Category: Iowa

Iowa

Spend the Holidays in Charles City, Iowa

— Katy Flint4 Comments
Spend the Holidays in Charles City, Iowa

If you’re looking for somewhere to get into the Christmas spirit this year, spend the holidays in Charles City, Iowa.

There’s something about Christmas in the City, or town, or small rural village! Really, there is something so special about Christmas and all that it entails! And this year, if you’re feeling less than jolly, I highly recommend spending the holidays in Charles City, Iowa.

Spending 36 hours in Charles City in December, it’s hard not to get into the holiday spirit.  There are several ways to enjoy the holidays in North Central Iowa!

Continue “Spend the Holidays in Charles City, Iowa”
Iowa

The 4 Best Things About Visiting Hansen’s Dairy

— Katy Flint12 Comments

When I asked the boys if they were up for an adventure to Hansen’s Dairy , they immediately jumped on the opportunity strictly due to chocolate milk and ice cream! What we found was so much more!

I spent 4-5 years of my childhood growing up on a dairy farm!  My dad worked for a local farmer and so I was raised helping feed the bottle calves, herding the cows into the milking barn, and playing in the feed bunkers!  It was a great way to be raised!  As I was searching for something to do with the boys that was close to home, I came across Hansen’s Dairy just outside Hudson, IA.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity for us.  I love cows and the boys love dairy products, so it’s a win-win!

What was awesome about Hansen’s Dairy?  Well, we’ve summed it up into our 4 favorite things about Hansen’s Dairy.

Continue “The 4 Best Things About Visiting Hansen’s Dairy”
Iowa

Plaza Veracruz: Delicious Mexican Food

— Katy Flint14 Comments
Plaza Veracruz: Delicious Mexican Food

Who doesn’t love finding good Mexican food? Well, we recently found some at Plaza Veracruz in Iowa Falls, IA! I love good authentic Mexican food! T, however, struggles with it and truly misses our “local” Carlos O’Kelley’s. He prefers Tex-Mex, but sometimes we just crave some fresh salsa and chips, so we’ve been traveling around North Iowa in search of a Mexican restaurant that will get both of our approvals!  I’m happy to announce that we finally found it!

Continue “Plaza Veracruz: Delicious Mexican Food”

Iowa

Ride the Rolling Prairie Trail in Franklin County, Iowa

— Katy Flint2 Comments

If you’re looking for a fun activity in North Iowa and don’t want to spend a dime, head to Franklin County and hop on the Rolling Prairie Trail!  Franklin County is so lucky to have a fantastic bike trail that is free to use and family friendly!

When the boys were younger and not so independently mobile, M and I would frequently go on bike rides together!  Our favorite place was to head the short jaunt to the Rolling Prairie Trail.  On this trail, you can walk, jog (which I’ve done many times), bike, or Rollerblade!  You just can’t take anything motorized on it!

Continue “Ride the Rolling Prairie Trail in Franklin County, Iowa”
Iowa

Exploring our Backyard: Community Bowl in Dumont, Iowa

— Katy Flint4 Comments
Exploring our Backyard: Community Bowl in Dumont, Iowa

What does one do with two teenage boys when its 95+ degrees on a holiday weekend? And you can’t go far from home due to the hubby’s job? You take them bowling of course! And, that’s exactly what T, M, & a friend did on Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend, we headed to Community Bowl in Dumont, IA.

Community Bowl

Dumont, Iowa is a booming town of 637 (according to the 2010 census), however they do have a gas station, lumber yard, bar & grill, antique store, grocery store, and a bowling alley!  Community Bowl recently reopened with new owners at the helm and for a sleepy small town bowling alley, they are doing a fantastic job!  This small, but clean bowling alley features 6 bowling lanes, a jukebox, arcade room, bar, and PIZZA!

Continue “Exploring our Backyard: Community Bowl in Dumont, Iowa”

Iowa

Exploring Our Backyard: Simply Nourished in Clear Lake, IA

— Katy Flint12 Comments
Exploring Our Backyard: Simply Nourished in Clear Lake, IA

Do you ever admire someone from afar (on social media) and when you finally get to meet them, they are just as fabulous in person as they are on Instagram?!   Well, for me that was the case with Simply Nourished in Clear Lake, Iowa!  Thanks to friends, I had been encouraged to follow Simply Nourished on Instagram and fell in love with the products they offered there and the ideas of how to use them!  I recently got the opportunity to visit their store in Clear Lake and I was not disappointed.

Clear Lake is one of my favorite towns to visit and it’s a handy 35 minutes from home.  However, due to busy schedules I don’t get there often enough! Recently, while in Clear Lake looking for flowers, we dropped by Simply Nourished!

Continue “Exploring Our Backyard: Simply Nourished in Clear Lake, IA”

Iowa

Exploring our Backyard: Happy Acres Nursery in Osage, Iowa

— Katy Flint12 Comments
Exploring our Backyard: Happy Acres Nursery in Osage, Iowa

Osage, Iowa, is a great, charming little community, full of delightful gems! One of them is Happy Acres Nursery on the edge of town!

Exploring our Backyard

This past weekend, my mom and I took our annual garden shopping trip! This is something we have been doing at least once a year for the last 4-5 years! This year, we decided to explore a new nursery!  Traditionally, we have stuck closer to home (it is almost an hour drive to Osage for us), but this year, the nursery that was always our “go to” for annuals (plants that only bloom one season and then die) is no longer open!   As I was looking for new supplier, I remembered that a friend of ours owned a nursery in Osage!  We happened to run into said friend at a track meet and I grilled him about the items they carried at their nursery.  It was decided then that Happy Acres Nursery was where Mom & I were destined to land!

Continue “Exploring our Backyard: Happy Acres Nursery in Osage, Iowa”

Iowa

Block 10 @ 1921 City Hall: Where Coffee & History Collide

— Katy Flint20 Comments

Where do I spend the most time in Sheffield, Iowa? It’s at work, but the second place I spend the most time at is Block 10 @ 1921 City Hall.  This is a fantastic coffee shop around the corner from my office!  For the first 2.5 years I worked in Sheffield there was no coffee shop, but thanks to Randy and Holly Coffee, we don’t go without any longer!  There’s just something wrong with a gas station cappuccino…or whatever they want to call it!  So, I’m thrilled they are a part of our community!

This “Season”

There are certain times in our yearly calendar in which we don’t travel far from home.  Or, if we do, it’s to track meets, baseball games, basketball games, etc.  There are also times of the year that we don’t travel far due to T’s job!  (Read more about that here!)  So, since we can’t get in the car and drive for hours and hours to explore, I thought it would be a good time to focus on what we have right in our own backyard!  That means we’re starting with one of my favorite places in my backyard, Block 10 at 1921 Sheffield City Hall.

Continue “Block 10 @ 1921 City Hall: Where Coffee & History Collide”
Iowa

Eagle Point Park – Dubuque, Iowa

— Katy Flint4 Comments
Eagle Point Park – Dubuque, Iowa

Where do you go to slow down?  I can’t say that we have ever had a regular place, but now that we have visited Dubuque, I think we have found it!  Recently, T and I headed over to Dubuque for a quick 24 hour trip to have some time to ourselves and slow down!  We stayed at the Hotel Julien and spent many hours just “being” together!  While we explored a few fun, but low-key places, this was probably our favorite and where we will return time and time again!

Eagle Point Park

For a whopping $1 per car, you get free reign of Eagle Point Park, which is owned by the City of Dubuque.  Take your time driving through the park and enjoy the many different levels of scenery!  Stop and explore the old buildings, lodges, and shelters that can be rented for a variety of events!  While we were there, we saw a 1st birthday party, a kids birthday party, and a wedding set up!  This would be an amazing back-drop for any event!  Then, head to the Mississippi overlook!  While we enjoyed explore several parts of the park, this was by our favorite!

Dam #11 on the Mississippi River

Continue “Eagle Point Park – Dubuque, Iowa”