had the desire to visit the tiny town of Spillville, where Antonin Dvorak spent a summer and wrote two of his finest quartets. They have a memorial to him there. I would go there and give him a thumbs up. That's all. I've never heard a Dvorak composition I didn't like.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Please keep them coming, as your ideas will give us a clue on what we should research. We particularly enjoy natural sights, and beautiful scenery. The Amana, Herbert Hoover and state capitol ideas are intriguing. Field of Dreams, Living History Farms and American Pickers will get us onto the search engines too. Restaurant recommendations are appreciated.

If you are looking for natural sights, the Midwest's Best Kept Secret is nothing more than the Great River Road which is a marked route that parallels the Mississippi River. It runs on both sides of the river. The Iowa Side is fantastic at certain points. The greatest scene in my opinion is the view from Balltown Road. Another point is the Pikes Peak State Park, a popular tourist attraction where Zebulon Pike was commissioned to set up a fort to monitor Indian movements along the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. The fort is gone but the view is still worth it.

Another fantastic sight is the Upper Iowa River. It's a popular hunting and fishing area but the view, IMO, is stunning!

Another scene is the Iowa River at Iowa Falls. Get on board the double decker boat called the Empress and take a 45 minute ride up and down the river at a leisurely slow pace and check out the cliffs which is one of the few places in the world (outside of Paris, France) that you can see cliff dwelling pigeons.

My next suggestion isn't exactly natural but is worthwhile to visit. Check out West Bend and visit the world famous Grotto of the Redemtion, the largest in the world. Built singlehandedly by a priest who nearly died from disease. Made of rocks and gems he gathered from around the world and worth millions of dollars, it is a labor of love. You don't have to be a Catholic to appreciate the beauty it is.

Oh, you wanted some suggestions for restaurants. While in Iowa Falls, check out Camp David at the south end of Main Street. You can pig out on their delicious food buffet while getting a great view (indoors or outdoors) of the river.

There is a wonderful American Gothic Museum in tiny Eldon, Iowa. On our last visit, we got there not long before closing and the friendly young guide told us to take our time. We looked around and then asked her if we could see the movie and Grant Wood and the painting. I kept my eye on the clock while watching a very interesting movie and when it seemed time to go so we wouldn't hold her over, I slipped out to tell her. I looked outside and she was taking photos of other guests in front of the American Gothic House (they have clothing and props for you to use). We watched the end of the movie.

The museum itself is very well done too.

To get your bearings, it is an hour to an hour and a half south of I80 between Des Moines and Iowa City.

If you go there after (or before) Des Moines, you might want to take a route that goes through Pella. It is a Dutch town with a good bakery and some other sites. (It is evidently the namesake of Pella windows since we saw a factory there.)

We spend a week in southeastern Iowa for a family reunion every summer, so have a pretty good grasp of things to see within an hour or so.

Ottumwa - You can take a factory tour of John Deere. It was pretty interesting and since Iowa is in the midst of farmland, it would be appropriate to your trip.

Ottumwa also has a restaurant called the Canteen which features loose-meat hamburgers and has been there forever. In fact, when the city built a parking garage, they built it around the restaurant in order to save it. It is NOT fine dining - but it is a classic in its own right. Family members go there every year, some more than once.

Bloomfield/Drakesville area. There are many Amish homes and shops in this area. Bloomfield has a visitor's center with a list of their businesses.

Just out of curiosity, which coast are you from? I assume you are from a coast since your final states are in the middle of the country.

We worked through all 50 states too. Our last two were Washington and Oregon. Finally, I watched airfares and we flew there for a long weekend.

Other than North Dakota, the six states that you have left are conveniently close to each other. ND isn't to far off, but doesn't fit the others as well.

Yes, there are a few sites to see in Iowa and will second those recommended: Living History Farm incl. Machine Shed for eats, Amana Colony with family style restaurants, Grotto, Pella, Hoover birthplace/museum and more. Also Lake Okoboji, state university at Iowa City, covered bridges of Madison Co. etc. Wife is a Cedar Rapids lady and we met at Drake Un. in DM.

Bill in Boston

We rode a funicular (short inclined railway) in Dubuque when we were there. Also did a tour of the John Deere tractor assembly plant in Waterloo which was free and I thought very enjoyable (the employees giving the tour were very enthusiastic). Field of Dreams was also kind of neat (both for the neighborly squabble and that it was rebuilt after the movie because so many people went looking for it). BTW, I also like visiting state capitols.

Enjoy your quest through your last few states. (I'm down to 4 - Alaska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, & New Mexico.)

The Amana colonies are interesting and photogenic. In Winterset, you will find some Bridges of Madison County filming sites as well as John Wayne's birthplace, if you're interested.

Oh, and the Corn Palace! In Mitchell, Iowa, and quite a landmark.