This is a quaint little railroad museum, gift shop and then a vintage train that offers trips 12…read moremiles (I think) into the Des Moines River Valley to a little town called Fraser. We bought a Groupon last fall which included all of this for a very reasonable price. Took a little day trip from Kansas City. Spent the night in Boone and enjoyed the late morning visiting the museum. If you're a train lover, or even not, this is an interesting museum with great pictures and exhibits. It is nice to know there are people striving to preserve America's past.

Has it really been 16 years since I last visited Reiman Gardens and wrote a Yelp review about it?…read more Maybe, and it seems that the facility has significantly expanded since then. Gayle and I stopped by today to wander and enjoy. It's still a little confusing to get here as it seems that you're entering the Jack Trice Stadium complex instead of the Reiman Gardens parking lot. But once we were parked, it was an easy walk into the main building to pay our admission and start our journey. Reiman Gardens is a year-round facility that is owned by Iowa State and no doubt also hosts various University events and weddings. The Butterfly wing is still there, plus some sort of goth theme in another greenhouse. Also inside is a cute little gift shop and lots of office and meeting space. The outside is expansive, with lots of nicely landscaped grounds and plenty of shade in various areas. Gayle and I especially enjoyed the large Gnome, the Sycamore Falls complex, the various hordes of pollinators on some flowers, and just wandering around the various curved paths. Some parts are a little close to a busy road, but we chose to concentrate on the Gardens present. Maybe it was also the soothing sound of water in various places. We spent at least a couple hours here and allowed ourselves to be immersed in the various shades of solitude within a campus that seemed so far away. Gardens staff were friendly, helpful, and excited about being there. Hopefully, I won't wait so many years before coming back.

Our family visited on a Friday morning. We spent most of our time in the butterfly wing. There were…read morenearly 1000 butterflies fluttering about and our girls had the most wonderful time observing. Afterwards, we walked around the gardens and had some interesting finds, such as the Up house replica and world's largest concrete gnome.

The Octagon Center of the Arts has since moved down the block a few spots. I recently wandered into…read morethe shop and the adjacent gallery that was featuring a sign history of Ames. Great Stuff.

I really love this place! Cool art store/gallery/space to rent!…read more I have enjoyed concerts, classes, and art shows here! The rooms are beautiful and big enough for a nice crew to be in, but not huge enough to make things not feel intimate! The store is full of hand made, art stuff! Like Prints, one of a kind things, local art, jewelry, kitchen items, books, dvd's, cd's you name it! If it's art they probably have it! Perfect store for gift shopping for the unique someone who has everything...

A long time in the making, the Ames Historical society has worked hard to assemble the history of…read morethe city. The pictures and story are presented in a very compelling way. Stop in and enjoy!

If you want to be remembered or leave a legacy, support the work of this museum. They need more…read morespace for exhibitions, a proper store for merchandising, climate-controlled space, in an extraordinary building. Surely, those whose families have built and sustained this community can come forth and donate the resources to make this the kind of place residents can be proud of. Currently housed in the Ames Cultural District next to an historic landmark and across the street from the Octagon Center for the arts, this wonderful museum is packed with historical items waiting to be displayed, used for research and exhibits worthy of this fine city. They need more volunteers, donors, members, and storage in order to stage the kind of exhibits that do justice to those who grew up here, studied here, and conducted business here. New exhibits on the craft beer industry and education are currently in process. How do you want to be remembered?

Inside North Grand Mall. Park where you like. The sign on…read morethe east facing entry gets you in. Walking in there is indoor golf. The guys I held the door for carried in their own clubs. Spit on the other side of the wall was a large party. This is the axe throwing area. Not knowing where we were going, we headed back through this area. There are some pool tables and dart boards. Cool! We then were stepping "out" into the mall area. Set up like an outdoor patio. There were tables, chairs, cornhole and more. We crossed the mall and headed into Duck Pin bowling. 8 lanes. Much like regular bowling, just enough room to congregate. Short lanes, pins on strings, small balls. We had to wait, so we hung out in the bar and kitchen area. More dining space, a couple of arcade games, and a batting cage occupied this space. The boys tried their hand at batting. Rather trippy if you ask me. You choose the game. Don your helmet and bat. Get in there, step up, and look"down field." The entire wall of the other side of the cage is video. One tiny square has a trap door that opens just as the pitcher lets go. The ball comes out at the speed that can be 100 mph. It's cool. It helped kill the time as we waited our turn for duck pin bowling. We enjoyed the music, drinks, food, and conversation as we waited. When we got to play, we got a quick run down of how it worked. Top tip. Don't get your fingers pinched by the returning balls! It was fun and easy for everyone to enjoy. The staff was friendly, the atmosphere was fun. If I lived closer I'd go regularly. Great indoor space for the cold Iowa days.

Great customer service, competitive prices and plenty to keep you busy. Food and drinks are also…read morepretty good! Thanks for another great experience!

This family owned and operated orchard is wonderful! They're all incredibly friendly and the prices…read moreare perfect! Everything we got was delicious and fresh. Going and picking out our pumpkins was such a fun experience and the orchard was beautiful! The kids had a blast too. 10/10!!!!!!

They have some of the very best apples in the area. If you want to pick your own, take a drive up…read moreto Story City. Their cider is delicious. The baked goods look wonderful, too!

I'm so glad that a close friend encouraged me to visit this excellent venue, as it led to a…read morefantastic afternoon on Iowa State's main campus. We came on an afternoon with basketball games sandwiched on either side of our arrival and experienced zero issues. Easy parking and the venue are free with a suggested $8 donation. Their extensive collection is varied and covers many types of art. I enjoyed the Will Wilson photography on display and appreciated their "Talking Tintypes," which used iPad or Smart Phone tech to highlight Wilson's pieces. I thoroughly loved Josh Simpson's "Imaginative Journeys in Space and Sea," a phenomenal collection of complex and unique glasswork. I appreciated the accompanying video that dove into how the works were created. His "MegaPlanet" was incredible. In addition, two other works in the central portion of the museum were memorable - Yoshida's "Sacred Bridge" and Koitsu's "Lake Yamanaka." They have monthly events that I look forward to attending, and Brunnier is open 10-4 daily during the week, and 1-4 on the weekend.

Beautiful spot for a little wine tasting! We sat outside and enjoyed a wine flight. As first time…read morecustomers, a little more guidance would have been helpful. We didn't really know where to go or how everything worked. We didn't know or see a sign saying they sold charcuterie/snacks, until we found out after the fact. We did enjoy some of our wines & definately will come back & try more!

This is really a 3.5 star review. came here yesterday afternoon with some of my sorority sisters…read moreafter our spring alum chapter meeting. It seemed like the thing do after our meeting and lunch. It took a bit to get out there because it is on the north side of campus and Ames. I had actually never been here because it didn't exist when I was in college. Though there has really been a winery boom in the last couple of years. The winery baristas were able to explain the 10 different wines to us. It would have been amazing if they had all of the white wines because one was sold out. The deal of trying 8 1 oz glasses for 8 dollars is great. We ordered two of their cheese and charcuterie plates (later we found out this was all that they had made). The seating was not ideal and we stayed at the wine bar instead of trying other locations. There was not a tasting card given to you when you got your flight of wines so you had to really pay attention so you knew which ones you wanted to buy. The Iowa grape wines were for the most part great. However, the chardonnay grape that was purchased from California was not good. It either wasn't store correctly in the barrels or not a high quality. Chardonnay is one of the wines I have grown up drinking because my Grandma loves a good chardonnay and I believe I have 4 different bottles of chardonnay at home. Overall not bad place, just I've been to better wineries.