The National Park honoring the life of Herbert Hoover is inspiring and educational. The complex is…read morelarge and includes a Visitors Center, his original birthplace cottage, schoolhouse, blacksmith, gravesite, park and Presidential Library and Museum. We started our tour in the Visitor's Center. We were greeted by a friendly Park Ranger, who described the layout of the center. A twelve minute movie provides a nice overview of Hoover's life from boyhood to post presidential. The Center also has a room with interactive displays and artifacts. I confess that I didn't know much about Hoover prior to this visit. His story is memorable as he was raised Quaker, became orphaned at a young age, yet managed to attend Stanford University and become a successful geologist. Then, he became president and devoted his life to international outreach. What an inspirational story! Despite cold rain, we took the short walk to Hoover's boyhood cottage, the blacksmith shop where his father worked and the schoolhouse. Each stop was informative. Nice boardwalks connect all the buildings, which are wheel chair accessible. The museum was closed for major renovations and will reopen in 2026. The grave site (behind the museum) is peaceful, simple and lovely. There is nearby parking. The Park is easy on/off US 80. The site was free to visit (although donations are accepted). There were public restrooms in the Visitors Center. I encourage a visit if you like history. The Park is a great place to bring kids. Plan a couple hours.

Admittedly, I don't do much research before visiting an NPS site, as I would like to be educated by…read morethe informational displays present. If I have additional questions, I just look them up later. So, it was a huge surprise to me that this place was pretty sizable. Starting from the visitor's center, you can meander your way through the grounds containing the former president's house (and birth place), his school house, and his original Quaker church. There's also a blacksmithery which has demonstrations over the weekends. Finally, you can see his grave site. I unfortunately did not have time to visit the museum, but the NPS ranger had good things to say about it. There is also a small path to the prairie to give you a sense of what Hoover's family encountered before they farmed the land. Overall, this was a great visit!

Surprised no photos until now…read more Growing up in Iowa one of my favorite areas to visit. Amana Historical Museum you will learn so much. Wonderful place walk around have lunch, shop, then have a pastry or go for a short hike near a pond.

Such a lovely visitors center. The elderly lady working explained the history of the town to me…read more The lady at the coffee shop was very interesting. I was very pleased with our experience !

This is more like the high end suburban/country subdivision of RV Parks, every bit as wonderful as…read moreyou can imagine, unless you HAVE to have a pool, an on site store, and cheap yucky pizza. This county park is stunning and full of great space and the opportunity to really enjoy the beauty that Iowa offers without being stuck in a forest. There are a limited number of spaces with electric, water, and sewer located in loop A. The remainder of the spaces all come with electric and water. The spaces are ample with huge concrete slabs for easy leveling, an additional large concrete patio, and a secure and safe burn out at each site. There is a ton of grass around the sites usable for pick-up football games, frisbee, tag, water balloon wars--name it. Nearby, there are ample walking and biking trails and a dog park that is enormous. The dog park is only about mile from the camp grounds and includes two enormous fenced areas areas--one for large dogs and one for small dogs. Beyond these, there is an all-dog excersise area with a walking path. Off loop B is a walking path that holds a hidden wooden bench swing, which is the result of an Eagle Scout project. This is a great place to really take in the beauty of the area and decompress. There is a lot of rag weed and golden-rod, so be aware and bring medicine if you have allergies. We paid $35/night for full hook-ups--far less than most KOAs and far more beautiful. The campground is typically open from April 15-October 15. Strongly recommended! The common restrooms and showed are extremely clean.

I am giving this a 5 based on the fact got in late and left early. We only needed an overnight…read morestay. The spaces were concrete and so level we did not unhook our truck since we were there one night. Very quiet and exactly what we needed for our purposes!

Cousin got married in the Whipple auditorium of the library yesterday, and the reception was at one…read moreof the conference rooms close by. Initial plans were to hold the ceremony up on the roof, but outdoor temperature and humidity, coupled with daily forecasts of thunderstorms, necessitated the change in plans. No worries, as they were all still able to get photos of the wedding party up on the roof and at other library locations. Since we were all here for rehearsal and wedding the two days I visited the library, I was not able to explore much, except for the Greyhound Deli & Cafe on the first floor, which was right underneath the conference room where the reception took place and the nearby Whipple auditorium, which were on the second floor. The space outside the conference room had tables, chairs, and couches and was designed so that you may look into the cafe's "courtyard" below. Oh, and I really enjoyed checking out the "green" roof and the porcelain patio furniture! Nice views of Pepsi's delivery areas... Hehe! All three levels are easily accessed by stairs and elevators. Would like to explore more on a return visit sometime in the future.

What a great place is the CR library - I stopped in when I had a few unexpected hours to study and…read moreafter spending a few hours here, all I can say is "Wow"! The parking situation is a bit cramped as the lot only houses ~ 30ish cars, but if you find a spot, you're gold. Upon walking in, I was impressed with how modern and open the place is. There are tons of windows letting plenty of light in and lot of fun lighting throughout. Whilst walking up the stairs, I noted the random illumination of the wall next to me- it's the little things! I didn't explore tons of different areas, but did find the computers upstairs as I'd left mine at home. The computer section had around 50 machines and with a photo ID, I was able to log on for a couple hours. Tons of study space as well, including a bunch of private study rooms upstairs. The children's area was quite extensive and something our little dudes would enjoy. The furniture in the kids area had a healthy dose of modern art mixed in and made me want to sit/play on it. Café downstairs had plenty to drink/eat and made for some good caffeinating. Cool factor - They have a video game check out section for multiple different systems. Take home message - Great place to work, study, read or learn. If we lived up here, we'd be here A LOT!

Love this place! I "lived" there for some 4 weeks. I was there every single day they were open…read more The genealogy library is open: 10am til 4pm, Tuesday-Saturday and closed on holidays (see photo) If traveling to visit? DOUBLE CHECK WITH THEM on days, hours http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ia/county/linn/gen_soc.htm (319) 369-0022 They will let you stay in there through the lunch hour as long as you are in the door by 12 noon (doors are locked for the other people in the building). I "lived" in this library for some 4+ weeks when I was going genealogy in the area in May and June 2009. The folks are nice and helpful, and there is a ton of great resources there to track down your family roots. Parking is excellent OUT BACK (paid, short term on the street out front), safe area....good hours considering it is run by volunteers. A treasure trove of fabulous stuff! Note: the hours posted on the DOOR is for the Masonic Library folks in the building.....NOT the genealogy library. They have separate hours which is why I smudged them out so you would not get confused.

This is a roadside attraction that delivers on its promises, that is that it's a large wooden…read morenickle. I'm not sure if it's the world's largest, but this is the first wooden nickle that I've seen and so it's my personally largest. There's a gravel lot that you can pull into (although you have to pass through a gate that says it's private property, so your mileage will vary on if it's open) to take photos. I didn't cross the road to get up and close with it since the road was quite busy. I'm kind of disappointed that there's no path that you can walk on to see it, but then again, this is a fairly low effort attraction. There's no amenities that it offers, nor any signs explaining it, but then again it is free. Would I stop here again? If it was on the way, sure, but I wouldn't make a trip solely to see this.

5/5 stars for being your quintessential small town public library…read more This little library is chock full of lots of great things--books, audiobooks, magazines, DVDs, Blu-Rays, puzzles, games, and even cake pans. It's been a long time since I've seen puzzles and board games available for loan. For a library that's on the smaller side I'd say they have a lot to offer. I went ahead and got myself a library card on this visit because I know I'll become a regular. I left with a few non-fiction titles (I love a good self-help book), but will definitely be back to throughly browse all of their DVDs and Blu-rays--they must have thousands. Be prepared to really search the library for what you want, as they don't have computers available to patrons who may want to look up the name of an author, book title, or particular subject matter. If you have an exact title in mind, I'm sure the staff would happily locate it for you. Otherwise, everything is categorized by fiction, non-fiction, YA, picture books, magazines, etc, then alphabetically. They do have a printed inventory list of DVDs and Blu-rays that you might find helpful. Fairfax Public Library does have a website and an online catalog you can access from home. I'm not sure how you access this database at the library itself. Complementary Keurig machine with K-Cups near the fiction audiobooks. Free parking on the street in front of the library, or in the parking lot near the back of the building. Highly recommend visiting the library if you're a Fairfax/Walford resident.

I've driven through Iowa City plenty of times but never got a chance to really explore it until…read morerecently. I absolutely love this city, it's clean, easy to drive through, walkable and has a cute and cozy downtown. Many buildings are in great condition and has great selection of food and restaurants. Never really any traffic, great gas prices.