This summer (somehow) I explored the outdoors a shi*t ton while also feeling absolutely trapped in…read moremy home? I don't know if that makes sense to you? But... COVID-19. Amiright?! Hickory Hill Park has been on my gotta-try list all summer. FINALLY on Labor Day weekend, we found the time to drive across town, to the wayyyyy east side to check it out. LET ME TELL YOU. THIS PARK IS BEAUTIFUL. There's tons of trails for jogging, walking and hiking! From wooded ones, to paths through the prairie. There is something for everyone. Picnic shelters, too. There are a couple reasons this is a four vs five star. 1. There's not a lot of signage on the trails, so it is very easy to get lost or not know where to continue on to! Make sure you have a map online pulled up when you visit. 2. Hickory Hill boasts very, very narrow paths. So during a pandemic-- BRING YOUR MASK! We typically are the family just try to distance when we are hiking outdoors... but distancing is hard on trails at this east side gem.

Clearly long cold Iowa winters have made me far more brave than I would have imagined. I mean who…read moresays, "It's a beautiful day lets go check out a new park" when its December and 30 degrees out. Never thought that would be me, but sure enough now knowing subzero temperatures have brainwashed me to think 30 degrees is a gorgeous winter day! With this new found appreciation for 30 degree days I packed the pups in the car and headed to check out Hickory Hill Park. What a nice park full of no shortage of multiple winding trails through the woods and prairies. All the trails were very well maintained and were perfect for exploring with our dogs. This is the perfect park if you are just looking to enjoy nature. So want to trail run, walk/hike, stroll with your dog? Then you found the right spot! I also imagine this would be a great spot for snowshoeing or cross country skiing if there was a significant snow fall. It wasn't muddy when we went since the ground was frozen but I imagine if there was recently a lot of rain this place could get pretty muddy.

This place is very popular and quite busy. The servers work their tails off. Our server was…read moregreat. The place is very much a diner. It's got a diner vibe and look. And that's fine. The food was hit and miss. I got a crab cake po boy with pork green chile chili on the side. the chili was amazing. I wish I would have ordered a bowl of that. The po boy was not good. The bread was soggy and the crab cakes did not taste like crab, or really anything. I took one bite then just ate the bland crab cakes. But ordering that was my fault. I'm at a diner, what was I thinking? My friend loved his Cuban sandwich, which was a better choice. But that pork green chile chili was phenomenal.

I've been to All 3 locations. Food and service are the same…read moreat all. Kind of warm in this facility but it is an older building. Awesome Celia D. did wonderful. Solon restaurant is a very nice surprise too.

Excellent woodfired pizza. Great variety of sauces and toppings. Their salads are also very good. I…read morehad the roasted beet salad with goat cheese absolutely amazing combined with our meatball pizza. It is extremely attentive lots of natural light and plenty of parking. Definitely going to come back.

Really enjoyed this place! Food was great but random detail I have to mention the to-go packaging…read morewas Finally a restaurant that puts as much thought into how the food travels as how it's served. Everything stayed neat, fresh and actually made it home looking like it should.

Unique park within the Linn County Conservation system. A little tricky to navigate with little…read moresignage, no main location, and no maps readily available (I relied on offline hiking app maps), but there appear to be at least 4 trail options spread throughout the nearly 2000 acre area. There's a boat launch, equestrian trail and campground, primitive hike in cabin and river-side campground, and a shooting range. The pit toilet near the cabin is pristine. I didn't see any other people in the nearly 2 hours I spent wandering around. Very peaceful. I want to come back and explore more of the area and maybe spend the night in the campground.

New and very accessible does require a fee payment per person or you can get a yearly pass for a…read morediscount if you visit often

A greasy spoon with classic diner items and comfort food…read more Breakfast was good. Portions are huge at this diner. The service took longer than expected after we ordered. They certainly have their regular customers.

I wanted bacon, eggs, toast and hashbrowns, but it is not on the menu as such to order so I told…read morethe waitress that's what I wanted. It was not great and when I received the bill I was charged separately for the toast and hashbrowns so my total breakfast order came to $15!! The total bill for my friend and I was around $27.50 and we didn't even have coffee. Earlier in the week we had breakfast a Hy-Vee which included coffee for both of us and it was not only better but $5 cheaper with the coffee. I would never go back. Also, there is zero ambiance here.

There's NO restaurant! Our cousin stayed here and she enjoyed the old feeling and was very quiet.read more

The Decker Hotel in Maquate IA is a beautiful step back in time. I wish I could stay longer.read more

This bakery has a wide selection of cookies, breads, pastries and more. They had a strawberry…read morerhubarb bread-like-cake on sample when I went and I really regret not buying that because it was very tasty. I did get 3 items from the bakery cases. First was a chocolate eclair. It was like a long creme puff with chocolate ganache on top and yellow filling in the middle. Reminded me of a Boston cream pie only in cream puff form. I thought it was ok. I would have really liked the filling to have more vanilla flavor. The puff part was a good texture. The ganache was mildly chocolatey. The second item was a blueberry cream-cheese pastry. I wasn't wowed by it. The cream cheese maybe needed more vanilla. The third item was a creme horn. I liked it, but again I wished the filling had a bit more vanilla. Also at the very end, it was hollow, so save some of the creme at the big end for the little end so you get a more balanced bite. All of the items are presented with great care and beautifully displayed. I just wanted a bit more flavor. I would go back and I would try different items.

The coffee and sweets were delicious though it did seem a little expensive. The cafe is family run…read more It seemed like they were training a new person when we were there so it was a little slow service given it was us and one other pair of customers. The baristas were friendly though. The store was clean and offered two levels of indoor seating and the front porch outdoors. There's sweets and gifts you can purchase to go as well.

Deluxe and Jamie made the process to order a Graduation cake and cookies from Texas very easy. The…read moreshop was quaint and smelled amazing when walking in. Was greeted right away and everything was ready when we arrived the cakes looked amazing and decorated as requested. They even helped us to the car with everything. Graduation day was the next day and people couldn't stop talking about how good everything was. If we take a trip back to Iowa will definitely have to go back and I would recommend them to anyone. Thanks for making Graduation extra SWEET.‍

BUSY ON A SATURDAY MORNING! FOR GOOD REASON! Great quiche snd pastries. You have to not mind they…read moreare tight and quirky about their boxes. But pasties are very good.

Beautiful place and lovely people. Highly recommended!…read more The patio is serene and the service is impeccable.

It would be easy to fall for Cafe d'Marie's charm, slightly off the beaten path inside of a…read moreconverted historic home. But my wife and I were quickly snapped back to reality... because that was the only thing that was 'quick' about our visit. Our wait to be seated during Saturday brunch hours was bearable -- 5-10 minutes for the small dining room. However once we were seated, it didn't really seem all that crowded. That's an important point because it took about 10-15 for anyone to come take our order, to offer us water, to say hello... anything. I had to grab our menus from another desk. Believe me, we were very tempted to leave. Someone who appeared to be in charge (perhaps the owner) came over in the nick of time. I ordered the muffuletta which was supposed to be served with puréed hot peppers and olive oil sauce. These were missing when the dish arrived tableside which was very disappointing. When everything was finally delivered, the sandwich tasted really good. But I can't get past the poor quality of service.

I've been to Front Street a few times now and overall I've had a pretty good experience. The…read moreservice has been good most of the time, especially when it's not super busy. There have been a couple times where it felt a little slower, but nothing too bad. The food is definitely the best part though. My favorite thing there is the pork nachos, they're honestly really good and I would go back just for those. The portion is big and the flavor is really good, so it's easy to share but also hard not to eat all of it. Overall I'd say it's a solid place to go, especially if you're looking for something casual with good food. I'd definitely come back again.

Bottom Line: Good food, good service, good value!…read more Stopped in for a very late lunch pre after-work/evening crowd. Super inviting feel, lots of warm tones in this contemporary but old-town, Americana-feeling pub overlooking the Mississippi. Server prompt, easy going and efficient. Very good American pub-fare selection. My pork tenderloin sandwich from the pub-fare side of the menu, with Fries, beautifully done, and with creamy coleslaw side, was needed comfort on a plate. I relished and just enjoyed the whole vibe for a while. The adult beverage selection is more than ample. All in all a definite return-to spot!