Destinations

REA Power Plant Museum: The Beginning of Rural Electricity

Connie Attractions & Events, Iowa , , 0 Comment
REA Power Plant Museum: The Beginning of Rural Electricity

Microwave ovens, hair dryers, computers and air conditioning. Can you imagine living without the conveniences we take for granted? Yet, while towns in the United States were electrified by 1930, some parts of rural America were still in the dark in the 1950s. Thanks to the Rural Electric Administration (REA), though, farmer-owned electric co-ops began bringing electricity to farms in the mid-1930s. We recently toured the first power plant that received a grant under the REA bill, the Reeve Electric Association Plant, now the REA Power Plant Museum, in Franklin County, Iowa. Read more

Tasting Fall at Ruby’s Restaurant

Connie Food & Drink, Iowa , , , 0 Comment
Tasting Fall at Ruby’s Restaurant

When you begin breakfast with an appetizer of big, fluffy fresh-made cinnamon rolls dripping with sweet white icing and gooey-sweet caramel pecan rolls, you think you hit the highlight of the meal, but the delectable tastes don’t end with Ronnie’s World Famous Rolls at Ruby’s Restaurant in Decorah, Iowa. Read more

Pzazz!: Family Entertainment or Adults Only—You Decide

Connie Attractions & Events, Iowa , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment
Pzazz!: Family Entertainment or Adults Only—You Decide

Fun City’s family-friendly water park, arcade, go karts and bowling alley, together with bunkbed rooms in the Pzazz Hotel…or Catfish Bend Casino gaming, spa treatment and a boutique adults-only hotel. These two completely different concepts coexist in the Burlington, Iowa, Pzazz! Complex, though you’d never know when visiting one that the other is only a walkway away. Read more

Charlie Parker’s Diner: Off the Beaten Path but Worth Looking For

Connie Food & Drink, Illinois , , , , 0 Comment
Charlie Parker’s Diner: Off the Beaten Path but Worth Looking For

The World War II era Quonset hut doesn’t look like much from the outside, but step over the threshold at Charlie Parker’s Diner, and you take a giant step back to the rockin’ boppin’ 1950s. Every seat was taken at the glass-block lunch counter on the Saturday we visited and nearly every red vinyl chair around white Formica-and-chrome tables was filled. Off the beaten path in Springfield, Illinois, we didn’t know about it until we joined Alicia Erickson of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau there for lunch. Read more

Pinter’s Gardens & Pumpkins: Garden Center, Restaurant and Fall Fun

Connie Agritourism, Attractions & Events, Iowa , , , , , 0 Comment
Pinter’s Gardens & Pumpkins: Garden Center, Restaurant and Fall Fun

Come fall, Midwest garden centers bloom with mums, asters and ornamental kale. Farms open to the public for pumpkin picking, hayrides and corn maze navigation. It’s rare to find both combined and with a restaurant on the premises, to boot, which is what you get at Pinter’s Gardens & Pumpkins in Decorah, Iowa. “…with the restaurant and the garden center and the pumpkin patch, the closest would probably be Chicago, that has all what I have,” said Elisa Pinter, who co-owns Pinter’s Gardens & Pumpkins with her husband Shane. Read more

Fantastic Caverns: The Only Drive-Through Cave in the U.S.

Connie Attractions & Events, Missouri , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment
Fantastic Caverns: The Only Drive-Through Cave in the U.S.

Stalactites hang tight to the ceiling. Stalagmites grow from the ground up as calcite from dripping water builds up. When the formations meet in the middle they become a column. I’ve heard how cave formations build every time I take a cave tour. Yet, I never tire of touring the underground beauty of a cave. Each one is different in its own way, with unique formations,  history, and in the case of Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, Missouri, its mode of transportation. Read more