Less abstract than chess, but more complex than Scrabble, Eurogames — which came to prominence in the late ’70s and early ’80s in Germany and quickly spread across Europe — offer players multiple paths to victory and more intricate strategy and tactics. Leading the charge of this stylistic expansion stateside was Klaus Teuber’s 1995 release […]
Recreation
Posted inRecreation
‘Escarp’ to Brush Creek Canyon, a wild nature preserve in Fayette County
Brush Creek Canyon is one of 95 preserves that protect natural, geological, archeological or historical sites in Iowa. They are often minimally maintained, which only adds to their charm. A 217-acre preserve located in Fayette County, near the town of Arlington, Brush Creek Canyon State Preserve is announced by a modest sign on a telephone […]
Posted inCentral Iowa, Recreation
Descend into Yellow Banks Park, 576 acres of ancient history
Tucked along a panoramic stretch of the Des Moines River in southeast Polk County is a park that feels many miles away from the state’s largest metro area. Buffered from the usual traffic sounds by dense woods and isolated stretches of natural landscape, Yellow Banks Park exudes an almost zen-like allure, with 150-foot high yellow-colored […]
Posted inDear Kiki
Dear Kiki: I prefer my wife’s post-baby bod, but she doesn’t
Questions about love, sex or relationships can be submitted to dearkiki@littlevillagemag.com, or anonymously using this form. Questions may be edited for clarity and length, and may appear either in print or online. Dear Kiki, My wife put on a few pounds after having our kid and I’ve realized that I find her incredibly attractive now. […]
Posted inCommunity/News, Eastern Iowa, Recreation
Birds, fish, reptiles and thousands of historic objects make up the National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque
The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium is a one-of-a-kind Iowa institution founded in 2003 on the site of the former Dubuque Boat and Boiler Works, which built boats from 1870 to 1972. The roughly 26,000 objects in the museum’s collection tell a wide-ranging history of the region — from prehistoric geology to the First […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Would you stay overnight at the Villisca Axe Murder House?
On the morning of June 10, 1912, the Villisca, Iowa home of prominent business owner Josiah B. Moore and his family was eerily still. That stillness gave way to a terrible discovery that would shake the small rural community in southwestern Iowa to its roots and live on as one of the most mysterious crimes […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The million-matchstick masterpieces of Iowan Pat Acton
If you’re visiting Gladbrook in Tama County, it’s probably for Matchstick Marvels. And the nice people of Gladbrook know it — they’ve put “Home of Matchstick Marvels” on both of the city’s welcome signs. Matchstick Marvels is the hometown museum of one of Iowa’s most prominent folk artists, Pat Acton, who works primarily with wooden […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The seeds of Aldo Leopold’s ‘land ethic’ were planted in his birthplace: Burlington, Iowa
Atop a Mississippi River bluff in Burlington sit the childhood homes of Aldo Leopold, arguably the most significant conservationist of the 20th century and perhaps even to this day. Author of the seminal A Sand County Almanac (1949), Leopold changed mainstream thinking about human relationships with the natural world through his idea of “the land […]
Posted inCommunity/News
In the ‘outdoor museum’ of Effigy Mounds, historic objects stay in their rightful place
In the northeast corner of Iowa, near the confluence of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, lies a collection of more than 200 earthworks, built between 650 and 1200 AD or so by ancestors of Indigenous peoples still living in the state. Effigy Mounds National Monument in Allamakee and Clayton counties is unique among Midwestern mound sites: […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Brandon’s thousand-pound pan (and thousand-person breakfasts)
Along I-380 between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, a sign beckons drivers to a town boasting the largest frying pan in the state. Anyone willing to spend a few minutes on a detour will not be disappointed. Heading into Brandon, Iowa, the promised frying pan cannot be missed. According to a sign explaining its existence, the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Authors and journalists at the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat discuss the art of speaking truth to power
It’s a long drive from Iowa City to Lake Okoboji. Like most of my colleagues, I’ve never been to Northwest Iowa, and I was curious to visit this red and rural section of our former swing state. The scenery was serenely flat in all directions, punctuated by silos, windmills, telegraph poles, fenceposts, Trump signs and […]
Posted inEastern Iowa, Recreation
Light and nature abound in this Frank Lloyd Wright house, nestled in Cedar Rock State Park
Fans of 20th century American architecture and, in particular, the Prairie Style of Frank Lloyd Wright will be charmed by Cedar Rock State Park, the site of one of his architectural gems. Built on a limestone bluff overlooking the Wapsipinicon River in Buchanan County, near the town of Quasqueton, the house is one of only […]
