My Bucket-List

We all dream, right? Sure, I would love to dream about Paris or Rome but reality called today. I am in Iowa and I am not going too far anytime soon…and honestly, I Like Iowa! I think our state is beautiful and has so much to offer! This is by NO means a comprehensive list  – but just a few places that I am hoping to visit sometime in the near future!

Central (Because I live here)

• Ashton Observatory – Jasper County
• Farm House Museum – ISU – Ames
• Terrace Hill – DEs Moines
• A&E Dairy – Des Moines
• D-Line Trolley – downtown Des Moines
• The Big Treehouse – Marshalltown
• Brunnier Art Museum – Ames
• Trainland – Colfax
• The Brenton Arboretum – Dallas Center
• Climb Iowa – Grimes
• Hoyt Sherman Place – Des Moines
• Jorden House – Des Moines
• Salisbury House and Gardens – Des Moines
• Sky Zone – DSM
• Matchstick Marvels – Gladbrook
• Merchants National Bank by Louis Sullivan (jewel box) – Grinnell
• Jefferson Telephone Company Museum – Jefferson
• Mahanay Bell Tower – Jefferson
• Madrid Historical Society Museum – Madrid
• Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge – Prairie City
• Rock Creek State Park – Kellogg

North Central

• Clear Lake Fire Museum – Clear Lake
• Iowa Trolley Park
• Fort Museum and Frontier Village – Fort Dodge
• Frank Lloyd Wright Stockman House and Architectural Interpretive Center – Mason City
• Fossil Prairie- Rockford
• Bushy Creek State Park – Webster City

South Central

• Vermeer Mill – Pella
• Marion County Historical Village – Knoxville
• American Gothic House – Eldon
• Rathbun Fish Hatchery – Moravia
• Stephens State Forest – Chariton
• Lake Wapello State Park – Drakesville (trumpet swans)

North East

• Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum – Burr Oak
• Iowa’s Dairy Center – Calmer
• Hansen Dairy – Hudson
• Ice House Museum – Cedar Falls
• Decorah Fish Hatchery – Decorah
• Dunning’s Spring Park (waterfall) – Decorah
• Department of Natural Resources Aquarium and Hatchery – Guttenberg
• Backbone state park
• Wapsipinican State Park
• Yellow River State Forest

East Central/East

• National Czech and Slovak Museum – Cedar Rapids
• Grant Wood studio and visitor center – Cedar Rapids
• Palisades-Kepler State Park – Mt. Vernon
• State Historical Library – Iowa City
• UOI Hospitals and Clinics Medical Museum – Iowa City
• UOI Museum of Natural History – Iowa City
• Old Cedar County Jail – Tipton
• Herbert Hover Pres. Library – West Branch
• Anamosa State Penitentiary Museum – Anamosa
• The Sawmill Museum – Clinton
• The 1857 Old Jail Museum – Dubuque
• Crystal Lake Cave – Dubuque
• Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark – Dubuque
• National Mississippi River Museum – Dubuque
• Family Museum – Bettendorf
• Iowa 80 Truckstop – Walcott
• Puttnam Museum of History and Natural Science – Davenport

South East

• Snake Alley – Burlington
• Geode State Park
• Maharishi Vedic Observatory – Fairfield
• Old Fort Madson – Fort Madson
• George M. Verity Riverboat Museum – Keokuk
• Johnny Clock Museum- Lockridge
• Lewelling Quaker Museum – Salem
• Lake Ruthbun (fish hatchery) – Centerville
• Birmingham city park
• Fairfield Museum and History Center – Fairfield
• Lacy- Keosauque State Park
• Shimek State Forest Wildlife Management  – Keosauqua
• Pearson house (unofficial underground railroad stop)- Keosauqua
• River Front Park and the Manning hotel – Keosauqua
• The villages of Van Buren (Dutchmans store which is a bulk food store with a fabric shop and is worth the experience) -Cantril
• park with a scenic walk – Cantril
• Amish and Mennonite stores – Bloomfield
• Elena’s s ice cream stand – Bloomfield
• Grams Dairy – Ottumwa
• the Old Threshers reunion – Mt. Pleasant
• Johny Clock Museum – Lockridge
• Pearl Button Museum –
• Dumont Museum – Sigourney

North West

• Grotto of the Redemption – West Bend
• Blue Bunny Ice-cream – Le Mars
• Ida Grove (buildings look like castles)
• The Kaleidoscope Factory – Pocahontas
• Pomeroy Tornado Museum – Pomeroy
• Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center – Sioux City
• Stone State Park – Sioux City
• Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center
• Buena Vista County Wind Farm – Storm Lake
• Living Heritage Tree Museum – Storm Lake
• Black Hawk Lake Wildlife Management Area
• Fort Defiance State Park – Estherville
• Battle Hill Museum of Natural History – Battle Creek
• Danish Windmill – Elkhorn
• Bridge to nowhere – Rock Rapids

West Central

• Squirrel Cage Jail – Council Bluffs
• Railswest Railroad Museum and HO Model Railroad – Council Bluffs
• Union Pacific Railroad Museum – Council Bluffs
• Hitchcock Nature Center – Honey Creek
• Stempel Bird Collection – Macedonia

Did you know that Iowa has 70 State Parks, 4 major State Forests, 90 State preserves, 6 National Wildlife refuges, and 99 county parks most with nature centers and educational programs. 

What’s on YOUR Bucket-List? Start Pinning and be Inspired!