Iowa Roadtrip

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Heading down that Friday. Staying near the stadium at a best western. Looking for best bar scenes for Friday night and best plan for Saturday pre and post game. Got six of us travelling together.
 

LakerFan said:
Heading down that Friday. Staying near the stadium at a best western. Looking for best bar scenes for Friday night and best plan for Saturday pre and post game. Got six of us travelling together.
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The bar scene will differ depending on your age or what you're looking for. Since you're staying at the Best Western I'll first throw out the Iowa River Landing area in Coralville. The area has two great spots: 30hop and Backpocket Brewing. Both have great outdoor seating and largely eclectic menus.

A short Uber ride will bring you to downtown Iowa City and the Ped Mall. Here's a quick breakdown of some notable haunts:

*Joe's Place -- No cover and they recently opened a rooftop bar. Good mix of students and graduates; my favorite bar in IC (I'm 27).
*Blue Moose Taphouse -- Again, good mix of students and graduates so you won't feel too out of place. Usually among my Friday night rotation.
*Pint's -- Younger crowd, okay place.
*TCB -- Great pool hall with a great beer selection. Won't find many students.
*Sports Column -- An Iowa City staple that offers cheap drinks and sticky floors. Largely college students but my dad and his buddies enjoy it.
*Brother's -- Wild, young crowd. Tastes like 21 years old and Busch Light.
*Summit/Union/DC's -- Basically Blarney's or the Library.

Food options:
*Joseph's Steakhouse -- Most reputable formal dining among downtown locations.
*Donnelly's -- Best wing sauce around.
*Atlas -- Great menu for reasonable cost.
*Pullman's Diner -- Eclectic menu but very limited seating.
*Quinton's -- Great sandwiches and nice beer selection. Would recommend for lunch Saturday.
*Mickey's -- Best tenderloin in town. Also a nice bar option for those 27+.
*Bluebird Diner -- Great breakfast that serves Bloody Mary's (Hamburg Inn does not).
*Hamburg Inn, No. 2 -- An Iowa City staple and frequent political stop for Iowa Primaries. Great breakfast and even better pies.
*Make sure you grab food from a food stand after drinking your fill. One of the more unique things of Iowa City.

Two other favorites of mine are The Vine and the new Big Grove Brewery & Taproom. Neither are located downtown but each is a nice option for food and great beer. The taproom has a Surly vibe.
 

FatNTired said:
The bar scene will differ depending on your age or what you're looking for...
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Thank you for putting together such a long and insightful post!

If you haven't yet heard The Library has closed and rebranded as Pourhouse Dinkytown. I may have shed a tear when I heard the news.


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I'd love to help, but the one time I made the trip, due to having a moron make plans for the trip, we ended up staying 30 minutes away at an inn in Williamsburg next to an outlet mall. Can't recommend going that route.
 

BUMP

It's officially Iowa week. Really looking forward to making the trip to IC.

Have witnessed losses at Kinnick in 05, 09, 12, and 15. Time to break the streak.
 

A few tailgating thoughts as we approach Saturday:

*Myrtle Lot -- Mix of younger alums, a few students, and a younger crowd. Parking is $20 and you can park your vehicle Friday night to reserve a spot. I don't believe it completely fills up anymore. Best tailgating option for the day of.
*Lot 3/Lot 11 (Library) -- The library lot is a decent option if you secure a spot near the river with grass for bags and space for a tent. Both lots are tame and a 20 minute walk from Kinnick.
*Lot 65/Finkbine Golf Course -- Both nice lots that offer space to spread out, comparable to the State Fair lots. Crowd is older and largely families. It's a 20-25 minute walk to Kinnick.
*Hawkeye Express -- For those coming from I-380 or staying in Coralville I suggest the Hawkeye Express. You can park near the Coral Ridge Mall and take the train to the stadium. Service starts 5 hours prior to kickoff and takes you back following the game. It's a nice option if you're meeting friends near the stadium but post game can be a little hectic.

https://footballgameday.hawkeyesports.com/parking/

All for now. Feel free to ask any questions.
 

I'm heading down Friday. We are staying at a B&B.
We went down in '07, '09 & '12.
It'd sure be nice to see a victory, but our passing offense isn't leaving me with much optimism.
 



FatNTired said:
The bar scene will differ depending on your age or what you're looking for. Since you're staying at the Best Western I'll first throw out the Iowa River Landing area in Coralville. The area has two great spots: 30hop and Backpocket Brewing. Both have great outdoor seating and largely eclectic menus.
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We always stay at the Marriott at Iowa River Landing as our Iowa fan friends have a condo there. Vesta is our favorite spot and the Vesta burger is the best I have had anywhere. Used to stop by there for a burger every time on our way to St. Louis to visit our son.

Looks like the weather forecast is improving for this weekend...can't wait!
 

Headed down on Friday and staying with our friends who happen to be Hawkeye fans. Always been treated really nice in Iowa City. We started a tradition of going every year together to the Iowa vs Minnesota game. When its in IC we hang out with there group (sometimes its only my wife and I in Gopher gear) and try and sit in the Gopher section. When its up here we hang out at a Gopher tailgate and try and sit in the Iowa section. We also bet every year on the game with the losing team having to display a concrete pig with the other teams colors. Needless to say I'm sick of looking at this pig. The eighteen years of not winning in IC has to end sometime so it might as well be this year. Go Gopher's!
 

Tlsbhansen said:
We always stay at the Marriott at Iowa River Landing as our Iowa fan friends have a condo there. Vesta is our favorite spot and the Vesta burger is the best I have had anywhere. Used to stop by there for a burger every time on our way to St. Louis to visit our son.

Looks like the weather forecast is improving for this weekend...can't wait!
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Huh, never heard of Vesta but I'm intrigued. Thanks for pointing it out!

I think Iowa fans are pretty accommodating to visiting fans. Of course, every fanbase has a small percentage of aholes that can ruin an otherwise fun experience.
 

On the B1G Network's show that checks out food in B1G cities, they featured a pizza place called Forbidden Planet in Iowa City. Not sure how good the pizza is (Google reviews=4.4/5.0), but the place has an old-school niche with a bunch of old pinball and video game machines.
 



If anyone is staying at the Big 10 Motel in Iowa City be afraid...be very afraid.

Your bed will be crawling with little tiny livestock and there is very good chance the previous resident had a serious case of crotch crickets.
 

Hoping there is a lot of Gopher fans making the trip! IMO one of the best live experiences you can have in college football is watching your team win on the road. For everyone going, don't come back until you have that pig!
 

Just booked my hotel. Got a great deal at the Big 10 Motel in Iowa City. Go Gophers!


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Murray Warmath said:
If anyone is staying at the Big 10 Motel in Iowa City be afraid...be very afraid.

Your bed will be crawling with little tiny livestock and there is very good chance the previous resident had a serious case of crotch crickets.
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LOL. Congratulations on adding to the Gopherhole vernacular. Wife asked what I was laughing about.
"Crotch Crickets"
 

Spoofin said:
Just booked my hotel. Got a great deal at the Big 10 Motel in Iowa City. Go Gophers!


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It's a great deal for a reason. The staff is quite something. The first thing they asked was "Who is getting arrested tonight". The front desk also gave keys to my room to complete strangers at 3 am (What a wakeup call..). All they said was we need keys to room ## and they handed them over. It's like the hotel in the movie "no country for old men". Good luck.

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gopher ceaser said:
It's a great deal for a reason. The staff is quite something. The first thing they asked was "Who is getting arrested tonight". The front desk also gave keys to my room to complete strangers at 3 am (What a wakeup call..). All they said was we need keys to room ## and they handed them over. It's like the hotel in the movie "no country for old men". Good luck.

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I'm pretty sure he was joking.
 

Don't mean to be a pest in this thread nor forum but if anyone has last minute questions about the trip from MN to IC let me know. My Thursday evening thought is keep it under 65mph through Cedar Rapid -- you will get a ticket via traffic cameras.

Oh, and one doesn't need to purchase beer/liquor from a defined liquor store like in MN. If you don't have booze and need it Saturday morning, either go to your local Kum and Go or find a liquor store that's open (most open at 6am for game day in IC).

Safe travels, Gopher guys & gals.
 


Some feedback on our Iowa Roadtrip. Stayed at the Coralville Best Western Cantebury Inn about three miles out from stadium. Place was old but clean. Rooms were all different sized which worked out because we just congregated to the biggest room for pre and post party time. Had a good mexican restaurant on property with a bar.

Friday night went to the
Airliner, lively, good music, good crowd could get a beer
Summit, next door, livelier, good music, great crowd tough to get a drink but worth it. Iowa Band came in and played a few songs which was cool.
In general Coed's in costumes whats not to like great college vibe

Saturday
Went to Hurts Donut in the morning. Long line, worth it.
Parked at Library Lot, right between field and downtown bars, .5 miles to bar, 1 mile to field. Tailgaiting going on in lot but opted to go to the bars. Spots still available close to game time.
Bo James prior to game, good spot, decent food, able to sit and watch other games eat and order drinks, decent service. Disappointed that as soon as I started rocking some Touchtunes they turned the music down and turned the sound up on some college games, I'd rather watch the games with sound off and listen to music, but whatever.
Game was fine, only a few obnoxious fans who got real quiet when it looked like we might come back in the 4th quarter, stadium is a dump, not enough restrooms, can't get to concessions, concessions ran out of everything, made me appreciate our stadium more.
Post game followed crowd back to the bars, rookie mistake, everything gets choked onto one walking bridge that cost me 1/2 hour of buzz time, looks like there is a northern alternate way to get across that I needed to know about.
Went to D.C's fun but loud, Like turn it up until the old people leave loud, then turn it up some more. Pretty gross cleanliness wise in there 1 hour after game time looked like a war zone.
Bounced around and ended up at Joe's place. Good music, good crowd, able to order pizzas from a window at an adjoining place, easy to get a drink.

Overall good experience, good roadtrip with little or no driving required (although we had a sober driver and a rental van which was awesome!). Great college town, would do it again. Can't imagine how rowdy it must have been after they beat Ohio State.
 


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