DON'T LAUGH.......Considering a vacation to Iowa!

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by MPLS_TC

I was just telling my buddy the other day about how I want to take the family on a fun filled vacation to Iowa.

My sarcasm flag just popped up.

[atler8]

It was pretty obviously sarcasm but I suppose that we should be thankful that he didn't drop a full-fledged Iowa joke or crack on us here. However, I would never go on a Minnesota forum & drop such a remark or go on a Georgia forum & make a Minnesota joke even though things like Prairie Home Companion have supplied it's audience with plenty of Minnesota material.
That being said, at my present age I have very little tolerance for the full-fledged Iowa jokes & cracks anymore given that I spent the first 25 years of my life in Iowa hearing & having to put up with them as a matter of course. Since then, while living in 2 other states, I've heard plenty of such junk directed at Iowans in the interim. But now I am quite likely to give it right back to the offender or call them on their Iowa jokes given that I know that I don't have to sit like a bump on the log & take the Iowa joke abuse negativity as I use to benignly do.
To put it more plainly & better than I have perhaps done here in the past, I really don't particularly care if anyone does not like Iowa, despite having been accused otherwise. To each their own for what they desire & require for a place of residence. I certainly know that I voted with my feet long ago & left the state as a young person.
But since then I have gotten more particular & fussy about what I desire for characteristics of a state of residence & have narrowed down a very slim list of states that are acceptable for me for retirement & surprise of surprises, Iowa is on that list!
I do know that I very much want to leave Georgia when I retire & would never have left Iowa for Georgia as a destination in the first place if I had known then what I know now.

[PeachyMJ]

We finally made all 50 states last year. The only state that I can truthfully say that I did not see something absolutely breathtaking was North Dakota. And to be fair to ND, we did not go too far into the state from South Dakota. One day I hope to return and go further into the area. Now, we are on a quest to visit other countries and maybe the American Territories (sp). We just returned from a Baltic cruise and saw some amazing stuff.

[Plainswalker]

I haven't been to any of the western side of the giant cornfield, but I quite like the Amana colonies and hear great things about the Tulip festival in Pella.

[Lemastre]

Because the farm states are not big tourist destinations, the attractions they offer seem rather low-key. Because the visitors, usually local folks themselves, are not numerous, the venues are uncrowded, and everyone can remain relaxed and unhurried. In Iowa, for example, the very idea of attracting "tourists" from far away is fairly recent. But nowadays, features that have long been considered pretty mundane may be presented as tourist attractions. For instance,"Living History Farms" in northwest Des Moines. This is a collection of old farm and village buildings gathered from around the state and arranged on a large plot to simulate an early-day village. Obviously, most native Iowans don't find old buildings all that unusual or significant, but lately, the state tourist bureau and local communities are interested in turning local resources into enterprises that might attract history buffs and some tourists as well.

[Rail-to-Rail]

Originally Posted by jmgg

Earl May Garden Centers headquarters are still in Shenandoah as is the main office for Brown Shoes. Many years ago other plant and foliage companies were also located there, but are buttoned up. There are abandoned buildings all around town where these companies once did business. Shenandoah is also the hometown of the Everly brothers.

This is really interesting to me, as I have worked in the garden center industry in the past and wonder if I'll ever get involved in it again someday. Thanks for posting that.

[NLDad]

Originally Posted by atler8

MPLS
Are you serious here or posting in jest?
I ask because I personally have encountered some measure of smugness in the Twin Cities/Minnesota towards all things Iowa.

We give Minnesota a pretty hard time too, so turn about is fair play.

[duster1979]

Lots of celebrities come to Iowa to vacation at this resort. Jim Carrey was here last week. He hit the local BK while he was here.



He also hopped on the buss to cheer up players for the visiting Pella High School baseball team who had just suffered a season-ending loss to Fairfield.

[ElleTea]

^^ That is cool! It is always nice when celebs turn out to be nice people.