I started a thread here back in early August for those of you traveling to Iowa City for the Penn State-Iowa game this next weekend, and actually bumped it again just a bit ago.
I have lived in Iowa City for years and a University of Iowa graduate.
I've now decided to take many of my posts in that thread and consolidate them to give you one stop shopping on eating and drinking recommendations in the Iowa City area, places to park, places to see, hotels, etc.
Feel free to send my a private message through this site or leave any general questions here and I'll frequent this board a lot this week to answer all questions posed.
Again, Penn State is my absolute favorite place in the B1G to travel and your fans are the best in the league--hands down. This is my humble way of returning the favor of hospitality.
Here you go:
Eating/Drinking/Bars:
My two favorite drinking spots in downtown Iowa City before or after the game are the legendary Airliner (the place where Tom Brokaw will tell you that he drank his freshman year away at Iowa years ago) and Joe's Place (right around the corner from the Airliner). Both places have been around forever and are known for a bit of an older crowd but VERY lively.
I also very much personally like The Sports Column (generally a bit younger crowd) and Micky's (downtown Iowa City).
All four places I mentioned are literally across the street from the campus (what's known specifically as the Pentacrest area).
In Coralville (located right next to Iowa City), the place I love going for drinks and beers is 30hop (have just as great food there too).
As for dining, so many places to recommend: For steak and very fine dining, Joseph's in downtown Iowa City or the legendary Iowa River & Power Company in Coralville (10 minutes or less from campus).
For breakfast especially, a MUST do is the famous Hamburg Inn #2 in downtown Iowa City and close to campus. GET THERE VERY EARLY THOUGH if going for breakfast. This is the famous small eatery that several Presidents of the United States have eaten and EVERY politician campaigning for President for many years eats at for their photo ops. They serve food all day though.
If you want INCREDIBLE pizza, 3 can't miss choices: again either the Airliner or Pagliai's not far from campus in Iowa City or Wig & Pen (get their famous "Flying Tomato" pizza) in Coralville.
For GREAT burgers- either Short's Burger & Shine (located right next to the Airliner) or Zombie Burger (close to campus). Make Short's happen, you won't be disappointed! Look up Zombie's web site to get an understanding of what that place is like.
For barbecue, a "must" is Jimmy Jack's in the Old Capital Mall right across the street from the Pentacrest. I love barbecue and travel throughout the Midwest for work and Jimmy Jack's is as good as I've ever eaten.
Final best recommendation for food is Pullman's (owned by former Hawkeye kicker and NFLer Nate Kaeding--as is Short's) which is also in downtown Iowa City. Have to try their fried pickles as an appetizer. Their food is damn good.
The best place I can recommend for pre-made sandwiches would be Hy-Vee food stores--or, you could always call a day or two ahead of the game to Milio's (sandwich chain) or Timmy Flynn's on Riverside Drive in Iowa City (oustanding locally owned). As for brownies, pastries, chips, cookies...again, Hy-Vee in Coralville or any of the Iowa City locations would be the best recommendation.
John's Grocery in Iowa City has an amazing selection of any kind of beer or wine you'd like. It's a very old fashioned grocery that looks small from the outside, but is known for literally hundreds of different kinds of beers and wines from all over the world. Hy-Vee also has a great beer and wine selection too.
With these choices you can't go wrong, period.
Parking:
As for tailgating/parking, the spots closest to Kinnick Stadium are indeed permit parking. My suggestion for someone not wanting to buy a parking permit from a scalper, is to park at Finkbine golf course (university owned course) that's only a 15-20 minute walk from Kinnick (west of Kinnick). Parking is $20.
You can park on Melrose Ave. (runs immediate south of the stadium) in the residential area where all rent their yards to park, and be within about 10 minutes of the stadium. Most seem to charge $40 per car.
RV parking closest to the stadium is all permit parking. I'd recommend likely either the Hancher Auditorium parking lot across the river (see more about Hancher in the paragraph below) and the Finkbine golf course area.
Hancher Auditorium across the Iowa River (east of Kinnick) has lots of parking for non-permit holders, but not certain if RVs are allowed there. One can either take a shuttle from there to Kinnick or make the 20-25 minute walk.
Unfortunately there is only one bar really close to Kinnick--called Stella's and it's right on Melrose (the street than runs directly on the south side of Kinnick) and a 5-minute walk to the stadium. Stella's is small and obviously has a huge turnout on game days so keep those things in mind.
Things To Do/Places To See:
Yes, Field of Dreams is 90 minutes northeast of Iowa City in Dyersville,IA. A very cool place to visit--looks just like it did in the movie. You can play catch on the ball field.
I highly recommend to visit the quaint little Amana Colonies (Main Amana is the best) which is only 15 minutes west of Iowa City/Coralville. Wonderful quaint old English shops and a few awesome eating places that serve food family style. GREAT food at the Colony Inn and Ox Yoke Inn and Ronneburg are the three best. Also there visit Millstream Brewing as they brew their own beer and root beer and you can sit outside in the fall weather while drinking. The Amana Smokehouse in town also is fantastic as I personally buy a lot of my meat there. Amazing furniture shop in Amana too and woolen mills--all locally made and Grade A quality.
West of Iowa City by 2 hours is Winterset, IA, which is the birthplace of John Wayne and they have a museum/boyhood home there of his, and now Winterset even better known as the filming of the movie "Bridges of Madison County" starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. Check out the covered bridges there and small town square, even visit the home where much of the movie was filmed in--small town.
On the University of Iowa campus, I suggest visiting the Old Capital which sits in the heart of campus in what's called the Pentacrest. It's the former capital of the state of Iowa and it's really beautifully restored. Open to guests to tour free of charge.
Are you into plays/performances? If so, attend a performance while in town at the gorgeous Hancher Auditorium on the UI campus.
What are your particular interests? Let me know and I can give you more ideas.
Providing a link to the Amana Colonies below:
http://www.amanacolonies.com
Hotels:
My hunch is at this point most of the Iowa City/Coralville hotels are already booked for this upcoming weekend. If looking for alternative nearby city locations, I suggest Cedar Rapids and Marion (half hour north) or the Quad Cities (Davenport, IA, Bettendorf, IA, Moline,IL, Rock Island,IL) which is an hour east of Iowa City. Dubuque is 90-minutes northeast of Iowa City.
I have lived in Iowa City for years and a University of Iowa graduate.
I've now decided to take many of my posts in that thread and consolidate them to give you one stop shopping on eating and drinking recommendations in the Iowa City area, places to park, places to see, hotels, etc.
Feel free to send my a private message through this site or leave any general questions here and I'll frequent this board a lot this week to answer all questions posed.
Again, Penn State is my absolute favorite place in the B1G to travel and your fans are the best in the league--hands down. This is my humble way of returning the favor of hospitality.
Here you go:
Eating/Drinking/Bars:
My two favorite drinking spots in downtown Iowa City before or after the game are the legendary Airliner (the place where Tom Brokaw will tell you that he drank his freshman year away at Iowa years ago) and Joe's Place (right around the corner from the Airliner). Both places have been around forever and are known for a bit of an older crowd but VERY lively.
I also very much personally like The Sports Column (generally a bit younger crowd) and Micky's (downtown Iowa City).
All four places I mentioned are literally across the street from the campus (what's known specifically as the Pentacrest area).
In Coralville (located right next to Iowa City), the place I love going for drinks and beers is 30hop (have just as great food there too).
As for dining, so many places to recommend: For steak and very fine dining, Joseph's in downtown Iowa City or the legendary Iowa River & Power Company in Coralville (10 minutes or less from campus).
For breakfast especially, a MUST do is the famous Hamburg Inn #2 in downtown Iowa City and close to campus. GET THERE VERY EARLY THOUGH if going for breakfast. This is the famous small eatery that several Presidents of the United States have eaten and EVERY politician campaigning for President for many years eats at for their photo ops. They serve food all day though.
If you want INCREDIBLE pizza, 3 can't miss choices: again either the Airliner or Pagliai's not far from campus in Iowa City or Wig & Pen (get their famous "Flying Tomato" pizza) in Coralville.
For GREAT burgers- either Short's Burger & Shine (located right next to the Airliner) or Zombie Burger (close to campus). Make Short's happen, you won't be disappointed! Look up Zombie's web site to get an understanding of what that place is like.
For barbecue, a "must" is Jimmy Jack's in the Old Capital Mall right across the street from the Pentacrest. I love barbecue and travel throughout the Midwest for work and Jimmy Jack's is as good as I've ever eaten.
Final best recommendation for food is Pullman's (owned by former Hawkeye kicker and NFLer Nate Kaeding--as is Short's) which is also in downtown Iowa City. Have to try their fried pickles as an appetizer. Their food is damn good.
The best place I can recommend for pre-made sandwiches would be Hy-Vee food stores--or, you could always call a day or two ahead of the game to Milio's (sandwich chain) or Timmy Flynn's on Riverside Drive in Iowa City (oustanding locally owned). As for brownies, pastries, chips, cookies...again, Hy-Vee in Coralville or any of the Iowa City locations would be the best recommendation.
John's Grocery in Iowa City has an amazing selection of any kind of beer or wine you'd like. It's a very old fashioned grocery that looks small from the outside, but is known for literally hundreds of different kinds of beers and wines from all over the world. Hy-Vee also has a great beer and wine selection too.
With these choices you can't go wrong, period.
Parking:
As for tailgating/parking, the spots closest to Kinnick Stadium are indeed permit parking. My suggestion for someone not wanting to buy a parking permit from a scalper, is to park at Finkbine golf course (university owned course) that's only a 15-20 minute walk from Kinnick (west of Kinnick). Parking is $20.
You can park on Melrose Ave. (runs immediate south of the stadium) in the residential area where all rent their yards to park, and be within about 10 minutes of the stadium. Most seem to charge $40 per car.
RV parking closest to the stadium is all permit parking. I'd recommend likely either the Hancher Auditorium parking lot across the river (see more about Hancher in the paragraph below) and the Finkbine golf course area.
Hancher Auditorium across the Iowa River (east of Kinnick) has lots of parking for non-permit holders, but not certain if RVs are allowed there. One can either take a shuttle from there to Kinnick or make the 20-25 minute walk.
Unfortunately there is only one bar really close to Kinnick--called Stella's and it's right on Melrose (the street than runs directly on the south side of Kinnick) and a 5-minute walk to the stadium. Stella's is small and obviously has a huge turnout on game days so keep those things in mind.
Things To Do/Places To See:
Yes, Field of Dreams is 90 minutes northeast of Iowa City in Dyersville,IA. A very cool place to visit--looks just like it did in the movie. You can play catch on the ball field.
I highly recommend to visit the quaint little Amana Colonies (Main Amana is the best) which is only 15 minutes west of Iowa City/Coralville. Wonderful quaint old English shops and a few awesome eating places that serve food family style. GREAT food at the Colony Inn and Ox Yoke Inn and Ronneburg are the three best. Also there visit Millstream Brewing as they brew their own beer and root beer and you can sit outside in the fall weather while drinking. The Amana Smokehouse in town also is fantastic as I personally buy a lot of my meat there. Amazing furniture shop in Amana too and woolen mills--all locally made and Grade A quality.
West of Iowa City by 2 hours is Winterset, IA, which is the birthplace of John Wayne and they have a museum/boyhood home there of his, and now Winterset even better known as the filming of the movie "Bridges of Madison County" starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. Check out the covered bridges there and small town square, even visit the home where much of the movie was filmed in--small town.
On the University of Iowa campus, I suggest visiting the Old Capital which sits in the heart of campus in what's called the Pentacrest. It's the former capital of the state of Iowa and it's really beautifully restored. Open to guests to tour free of charge.
Are you into plays/performances? If so, attend a performance while in town at the gorgeous Hancher Auditorium on the UI campus.
What are your particular interests? Let me know and I can give you more ideas.
Providing a link to the Amana Colonies below:
http://www.amanacolonies.com
Hotels:
My hunch is at this point most of the Iowa City/Coralville hotels are already booked for this upcoming weekend. If looking for alternative nearby city locations, I suggest Cedar Rapids and Marion (half hour north) or the Quad Cities (Davenport, IA, Bettendorf, IA, Moline,IL, Rock Island,IL) which is an hour east of Iowa City. Dubuque is 90-minutes northeast of Iowa City.
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