One of the first farms I visited, as a "sight-seer" and the FIRST farm I took my son to. Even as a…read morenew mom, all kinds of thoughts floating around in your head, consuming your attention, I was still able to relax and enjoy the setting - The goats were probably most interesting and active The different activity areas were cool and unexpected; swings, climbing apparatuses, "lounging"/seating areas, inflatable jumper, etc Definitely enough to keep children entertained & occupied. We could've stayed even longer, but I came unprepared for the blowout my baby had... Plenty of easy parking

We had a blast here this Saturday as a family. My son loved the derecho slide and the corn palace…read more He was enamored with making bubbles so much he didn't want to leave. I enjoyed picking flowers and looking at the butterflies. The wine slushies were delicious and refreshing after picking the wildflowers/sunflowers. Ended with fries, wine and live music to wrap up the night. Beautiful farm to come enjoy the summer in. Highly recommend!

A hidden gem in a historical building offering diverse music, art, and theater. This nonprofit…read moreorganization prides itself in providing diverse events at super low admission fees.

CSPS is an eclectic cultural center housed in an 1891 building in the heart of the NewBo district…read more The main auditorium has a full schedule of traveling musicians, in-residence theater and music troupes, improv, you name it. 3 free art galleries present avant garde, regional, and national artists. Full bar. Fun, quirky and worth it.

I just happened to be passing through Cedar Rapids and I stopped at the festival, because if you're…read moreever in a town and you stumble across a Pride celebration, you have to go. Trust me. You'll have a great time. One might think that Iowa would be a strange place for a pride festival, but since Iowa actually allows gay marriage, it makes sense. Cedar Rapids Pride is quite a small celebration, as one would expect, however, it was very nice. On the Saturday, in Greene Square Park there was a selection of food, vendors, music and entertainment. It seemed like a small but well-organized, clean gathering. The rest of the 2010 schedule consisted of: Tuesday, a night at the movies with the showing of Transamerica. Wednesday, a showing of "Come As You Are" touted on the website to be the "gay Vagina Monologues". Thursday, a community appreciation potluck. Friday, Pride Prom. Sunday, Pride Brunch. I applaud Iowa and Cedar Rapids for celebrating diversity and having a fun well organized pride.

There's a museum for everything, isn't there?…read more Not all of 'em are good. Some of them have fancy names, but clearly the museum founders' idea was grander than the reality. Some of 'em look funky or cool on the outside, but are just a dumpy old house on the inside. And some of them sound puzzling, but turn out to be pretty cool. This one is one of those. It IS good. No, it's GREAT. Goes in the "small-ish but well-thought-out and interesting" bin. Lots of things you didn't know, probably hadn't considered before. Nice section on how it might feel to be forced to be a refugee by your own country, and what it feels like to try to make a home in America - completely different in too many ways from where you came from. And surprisingly unwelcoming in too many ways, as well. Even the gift shop is fun. Take a look at the cookbooks. Your (or your friend's) aunt from the Old Country with the thick-but-cool accent probably made you a couple of recipes you'll find in there. You probably liked them, rolling home stuffedly after a filling, tasty lunch. Mm. Won't take you more than a couple of hours to go through the place, so you'll have time to do other stuff - UNLESS you stop in the library. If you have any family connection at all to Czechia or Slovakia or the neighborhood, you'll WANT to stop in there. If you think about it, bring your best version of your family tree. The library has lots of fun books to dig into, from books about the countries to books containing manifests of ships bringing refugees covering many decades. With the help of a very nice research librarian, we found mention of a Kabatnik coming over some time in the late 1800s. Might or might not be related, but it was fascinating to not only see the name in a passenger list, listen to the librarian's surmise about why they came here when they did. He also gave us more ideas about where and how to look for more information (hint - ancestry.com ain't all it's cracked up to be). Go there. If you're of Czech or Slovak ancestry, you GOTTA go there.

On my way through Iowa, I planned a stop at this museum because I wanted to explore my heritage and…read morelearn more about where my family came from. It's a very well put together museum, not large, but I learned a lot and I spent a good hour going through the exhibits. I think there was a film but I skipped it in the interest of time. I feel a bit bad because I was the only visitor in the place and I hope they get more visitors. It's a very nice museum and considering the contributions that the many Czech and Slovak immigrants have made to America, worthwhile to see.

I had my first indoor football experience recently and was suprised at the fun and festivities that…read moretake place. This organization certainly has some die-hard and enthusiastic fans. It was almost a sold out crowd to come see the local football boys play. They have motorcycles, cars, horns, fan-participation, and announcements the entire game. There were a ton of little kids there getting autographs from the players and getting an opportunity to get up close and personal with the athletes. They did have the Titan Dolls Pom-Pom girls and I guess for some this is a great addition but it just reminded me of senior night at a high school game as they spent a lot of time announcing each girl and she was escorted out on the field by her parents.....it was just a bit much as these ladies are well into their mid 20's ---I have to give props to the owners and organizers as they certainly know how to fill a stadium and get the locals behind this. You can buy shirts for 15-20 dollars and I even got myself one of those big old long horns to blow. The players are viewed as local celebrities and get a lot of attention. The tickets are a variety of prices --I ended up springing 40.00 for seats three rows back from the field so I was right in the action. Not as exciting as an outdoor game but still impressive...

I thought I had written a review of Brucemore but hadn't so this is a little late. I took my mom…read more(who had always wanted to go) there in early June. I honestly wasn't excited about going but definitely was wowed. It's worth the price of admission. We had a great tour guide and it was just two of us. Tours are every hour. They definitely have a script but once our guide got warmed up, he shared a lot of information and stories with us. Gardens and property are nice to walk through as well. We were told they didn't have a gardener at the moment but the gardens still looked good. There's a pet cemetery on the property. (The last property owners had lions and monkeys and German Shepherds and other animals throughout their tenure.) Go see it after the tour so you know what you're looking at. Also know that there are some private homes now in in the carriage house and servants' houses so don't explore too much. Very interesting history. Don't miss the basement. (Also know that there are four flights of stairs and no elevator so plan accordingly if needed.)

Wow! What a cool place. The outdoor part of the property is huge and beautiful for walks or taking…read morein nature but the tour of the mansion is something you don't want to miss. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and the house was so well restored with so much of the original furniture and character from the three eras of Brucemore. So impressed and very grateful to have had the experience.

Sometimes you want free, wholesome family fun…read more Kroul Farm is a hidden gem of a pumpkin patch just a dozen miles down the road from Wilson's Apple Orchard. They've got chickens, bunnies and cows, OH MY! Fun photo ops and a corn maze. All free of charge. There are big pumpkins and small pumpkins, white ones and even warty ones. Mums. Squash. Knick knacks. Treats. Everything you'd expect and want! We got our decent sized pumpkin for $6. We had a blast of distanced, outdoor fun. I am ashamed as a Iowa City native that I had never set foot on this farm. (Only enjoyed it virtually earlier this spring.) This will be our go-to pumpkin getting spot for years to come!

Have only gotten firewood from here twice and is a super easy process. Will be trying the market…read morethey have soon

This place is awesome. It's a second run theater, so the prices are really low. The prices on the…read moreconcessions are also pretty low, which is a welcome relief from the insanely expensive concessions at the first run theaters in the area. They also do something crazy that I've never seen anywhere: they let you add butter to your own popcorn. They hand you your bucket, you carry it over to a dispenser, and you add as much or as little as you want. You can also pick between a low cholesterol "buttery topping" or actual butter (again, not something I've seen in a movie theater since I can remember). The theater is run (and probably owned) by a guy named Bruce who occasionally introduces the movies with a give-away thing where he hands out vouchers for free popcorn to randomly selected patrons. His little pre-movie presentation makes it obvious that he loves running the theater, which makes you feel good about supporting it. The final amazing thing is that they don't show you ads mixed in with the trailers. As of 2015, the first run theaters in the area have a bloated, 22-minute preview screening that includes ads that run before the trailers. Not here. They have a slide show with some ads going before the lights go down, but it's not like the Screenvision ads that play everywhere else. The downside is that these aren't huge, fancy theaters. No stadium seating, no massive screens, no crazy sound systems. Everything is totally acceptable, but it's not like going to a first run theater with a gigantic screen and really loud sound. They did upgrade to DLP digital projectors, and they installed new seats, so it's not like you'll be walking into some decrepit screening room. When you factor in the value, the projection and sound quality are great. You should be warned that bringing in outside food is strictly prohibited. It's not like a regular theater where you can basically sneak in anything you want. They have employees that walk through the movie periodically to make sure nobody has brought in anything. If this bugs you, get over it. You're paying almost half what you would at a first run theater, and you have the option to buy inexpensive concessions. Deal with it. Overall, this is an awesome place. Over the years, I've seen so many movies that I would have never seen otherwise. It's hardly worth taking a chance on a movie if you're going to pay $10 for a ticket and $20 for popcorn, but if you spend less than half that, you have the freedom to try movies that you're unsure about. It's a quality operation. Check it out. Become a regular. Keep cool theaters like this going.

Saw Super Mario Galaxy ^post Easter entertainment…read more Saw commercial with Shaq Demolished popcorn

A magical experience!! We booked a private llama hike (90 min) which gave our family of six, the…read moreopportunity to meet the owners, learn about the llamas, take lots of photos and best of all, spend some quality time with the llamas. The details of the private hike and arrival instructions were shared via email in advance. I originally booked for five people and was easily able to add another person to our reservation by contacting them. They also sent the liability waivers via email so we could fill out prior, electronically! The hike began with an overview of the farm (nature preserve) and some tips/tricks on walking the llamas. After the short and helpful orientation, we set off. It was just so magical -- you feel like you are in the Northeast when walking the llamas on the cedar tree populated land. We walked for about 75 minutes total -- all around the nature preserve which included a few stops for photos, a hilly hill (made me realize I'm definitely out of shape) and over a small little bridge. The resident cat, Whiskers joined as well. This is THE BEST experience and one we will never forget. Thanks to the two awesome ladies who took us on the hike. We fell in love with the llamas.

Oh my gosh. This place is amazing. I went with some friends to their "Llamamas" Christmas event…read more The llamas and goats were dressed up in festive costumes and you could feed, pet, and pose for pictures with them. There were also HUGE pigs to feed, and one of them "sits" for a treat! It was so fun. The owner and her family &team were super friendly and welcoming to everyone. There's a little adorable gift shop in the main barn. Apparently they have two separate Air B&Bs on the property, at least one of which you can wake up to llamas on your porch and in your windows! How fun would that be? This wonderful, charming place is located between Cedar Rapids and Ely. I'm going to keep an eye out on their social media pages for more events because it was so much fun!