jenniferosullivan

Im a photographer from Ireland and Im busy planning a road trip for next year through Nebraska and Iowa, looking for advise and suggestions on what to see and where to go. Stunning landscapes, quirky people and places to visit, best time of year to travel, would love to see some farming and agriculture, horses, livestock and wildlife too, state fairs, rodeos.

InSandy

Definitely do the Bridges of Madison County just south of Des Moines.

Gretchen

Interesting. I didn't know or remember that that was where they were. I really always thought they were in Indiana in the Brown County area.

Ozarksbill

Hey Irish lady, I'm a bit surprised about a road trip through Nebraska and Iowa for "stunning landscapes, quirky people..."
Moving from the Midwest (born Chicago, college also wife's home Iowa, living Illinois-Missouri) I'm familiar with the area. Can't say there are stunning landscapes as compared with say the Rocky Mnts or Yellowstone Pk or Glendalough or The Burren. Mostly flat farmland with corn and hay fields. And yes, livestock and agriculture but not so much wildlife or rodeos (that would likely be South Dakota or Colorado but someone from Iowa/Nebraska might correct me).

As for quirky people, that too puzzles me. Some of us are quirkier than others! Hollywood might be a better venue but then we have some right in our apartment building!

Bill in Boston

musicfan

In Nebraska:

--The Sandhills
--Valentine
--Cherry County (largest county in the country as I recall)
--Niobrara River/Valley
--Fort Robinson State Park (history, buffalo and rodeo)
--Alliance for quirk--home of "Carhenge"

Most of the above are accessed via (I think) Highway 20 which runs along the northern border of Nebraska...some of the scenery is quite beautiful.

Late Spring and early summer would be the best months for travel.

I grew up in Nebraska and have been to all of the above spots at one time or another.

Onree

You don't say which direction you are traveling, but I'll assume Eastbound since you say Nebraska first. I've made this journey dozens of times. The best time to travel would probably be Spring or early Fall, mid-September to the end of October. The kids are back in school and most of the tourists have gone home. From west to east, more or less, on I-80 a great quirky place is Ole's Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge, http://olesbiggame.com/
Exit 145 where you can eat lunch or dinner with a (stuffed) moose or giraffe looking over your shoulder.
Moving off of I-80 (the older 2-lane highways are more scenic and interesting) another quirky site is "Carhenge," http://www.carhenge.com/ a spoof of Stonehenge, and named the #2 wackiest attraction in the USA, in Alliance, Nebraska, North of I-80 about an hour and a half on US 385 Highway.
Pretty good scenic drive across the Sand Hills on Nebraska Highway 2 which takes you back south to I-80, Grand Island, and the Platte River, the area for the truly awesome (a much overused word) sight of the annual Sand Hill Crane migration. Some 600,000 of these graceful large birds converge on about a 75-mile stretch of the river in March of each year. The fall migration is more dispersed in both time and locale.

In Lincoln, the Nebraska State Capitol Building is worth a visit, as well as a Husker (University of Nebraska) football game in the fall. Lincoln's a great town for live music venues, both classical and popular.
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is truly world class, one of the dozen best zoos in the United States, home to both a rain forrest and the largest indoor dessert in the world. Really, a whole day is not enough time there. Great eating experiences in Omaha include King Fongs, a hundred year old Chinese restaurant with mostly original decor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...a.html#REVIEWS
and the Bohemian Cafe http://www.bohemiancafe.net/ as well as a couple of dozen good steak houses, including Gorat's http://goratsomaha.com/ , where you just might rub shoulders with billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

A couple hours north of Omaha on I-29 is the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Bz_...layer_embedded Every bit as good as the Smithsonian or the Ashmolean Museum in England.
I'm out of time, so I'll leave Iowa to someone else. Enjoy your road trip!

musicfan

Since you mentioned rodeos in your OP, here is an article in Omaha's paper today about the big annual rodeo in Burwell; I thought it might help you in planning your trip next summer:

http://www.omaha.com/article/2013080...ka-s-big-rodeo

PaulRabe

> love to see ... state fairs
http://www.iowastatefair.org/

> stunning landscapes
Going to Iowa and Nebraska for "stunning" landscapes would be like going to Ireland to see vast deserts. I was never "stunned" in my fourteen years of life in Iowa. You will see endless rows of cash crops being grown on fertile fields, and you may find that stunning; but you'll be hard-pressed to find elevation change, plant diversity, or water in motion.

bredhairedgirl

Don't take ozarksbill comments too much to heart there are plenty of things to see in Iowa. I am an Iowan. I travel all over the world and can give an honest opinion. We may not have mountains here but there is plenty to offer. Whenever I hear people say it is flat, I always say ask a RAGBRAI rider (an annual week long bicycle ride starting on the Missouri River and ending at the Mississippi, route different every year in late July) if Iowa is flat. They would answer no. Iowa is farm country!!!!

Iowa has something to offer everyone. Summers are hot humid and lush with green vegetation. Forget Tanariff next year Jennifer, you can get your tan on in Iowa.

Des Moines- has opera, the Iowa state fair(mid August), Art museum, art festival downtown (late June), science center.

Ames--is home to Iowa State University, which IMHO has the most beautiful campus in the USA. Next to the Footbal stadium is the Reiman Gardens. The site also has a butterfly house.

Cedar Rapids-- Brucemore a Queen Anne style mansion on a large estate. The gardens have roses many flowering perennials. In the summer they have outdoor concerts, Shakespeare on the lawn and much more. The house used to be owned by the family that started Quaker Oats.

The river drive along the Mississippi is hard to beat.

When traveling from NE to IA. Try a fee hours driving along the Loess hills scenic byway. These tall hills are found this high only in one other place....China! http://visitloesshills.org/

The Lincoln Highway (US 30) travels through the middle of the state. Through big and little towns. Most towns have a bar (pub) where you can meet locals. Most people are friendly anywhere in Iowa, but especially in small towns!

Plenty of wildlife. Eagles on the Mississippi River as well as other rivers throughout Iowa.

Balltown, Iowa is a one road town. It has Brietbach's restaurant, a 6th generation run establishment, that is the oldest running bar in IA. It has burned 2 and been rebuilt (lost a bit of the charm, but...) Homemade food to pack some kcals on. But the views in this areas is amazing overlooking the Mississippi Valley.

I could go on for pages. What ever you do in NE or IA, Jennifer, you will get lots of pictures.

Tabernash2

I appreciate Iowa, and have relatives there, but I would not choose it if I wanted someplace "stunning".

Maybe you'd be interested in Kentucky and nearby, for low mountains and 'horse country'? Or

California has all that you are looking for, like midcoastal areas. There are Arabian horse ranches in there. (A great one is Legends Arabians.) Lots of farming. Plenty of quirky. And tons of stunning!

Also consider Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona. Frankly, anyplace but Iowa or Nebraska.

Tabernash2

BTW, my family actually immigrated to Iowa from Ireland. They farmed and raised horses. Maybe you're headed to meet family in Iowa or Nebraska?

Ozarksbill

Well, Onree and beredhaired have lined up various less-than-impressive Iowa sights! This much is true...every state in America does have something. Maybe Iowa;-( But Tabernash and PaulRabe are right...look anywhere else for "stunning." Opera in Des Moines? Brucemore mansion in C.R? Meeting locals in Iowa pubs? Iowa State campus? Plenty of wildlife? You must be kidding. Iowa is CORNFIELDS.

However, these should be mentioned as worthwhile and I'm surprised they aren't: Living History Farms in Des Moines, Grant Wood paintings (I think in library, also carriage house museum) in Cedar Rapids, Amana Colonies SW of C.R. (excellent family style restaurants), Lake Okoboji in NW Iowa, Loess Hills in NE, and also Winterset-bridges of Madison County. And I will add Ft. Robinson St. Pk. in NW Nebr. is neat.

(Disclaimer: DW raised in Cedar Rapids and we met 60 years ago at Drake Univ. in Des Moines plus many visits to the state).

Ozarksbill

Checking further about regional artist Grant Wood here is info:
www.crma/Content/Grant-Wood.asp Also here is a studio once behind a mortuary where he did much of his painting.

Ozarksbill

Correction: www.crma.org/Content/Grant-Wood.asp

Katzgar

use youtube and gmaps as planning aids. look at the Minnesota state fair.

http://www.midwestphotosafari.com/
http://www.journeyoflight.com/photo-gallery/nebraska
http://www.ppiowa.com/gallery.php
http://www.ioscapes.com/
http://cedarrapids.cityvoter.com/bes...s/eastern-iowa

bredhairedgirl

Check out this link: http://iowapublicradio.org/post/photographing-heartland
to the left of the picture there should be a play option to listen to the interview. Thought you might enjoy it since you are a photographer and David Plowden, photographer has just published a book of photos on the Heartland.

InSandy

We loved our trip through Iowa last year. We hit it from three different directions and loved every bit of it. From the endless rolling hills covered with corn, to the small town friendliness. Winterset (birthplace of John Wayne) and the Bridges was a favorite of mine, it was fun to drive through the hills and dales looking for them. We were hoping to visit the Living History Farms, but that will have to take another visit.

We drove north through Amana and Kalona and enjoyed our stops along there and fell in love with the Barn Quilts. Stopped in Riverside to see the birthplace of Star Trek commander James Kirk. Then on to Field of Dreams and the Effigy Indian Mounds NP. If nothing else the views of the Mississippi along that stretch of Iowa are "stunning" in my book (and I live and travel in Utah so know canyon country stunning).

And then hitting the north end where there are hidden streams and canoeing. In my opinion Iowa was anything but boring. Loved it.

InSandy

Oh, and would have loved to stop at the Frank Lloyd Wright House near Cedar Falls Iowa, which was not open the day we were in the area.

Did not know about Grant Wood's paintings, or would have tried to include them.

And in Nebraska:
I'll second Fort Robinson .
You could also check out the Pony Express station in Gothenburg.

And the "stunning" Holy Family Shrine: http://www.hfsgretna.org/