iowa
You know I'm getting desperate for blog post topics when you see one titled "Iowa" pop up. I know, I know. Queue up the question I was asked by pretty much everyone when they found out that's were I was going: "What the heck is in Iowa?"
me ft. one of the endless acres of cornfields (stopping on the side of the road to take this pic resulted in a lot of weird looks from passing cars)
Well...cornfields. A lot of cornfields. And the Mississippi River. And Chris Soules, the bachelor from two years ago, who fun fact: was recently arrested for a fatal hit and run accident here in Iowa. Uh-huh, seems as though Mr. Wonderful ain't so wonderful after all (did I just say ain't? oh wow you can take the girl out of the south but you can't take the south out of the girl).
But, actually, this place is really freakin' beautiful! Like everything is very...clean? The neighborhoods are pretty, there aren't bars on people's windows, everyone keeps their yards tidy, and I didn't smell weed once the entire time I was there? This state had me trying to disassociate myself with Fairwood.
The weather here was stellar to say the least. The lows were in the 50s and the highs were in the 80s. Having to grab my jean jacket to go outside at the end of July was a concept I have never known before. I kept checking the weather in Cypress and I saw that it was 107 one day and I was like ha ha ha I don't miss that place one bit.
AND, the people who live here are...nice. Like is Iowan hospitality a thing? I passed a man at the flower nursery and he stopped and smiled and asked how my day was going? Is that kind? Is that creepy? Both? People kept complimenting my mom jeans? My mom broke an ornament in a store and the lady who worked there was the one who apologized? Like what? That is whack.
Okay, I probably should have mentioned this earlier but my mom and I didn't come here because we were having a midlife crisis and decided a spontaneous trip to the corn state would cure everything wrong in the world (of course, only Ian Somerhalder's jawline can do that). My aunt and uncle on my mom's side live up here in Bettendorf and we don't see them very much so here we are.
The flight there went smoothly which is key for me because I hate flying. -3/10 would not recommend sitting next to me during takeoff and landing. We survived (the armrests and my fingernails? not as lucky. RIP). Except, I have the bladder the size of a cashew so I have to use the restroom every 20 minutes (TMI? probably.), I drink copious amounts of coffee, and also choose the window seat on the plane. I am a recipe for disaster.
not pictured: the three bees that were found in my hair after this was taken
Our first day there, we drove to an old Amish colony. Oh wow, this is really not helping my whole, "Iowa isn't even that boring!" assertion. It was pretty nifty. Lots of cool shops with handmade soaps and good food and even their own brewing company despite the fact that Amish don't drink? Whatever. It was a neat little place to go.
On the second day, we went to four plant nurseries. Okay, okay, I love plant nurseries. I'm a sucker for pretty, earthy things. Nurseries are great because they're like high-end Home Depots; their plants are actually taken care of and look healthy. One of them even had a small farmer's market and I fell in love. Ever had a slice of a tomato or a peach that made you roll your eyes back in pleasure? I have. (Ignore how weird that sentence is).
That night, my uncle took us out on his company's boat for a ride on the Mississippi River. What began as a relaxing sunset cruise, quickly turned into a lowkey booze cruise when the liquor cabinet was discovered. The man who owned the boat even let me, mildly intoxicated and not that great at even driving a car, steer until my Captain Jack Sparrow ambitions died out. It was a great night and the sunset was beautiful as always.
Sunday was pretty chill. We went to a late breakfast at this little cafe and I downed three cups of coffee and had the best Greek omelet ever. After that, we went to this little town nearby and checked out the shops there which, no offense, were filled with the kind of clothes you would expect a middle aged mom who "would like to speak to a manager" to wear (I'm talking bedazzled platform flip-flops and all). We grilled out for dinner and dinned on all of the fruits and vegetables from the farmer's market.
We left Monday afternoon. What was supposed to be a generally stressful trip home, turned out to be a bit more nerve-wracking than expected. Our flights got messed up and we ended up having to fly to Chicago without knowing if we could get even on our connecting flight to Houston. Thankfully, 2 hours later, we were able to snag the last three seats on the plane and land here at 11:59 PM in the land of Whataburger and the question, "do you guys ride horses to school?".
Overall, this trip was pretty swell despite the few hiccups. It was a great little getaway from work as well as a chance to get out of the state...even if it was just to "Iowa".
Stay rad.
-Em
