Spring Break Trip: Iowa City, IA

Iowa City came as something of a surprise to me. I didn’t know much about it, other than it looked disappointingly small on the map (I was craving the excitement of a BIG city), and it is a college town. So I was sort of imagining a slightly larger Athens, but without the hills.

The surprise was that Iowa City has quite a large and prosperous uptown area (I’m defining “uptown” as the walkable commercial district close to campus). There was an endless variety of shops, many of which were clearly not aimed at college students. I was browsing one women’s clothing store, only to discover that the skirt I was eyeing was $174. Not exactly in the budget of someone working part time at a pizza place, eh? This variety in aim gave the city a slight cosmopolitan feel, which was strengthened by the variety of people I saw. Not only were a variety of ethnicities represented in fellow shoppers I encountered, but also a variety of ages. I was definitely not in Athens, Toto.

This uptown area was also remarkable for the Iowa Avenue Literary Walk: carved into the sidewalks on both sides of Iowa Ave. were quotes from famous authors, or little bronzed plaques imbedded in the sidewalk with quotes and sketched scenes.

Even the sewer covers were decorated and had quotes encircling the rims. I was completely enamored and stopped to read every one of them. All sidewalks should be this way. To me this was like encountering a series of old friends and new, fascinating people.

Iowa City’s shopping district was also unique in having fewer bars spread out over a wider area--their uptown was big enough to get lost in. I even discovered a hidden mall at one point, as well as a multi-level backpacker’s store. I had to exercise great restraint in that store.

Also, for some reason, Iowa City was awash in boy scouts. I would guess I saw dozens of troops spread out all over the shopping district and historical district (this city used to be the state capitol, and has quite an impressive capitol building, which I understand is now a museum of Iowa history). I’m not really sure why they were there. Is there a shopping merit badge?

After the wedding, Jared and I wandered the uptown area, looking for someplace interesting for dinner. Part of me wanted to try David's Place, which promised authentic Ethiopian and Etrian food. I've had Ethiopian food in Chicago (at Mama Desta's), and was curious about how Iowa City would compare--especially with a suspicious name like "David's Place". But I also hadn't been that happy with my last Ethiopian experience, so we choose an Italian place called The Brown Bottle, and were quite happy with it.

After dinner, we were back on the road, trying to drive as far as possible before crashing for the night. Next installment: Urbana, IL.