Iowa is the only state bordered by two navigable rivers (the Missouri
River and the Mississippi River) and two National Scenic Byways (the
Loess Hills National Scenic Byway and the Great River Road). In between,
it is packed with quirky and renowned destinations, including the
birthplace of and library for U.S. President Herbert Hoover, the
Historic Park Inn Hotel (the last remaining hotel designed by Frank
Lloyd Wright) and the world’s largest statue of a bull.
Trip Idea in Iowa
Iowa State Fair
Come to a party with a hog-calling contest, a cow made of butter, and more
Immortalised by the 1931 Phil Stong novel State
Fair that inspired Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway musical and three
motion pictures, the Iowa State Fair is a true American classic. For 11
days in August, more than a million people enjoy all the signatures of
the modern state fair: stomach-churning rides on the midway (amusement
park), sugar-dusted funnel cakes and deep-fried Oreos, and big-name
talent like country music artist Garth Brooks and American
singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow.
But the Iowa State Fair, which started in 1854 as a way to bring
far-flung country folks together to promote the latest methods of
agriculture and raising livestock, has managed to stay close to its
rural roots. It is one of the world’s largest livestock
exhibitions—after all, it was Iowa that invented 4-H, the educational
organisation for rural youth.
There’s still hog- (and husband-) calling, cow-chip throwing, the
Super Bull contest and, of course, the Butter Cow, sculpted from 550
pounds of butter (recycled and reused for three or four years). For
15,000 people, the fair is the place to strut their stuff, competing in
everything from cattle to needlepoint (embroidery done on canvas) to
vegetables. (There are nearly 900 food categories alone.) The
competition includes the freakish—in 1992, a jumbo squash weighed in at
412 pounds—and the delicious: the pie department is an old-time
favourite, with butterscotch, strawberry, pumpkin, apple and countless
other subdivisions. A blue ribbon is the ultimate prize—and a whopping
30,000 of them are awarded every year.
Just about everyone comes to fatten up on foods you can find only
once a year—more than 20 kinds served on sticks. The trend started with
the 1950s corn dog, a dough-dipped deep-fried hot dog on a stick, and
has since spread to pork chops (Iowa has 16 million hogs, that’s five
for every human denizen), dill pickles, German sausages, hot
bologna—even chocolate cheesecake and deep-fried Twinkies. Local
favourites include caveman-size turkey drumsticks, Carl’s two-handful
sandwiches called Gizmos, and fresh strawberry and peach ice cream from
Bauder Pharmacy, an establishment that has been making kids smile since
1923.