If you want to view Cedar Rapids (or any of east-central Iowa), you need to not only read about the flood of 2008, but the derecho on 2020/08/10. Nick Stewart, the ex-local meterologist made a great by-the-minute documentary on it. Imagine 60-80% more trees in the metro, with many of them over 100 years old. A lot of trees were not just snapped, but completely ripped out of the ground, root-ball and all. You may notice how some trees are still bent towards the east-southeast. Like you mentioned, the flood did displace many businesses, and also permanently closed a lot too. As an example, there was an IMAX theater inside of the Science Station, which are both gone. Several homes close to the river were nearly completely underwater. Also, the city had another name when Mt. Trashmore was still in service: "the city of five smells."
I've been to Iowa. I drive back roads. I have never been to your city. It looks safe, no trash, no crowds, I may visit this next summer looks beautiful. I live on my own land away from the hustle and bustle. I'm from Wisconsin.
I am a Japanese (Okinawan) married to an American and living in America. I love learning about America's geography. I very much like the way you share facts, history, crime rates of the cities you visit.
I live here. Have for 23 years. My mom is in Okinawa now. She is from Hiroshima. I went to Kubasaki high school and lived at Plaza Housing in Okinawa from 1985 to 1988. I miss the McDonalds and the arcade. off base and I really miss San-A.
The joke around CR and these Iowa towns is that all the Crime is imported from Chicago. We always run out of crime here and don't make our own so we have to run crime on a deficit
@@microponics2695 yup the SE side is where gangbangers go and hide from Chicago. Just like Al Capone did 100 years ago. Even he came to CR to hide. He used to eat at the Light House Inn on Mr Vernon Road.
Sorry, didnt know youd be in town. We usually all come in from the surrounding counties to make it look more metropolitan when we have guests. Looking forward to seeing Primus there in July
I was born and raised in Cedar Rapids. 56 now and still working at one of the local Corn Mills. I learned a few things from your visit, and appreciate the thought and work put into this video. Thank you for including us in your travels. Another stop of interest would have been Brucemore Mansion, where you would have found more of Grant Wood's works, most notably a Patio he designed and scupted for the owner at the time. The flood of '08 drove a lot of people away from the River, and the downtown area has never fully recovered. Especially on a work day, it is not surprising to see it so empy anymore. The roads always seem to look under maintenenced here because the swing from humid 90+ degree Summers to below zero Winters is tough on them, as is the numerous trucks and semis delivering goods. We take pride in helping to feed the world however. Thanks again for a delightful video. God bless on your travels. Take care.
The 2008 flood was allowed to happen by not opening the dam fully. They claimed they didn't want to flood the towns and farms downstream. Their purpose for allowing CR to flood was to wipe out those low income homes on the southwest side of the river and replace them with high dollar condominiums. Also, besides the novel name for Mt. Trashmore, the toilet brush for the "City of 5 Smells" is government corruption at it's finest. Our former Mayor Lee Clancy was a big fan of iron workers. She gave them a lot of work.
It is a cool building. I have done a lot of cool things there over the years. Saw Butterbean fight there among many others. Played in a huge poker tournament there. Been to political rallies, and plays. I have seen several concerts there. One of the coolest old buildings around, and it is sitting on a man made island in the river.
I was living in Iowa City in 2008 during the major flooding of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City (the flooding you referred to in this video). I had actually just moved from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City a few months prior to the flood. Those were some crazy times. The flood destroyed all of downtown Cedar Rapids, which prompted most businesses to move out of the area. This is why downtown Cedar Rapids is so desolate nowadays. It was a very bustling epicenter prior to the floods. I hope that maybe one day Cedar Rapids will have a viable downtown again, but people are still way too weary to be moving into downtown for business and such due to the high risk of it flooding again with the rivers being in such close proximity to downtown.
Sorry to disagree but not quite accurate. I'm born and live in CR my whole life. While it is true the downtown was completely devastated by the flood, it did not prompt the changes in downtown. The downtown area had in fact changed to a mostly business centric downtown a couple decades before with the popularity of Westdale Mall and Lindale Mall. In the 70-80s the downtown was the main shopping hub of CR, but again, that started to fail well before the flood. Furthermore, the rebuilding began immediately and was soon nearly back to normal after a few years of growth and hard work. It remains an active business centric downtown and home to several excellent and successful restaurants. It is a very busy downtown and businesses have been aggressively been moving back for many years and the surrounding area. I'm guessing this was recorded on a holiday? CR is only that empty on Sundays and holidays.
Yeah. They wanted to build a wall for floods but it must have been voted out. It was only designed to protect one side of the river but not the Czech side, as I understand...where all the houses are.
@@kessilrun6754the levee you’re referring to protects the Quaker cereal factory, and was constructed entirely on their own dime. The city itself is building its own flood protections now using money from the infrastructure bill biden signed.(that both of our senators and all of our representatives voted against)
I have been to 44 states and Iowa is one of my favorites. It has a lot of cool places to visit and clean and safe cities. It also pushes way above its weight in the craft beer scene with Dimensional, Toppling Goliath, Lua, Confluence, Pulpit Rock, Lions Bridge in Cedar Rapids, etc. The state capital building in Des Moines is one of may favorite capital buildings. Up on a hill over looking downtown with monuments around it is wonderful.
@jaepcam I live in Wisconsin so if you ever plan on visiting here, I can tell you where to go, depending on what you are into. I have not been to Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Delaware, and Maryland.
@@kyleelsbernd7566 Vesterheim is a top notch museum. Spent a lot of time in Decorah with one of my best friends who was from there. Phelps Park, Dunnings Springs, Pulpit Rock, upper Iowa river canoeing...trollfolk...lol...etc.
Wow! First timer here! & I’ve gots to say, I’ve never been so proud to live in Cedar Rapids as I am now! I’ve been here 16 yrs (from Chicago) and never seen the beauty of this city the way you’ve shown it! 16 yrs & now I wanna go out & venture the city and it’s beauty to appreciate it more! Thank you for the view and history lesson 🥰
My dad recently died there and I'm from CR. I was familiar with every place you went, albeit 20 to 40 years ago. It was surreal. I laughed there, cried there, worked there, loved there along the river, even performed at the Paramount and saw Citizen Kane with my father there. Thank you for that sir!
Born and raised there, although moved away 3 years ago. Nice to see they've planted new trees since the 2020 derecho took out half the city's trees. That was a crazy day I'll never forget! That and the huge 2008 flood that flooded all of downtown and destroyed a neighborhood on the NW side. CR is still looking good after going thru those disasters.
We just had one come through the Houston, Texas area about 10 days ago. Tore up a lot of things, broke many windows in the downtown highrise office buildings.
@@cdiz765140 mph wind without warning plowed through about 700 miles from the west through Cedar Rapids and continued east. I’d never heard of Derecho until it bent six story tall trees at my property. Then, ripped the roof off. Made a tree taco out of the house. Took about two years to replant over 60% of the trees that had been lost. And, help fix as many houses as possible, and the streets. The toughest part is we had no warning. No electric for a ten or more days depending on the person. No internet for many months depending on the area.
Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, joined the Navy where I did 6 years time, and moved back to Cedar Rapids. Theres something just special about our little city. Glad you were able to visit! Safe travels!
My history almost matches yours perfectly. Farm near CR, Navy 6 years, moved back for a short programming contract but moved away when I was done. I moved back to Iowa when I retired a few years ago.
It is so interesting to watch this video on Cedar Rapids. I grew up there. Lovingly referred to as Cedar Crapids, it’s a great place to have a family. It is rather plain but safer than most towns and it’s easy to become a homeowner. The roads aren’t great, a lot of people come from Chicago, and there are a LOT of drugs. The derecho completely devastated the community a few years ago, ripped out so much landscaping. The biggest pride I personally have was knowing Grant Wood is from Iowa. Ashton Kutcher too. He donates tons of money to his community that he grew up in. Those small homes you show are typical, and the ones that look decent sized are surprisingly compact on the inside. They have a lot of old architecture which takes up a lot of the interior. You should really check out Anamosa, Amana, and Iowa City. The small towns are my favorite. So charming 😊
It is always with a rare pleasure that I discover each of your videos which offers the French that I am an America different from the usual images that I see! I am happy to be able, in your company, to discover this unknown America which is very different from that which we are shown on many other media: Thank you and congratulations for your videos!
Thank you for your video. I grew up in CR & I’ve gone back to live there a few times since I left for CA in 1976. It was a great place to grow up, good education system in 60s & 70s. Downtown used to be thriving back then, amazing how quiet & deserted the streets are! Thanks again!
@@TaterTots380 Original Grant Wood stained glass. The original blue prints were destroyed when I worked at the Art Museum as for some odd reason kept in the basement and was water damaged during heavy rains in '79
Funnily enough, Black sheep is one of the pricier restaurants in Cedar Rapids. Cobble Hill a block over is probably the only thing more expensive in the immediate area.
Grant Wood used his own sister and their dentist as his models for American Gothic. I agree that turning Mt. Trashmore into a park is great! There are some biking trails on it too. The blueberry burger at the Black Sheep is my favorite! Never seen that dessert before - it looked delicious. If you ever do get back to Cedar Rapids, I recommend checking out the Czech Museum in Czech Village and Newbo City Market. Thanks for a great review of the city!
Tons. We are one of the first towns in the country to be declared a Holy land, we were the first of 2 cities to have police radios in cars the other S.F. The original plans for the Wright Bros airplane were drawn up here where they lived for a time. We were also in the top 10 cities on the bomb list during the cold war as the largest cereal plant in the world is here along with at the time Collins Radio that was heavy with gov avionics contracts.
I always love the courthouse on the river but the floods really took a toll it's amazing .I live close . unfortunately cedar rapids crime is up more than ever ugh 😩
I lived in Des Moines/Davenport/Eldridge, IA for a few years and now I wish I had visited this beautiful little town while I was there. The Veteran's Memorial building is beautiful. Thank you for a wonderful video.
12:00 that building is abandoned and is not currently being used. It used to be home to a bar called “Toocans” which was a tropical theme bar, then taken over by a country bar called “Hazard County.” That bar moved across the street to a former tire center and uses the building’s garage doors to open up more space in the summer
Love your content. One thing stood out to me as you drove around the neighborhoods of Cedar Rapids, no mailboxes on the curds. They were all in the yard or on the houses. It surprised me that some mail carriers still have to walk to deliver the mail. Looking forward to seeing more of your travels. 👍
An awesome video, as always ! A very nice city, beautiful homes. I always love the old theatres ! Your food looked amazing ! Thanks so much, Joe and Nic.😊💗
Another great travel video. Thanks guys. To be honest Joe I only really knew 3 things about Cedar Rapids. The artist and painting, the corn processing and the cereal production. LoL and only knew that from my trucking days. LoL. Really nice looking city really clean and as you said kinda on the quiet side but peaceful seemed. Great looking neighborhoods also clean and well kept. Liked the story behind the island and government buildings there. And the really great veterans memorial very fitting for this weekend especially thanks for that as a vet myself. And the other thing I really liked a lot was Mt Trashmore. LoL 😂 now that’s a great idea right there. And as usual thanks for the stats I always like that. Safe travels my friend. Keep filming and I’ll keep watching.
How cool is it to have the memorial building almost to yourself? The stained glass window alone is enough for me to put Cedar Rapids on my list of places to visit. Seeing Grant Woods' name, what immediately came to mind was a poster I have from the Santa Cruz Brussels Sprout Festival--it has the American Gothic couple standing in front of the Giant Dipper...and each pitchfork tine has a sprout on it. (Just one of the parodies that you mention) Mt. Trashmore, what a perfect name and what a great view! See ya next time, happy trails!
I lived in "C.R." for almost 15 years. Left for my tour in the Navy, and moved away again for my work. But, it's the only place I've ever felt truly at home. Someday, after I retire, I will probably see if any of those houses on Grande Ave are for sale!
I've been all across the country, even Iowa. I'm from Wisconsin, but I have never been in ceder rapids. Very impressive. Clean safe and for a city beautiful.
Absolutely gorgeous that glass is absolutely gorgeous. Look at the people that’s made out of glass. Wow I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you for this video Joe. That’s beautiful view from on top of the trash lol
We had a Mt Trashmore in Miami. It was the highest elevated area in South Florida, therefore our local Naval Air Force base had a substation up there. Imagine being getting stationed at that post? And....this was before it was grassed over like you're seeing here. It was literally a mountain of trash! And it stunk up a holy hot mess!!!
I've been enjoying your show for several years now, to be honest I always look forward to the dinner and especially the wife, she's the one who makes it worth it
Joe..if you ever get to Virginia Beach Va..make sure you check out their Mount Trashmore. Opened in 1974 it represents landfill reuse at it's best. The park sits on 165 acres of an abandoned trash dump. Many miles of walking trails..has 2 lakes for fishing..many picnic areas and even a 24,000 square ft skate park. It gets 1 million visitors a year...more than any park in the city (and they have a bunch).
Thank you for the awesome video with homage to our American heroes. The veterans are truly selfless amazing people who gave to make our country so magnificent. Your service will never be forgotten.
the derecho of 2020 was very hard on the tree canopy of CR. estimates of 60% tree loss. many, many, many mature trees destroyed. very sad for everyone who lives here.
What kind of events did they hold there? Was this the place to be before the Alliant Energy Center? Seems like a lot of building was going on in the 60s downtown ❤
I remember going to a home show type thing and hobby shows and they had dances and concerts there, also the shrine circus, 4th of July fireworks of course memorial Day events they have a lot of cool civil war stuff and displays
Joe, you're general knowledge is rather impressive. History, science, and art and architecture. Just goes to show that a good education doesn't always come from a university, but from a person's curiosity to learn about things they don't know. I don't know your background and I don't know whether or not you attended college. But I do know you are a former bartender. But your general knowledge is impressive, regardless of your education background.
@@LyleFrancisDelp Because his general knowledge is not impressive to me, a person with a real treasure trove of general knowledge in his head. People online always prep for their shows to be more intelligent-sounding, and their viewers/listeners always think they're smart as a result. I guess you are living proof that it's working.
@@mexicounexplained, is your whole intent here to ruin folks' enjoyment of the channel? Yeah, no one has a genuine encyclopedic knowledge of every location they visit, but there's no shame in studying up on a location before touring it. Joe never pretends otherwise.
I was born and raised in Iowa. Left after high school and came back after I retired. Lived in CA, TX & MN along with some travel and long stays at other places in the world and in the US. I have never been to Cedar Rapids but always wanted to check it out. I live in the north east of Iowa very close to Minnesota. After watching your video a weekend stay will be planed in the near future.
That's the prettiest trash pile I've ever laid eyes on! Your son will love that bag. I can only imagine the jokes it will bring on! Cedar Rapids is so pretty. I love the history you told about it and especially the American Gothic Painting. Joe, that certainly was a different kind of burger! Dessert looked great and different! Thanks.
Super-cool building. I love those old Beaux-Arts buildings. Something wonderful about a building that is also designed as a monument. I like both the Beaux-Arts structures you show.
Basketball 🏀 sensation Caitlin Clark generated some major buzz for Iowa which usually only gets attention for its first in the nation caucus in Presidential election cycles.
I used to go to Cedar Rapids in the late 80’s to visit a friend at Coe College. Never saw any of these treasures. Love the stained glass window and courthouse. Love American Gothic. Appreciate the backstory. Love the homes. The East side looks more familiar to me. Black Sheep Social Club looks great! Look forward to Kansas! Have a great weekend!
I have lived in Cedar Rapids for 35 years ... never been to a Kum & Go 😂. When you started that segment I thought "Oh, he's going to Casey's." Black Sheep is some good stuff. Learned some new things too. Thanks.
Thank you for visiting Cedar Rapids. Live in Marion now, but used to live one block up from that Kum & Go, you went right past that street in the construction. You also passed the old Higley Mansion behind that brick wall right before you got to the gas station, it has been added onto and turned onto a care center. Brucemore mansion would be a great place for people to visit as it is open for tours. Imagine all those streets lined with even more trees, the derecho of 2020 caused alot of damage from the 140 MPH winds. For perspective the flood of 2008, just as you went down that hill past the Kum & Go was ALL flooded, the hospital had water just above the ground level and had to transfer patients to the other hospital.
North east Iowa is in the unglaciated Driftless region (also in Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois) like a min Appalachia the size of West Virginia. I recommend Decorah, Viroqua lacrosse Dubuque Madison etc
Another great video! The city looked very nice, learning about Mount Trashmore is another thing I never knew, and the houses were fabulous. The Veterans Memorial building was very beautiful, that window is superb. And now I know all about American Gothic and the Guy and daughter duo who were the models for the painting. The drone work was spliced in at just the right spots. Your videos have become very professional art that is very entertaining. TH-cam just surpassed Netflix and now has more viewers. Your channel is one of the reasons why, it is informative and entertaining. Thank you for your efforts. You are approaching the half million mark. There is a good reason for that and it is your work. It is very good!
The models for "American Gothic" weren't father and daughter. (The painting is supposed to represent a father and daughter.) For the models, the man was Grant Wood's dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby, and the woman was Grant Wood's sister, Nan Wood Grant.
Except the information isn't correct. Cedar Rapids USED to be one of 2 cities with their local government on an island the other being Venice. Cedar Rapids no longer holds that distinction. He needs to correct his mistake
Loved the vid Joe.. but ya gave no honorable mention to them 2 angel 🐿🐿 squirrels chasing each other starting at the 19:58 mark lol. Don't think ya even noticed them.... stay frosty for them fuzzy butts.. please 😎. Happy memorial weekend....
I've lived in this city my entire life, thank you for teaching me new things about it. Also, I've always been told that our fifth season is hospitality!
Iowa is such a different place, being from Wisconsin, I’ve driven through and even played travel ball down there during my youth. Iowa is that place where you always see people driving through but you don’t see many people sticking around
I’ve seen videos (not yours), of the homeless in L.A. and Philly. Very depressing. This one is more what one would want a small to mid-sized city in America to look like. Clean and wholesome where the citizens care about the looks of the place, right down to the trash.
Cool video showing my hometown, I loved growing up here and remember when the Flood of 08 destroyed most of down town. There was an old train bridge that I loved seeing as a kid and it got pushed over by the flood and I remember feeling so sad about it. A lot of of the houses on the west side of the river got completely flooded up to the roofs, destroying them. Pretty much everything on the west side of the river downtown has been rebuilt. The city is installing flood walls now to try and prevent another flood like the one in 08. The 2020 Derecho knocked down so many of the trees here, Cedar Rapids used to be so beautiful and had lots of trees and shade. The trees left standing are the ones that were strong enough to withstand the 120mph winds that blew through. When ever I drive around certain parts of town I just think about how many trees are gone now.
We all have jobs on the outskirts of the town and if you do work in the city every car during the week is in parking garages and the people are working in the buildings. Friday night-Sunday that downtown area has thousands of people roaming around.
he likely came in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day. everyone is working! now come on a friday/saturday at 6pm and the streets are full
Ah our little town finally visited in the daylight, not a disaster in sight! What a wonderful video, though I might put forth that a great deal of the residents aren't seen until sundown. Half of the city is best explored after dark. You might have liked venturing through the Oakhill Cemetery (that was the area to your left when you were giving the crime statistics) lots of interesting old czech tombstones and logtowers there to see. Indeed, you might have seen Tilly the witch's grave. Buried so close to the founder, George Greene, that it should give people pause for the history beneath those stones. The city of 5 seasons indeed! Stormy spring, blistering summer, perfect fall and unpredictable winter. That last season though, maybe Donovan sang it best. A pity you missed Czech village and the Indian Creek Nature Center, though with construction going on you would have had to take Otis road to get there... maybe not the liveliest drive. Wonderful video! Be sure to check out Danville if you ever find yourself in southern California! Enjoy Hawaii!
@@amyb347 With construction your best bet is behind the cemetery on 12 th Avenue. It's easy to find from Newbo, just head to the uphill east areas. You'll see another graveyard there as well to the south overlooking Van Vecten Park and the river, I strongly and vehemently suggest that you not explore in the woods between the park and the Graves. There are plenty of things tossed away in the woods that you don't want to come across and the hills have sudden drops hidden by brambles. Take a good walk around Oak Hill, Greene's stone is quite interesting to look at!
@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip That's almost always the case. Whether because of the restaurants or the antique shops, it's always busy there. Be thankful you just missed houby days, everything and everyone down there is all about morels and people will knock you over to get the best deals!
Hi Joe & Nic, Cedar Rapids looks like a beautiful city, it's sooo clean and I love the architecture Beaux-Arts but it has a state like Spartan edge to it which I really like. Also, the city has a cleanliness and practical environmentalism like the city park built on recycled trash. I would 💓to visit Cedar Rapids one day (not sure if I can get a direct flight from London, though?). Also, could you do a tour sometime of Idaho, especially Franklin County where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed? 👍🤗
@@bb5242 Unfortunately, they have speed cameras all over the world these days. It's not about safety, it's an extra source of revenue!🤑 Cedar Rapids looked beautiful to me and very clean, but you can't always tell from one source of info, but Joe tells it pretty much as it is, he pulls no punches! Besides, a return flight would cost me almost £900 and ATM I can't afford that, so maybe another time?🤗
Heathrow to Chicago ORD, Minneapolis or St.Louis. Then regional flights to Cedar Rapids (CID). Nice airport. ORD always bewilders me. American premium economy class works for us. From London, suggest stay over Premier Inn, Heathrow is economical. Can never get from London to airport on time.
@@wm6h Thanks WM6H, I can get a flight directly from LHR to ORD then to Cedar Rapids East Iowa airport, but its expensive £900 but I can't afford it ATM.
How about this. You can get good deals LHR to SW Florida. Brits are always going to FLA. Rental car to Punta Gorda, FLA. Agilent Air to CID. Non-Stop. Many from CID have winter homes in FLA. I myself never thought about that route until just now.
0:50 Lived here 35 years, didn't realize that it was so unique as to be only one of three cities in the world who's government sits on a separate island. Always something new to learn. Yes the '08 Flood was a 500-year Flood Plain situation, it was insane the amount of the city that was like up to 6-7 feet underwater. Never seen something so devastating.
I'm from CR, and moved back here. I love this town. We have been rocked with the flood of 2008. That's the reason why DT is empty. DT used to be very busy, but most of the people that used to work DT now work from home. This exponentially increased after Covid. We then were rocked with a deracho the summer of 2020. The wellington area of town where the big houses had so many more trees. 2nd Ave is not the main drag also, it is 1st Ave. But I love the kind thing you said about our town. My wife and I love the Black Sheep!
I've lived in Iowa all my life and never been to Cedar Rapids that I know of. I need to get out more. I'm wondering what highway you took to get there from Wisconsin......the drive along the Mississippi is beautiful.
CR has upscaled since we left in 1980. SE is still RichKid Central though. The rest... tiny houses on tiny lots... I wonder if it still smells of wet-process molasses?
Thanks guys great tour snd history of the town and the food looked good !! I can’t wait to y’all get to Hawaii and hopefully y’all try some interesting dishes while there !! God bless ❤️🙏🙋🏻🌈🌈
Hey you both... My partner and I watch your videos almost daily, or as much as you upload em. We just finished this one and you mention coming back to the East Coast after Hawaii... Please give Portland, Maine another shot. The last time you were here it was rainy and you missed a lot of really awesome stuff. From John Calvin Stevens homes, to Revolutionary war forts, to a haunted hotel, High Roller Lobster Co... and more...
@davesbainrps6909 Kings (a local company who makes block) used to dredge it for free and keep the sand for raw material. Local government decided Kings needed to pay the city for the sand, so Kings stopped dredging for free. That's when the flood happened. The almighty dollar
@@bb5242 And if I didn't live in Iowa City? Where I lived, there were several pizza restaurants. The pizza was awful, all in their unique ways. Casey's gas station had tolerable pizza. That, sir or madam, is what I'm "on about."
How awesome! I learned a lot about my city through you! What a fun video. Thank you for visiting! If you are even more curious about Grant Wood, he was born in Anamosa, not entirely far from Cedar Rapids, and painted the little town of Stone City, where he also spent some time. Apparently he is buried in Anamosa. Stone city is a gorgeous little place. If you ever come through here again I highly suggest it. Safe travels
If you want to view Cedar Rapids (or any of east-central Iowa), you need to not only read about the flood of 2008, but the derecho on 2020/08/10. Nick Stewart, the ex-local meterologist made a great by-the-minute documentary on it. Imagine 60-80% more trees in the metro, with many of them over 100 years old. A lot of trees were not just snapped, but completely ripped out of the ground, root-ball and all. You may notice how some trees are still bent towards the east-southeast. Like you mentioned, the flood did displace many businesses, and also permanently closed a lot too. As an example, there was an IMAX theater inside of the Science Station, which are both gone. Several homes close to the river were nearly completely underwater.
Also, the city had another name when Mt. Trashmore was still in service: "the city of five smells."
We definitely still call it the city of five smells
Wdym, Mt Trashmore is still there, as a city park and is a huge wildlife reserve
@@ReeTuber118 he said when trashmore was still in service, like service as an actual landfill not a park
half of marshalltown is treeless now because of the tornado. Weather is a changin'
Boring empty lifeless town 😂🤣
Thank you for visiting our city and thank you for the kind words about our town. Come back any time!!
I've been to Iowa. I drive back roads. I have never been to your city. It looks safe, no trash, no crowds, I may visit this next summer looks beautiful. I live on my own land away from the hustle and bustle. I'm from Wisconsin.
I am a Japanese (Okinawan) married to an American and living in America. I love learning about America's geography. I very much like the way you share facts, history, crime rates of the cities you visit.
I live here. Have for 23 years. My mom is in Okinawa now. She is from Hiroshima. I went to Kubasaki high school
and lived at Plaza Housing in Okinawa from 1985 to 1988. I miss the McDonalds and the arcade. off base and I really miss San-A.
The joke around CR and these Iowa towns is that all the Crime is imported from Chicago. We always run out of crime here and don't make our own so we have to run crime on a deficit
@microponics2695 crime been getting worse in Iowa to be honest, especially Dodge, shooting are becoming a weekly event here.
@@just_your_localguard9612 okay so go get a gun and protect yourself....
@@microponics2695 yup the SE side is where gangbangers go and hide from Chicago. Just like Al Capone did 100 years ago. Even he came to CR to hide. He used to eat at the Light House Inn on Mr Vernon Road.
Thanks for doing Cedar Rapids. Blair’s Ferry road was named after my great grand parents, My roots are very deep there.
Who is Blair? And why does he have a fairy?
Holy cow, we must be related! I'd always heard bits of the ferry story growing up. My great-grandparents were Russ and Ann Gerdes
@@pcproffyThe Blairs had a fairy service there, before bridges were built.
@@broadhead_rc5808Yes we are!
Gloria is my cousin.
Sorry, didnt know youd be in town. We usually all come in from the surrounding counties to make it look more metropolitan when we have guests. Looking forward to seeing Primus there in July
Maybe we should start a website or something? Text notifications?
@@fella11814 Doing everything by mail is fine. Not like we're in a rush or anything.
I hope you're joking cuz CR is nothing like that. I'm from CR also so stop the cap
I was born and raised in Cedar Rapids. 56 now and still working at one of the local Corn Mills. I learned a few things from your visit, and appreciate the thought and work put into this video. Thank you for including us in your travels. Another stop of interest would have been Brucemore Mansion, where you would have found more of Grant Wood's works, most notably a Patio he designed and scupted for the owner at the time. The flood of '08 drove a lot of people away from the River, and the downtown area has never fully recovered. Especially on a work day, it is not surprising to see it so empy anymore. The roads always seem to look under maintenenced here because the swing from humid 90+ degree Summers to below zero Winters is tough on them, as is the numerous trucks and semis delivering goods. We take pride in helping to feed the world however. Thanks again for a delightful video. God bless on your travels. Take care.
with the destruction of so many trees and how hot Cedar Rapids gets in summer it is a challenge to walk around under the blazing sun.
The 2008 flood was allowed to happen by not opening the dam fully. They claimed they didn't want to flood the towns and farms downstream. Their purpose for allowing CR to flood was to wipe out those low income homes on the southwest side of the river and replace them with high dollar condominiums. Also, besides the novel name for Mt. Trashmore, the toilet brush for the "City of 5 Smells" is government corruption at it's finest. Our former Mayor Lee Clancy was a big fan of iron workers. She gave them a lot of work.
Well I've lived in this town for almost all of my 20 years of life and you are still teaching me new things about it. Thanks for visiting!!!
I've driven through CR 500 times and had no idea how grand the Veterans Memorial is. Thank you for the tour Joe!
It is a cool building. I have done a lot of cool things there over the years. Saw Butterbean fight there among many others. Played in a huge poker tournament there. Been to political rallies, and plays. I have seen several concerts there. One of the coolest old buildings around, and it is sitting on a man made island in the river.
@@xi399x I saw the circus there about 1960. I don't think the island is man made.
I was living in Iowa City in 2008 during the major flooding of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City (the flooding you referred to in this video). I had actually just moved from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City a few months prior to the flood. Those were some crazy times. The flood destroyed all of downtown Cedar Rapids, which prompted most businesses to move out of the area. This is why downtown Cedar Rapids is so desolate nowadays. It was a very bustling epicenter prior to the floods. I hope that maybe one day Cedar Rapids will have a viable downtown again, but people are still way too weary to be moving into downtown for business and such due to the high risk of it flooding again with the rivers being in such close proximity to downtown.
Sorry to disagree but not quite accurate. I'm born and live in CR my whole life. While it is true the downtown was completely devastated by the flood, it did not prompt the changes in downtown. The downtown area had in fact changed to a mostly business centric downtown a couple decades before with the popularity of Westdale Mall and Lindale Mall. In the 70-80s the downtown was the main shopping hub of CR, but again, that started to fail well before the flood. Furthermore, the rebuilding began immediately and was soon nearly back to normal after a few years of growth and hard work. It remains an active business centric downtown and home to several excellent and successful restaurants. It is a very busy downtown and businesses have been aggressively been moving back for many years and the surrounding area. I'm guessing this was recorded on a holiday? CR is only that empty on Sundays and holidays.
Yeah. They wanted to build a wall for floods but it must have been voted out. It was only designed to protect one side of the river but not the Czech side, as I understand...where all the houses are.
I lived off Blairs Ferry during the flood. I was here for the 1993 flood as well. At least you were in IC when the flood hit.
@@kessilrun6754the levee you’re referring to protects the Quaker cereal factory, and was constructed entirely on their own dime. The city itself is building its own flood protections now using money from the infrastructure bill biden signed.(that both of our senators and all of our representatives voted against)
@@kessilrun6754 That flood wall is currently under construction.
I have been to 44 states and Iowa is one of my favorites. It has a lot of cool places to visit and clean and safe cities. It also pushes way above its weight in the craft beer scene with Dimensional, Toppling Goliath, Lua, Confluence, Pulpit Rock, Lions Bridge in Cedar Rapids, etc. The state capital building in Des Moines is one of may favorite capital buildings. Up on a hill over looking downtown with monuments around it is wonderful.
44 for me too. Still have to hit North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii.
@jaepcam I live in Wisconsin so if you ever plan on visiting here, I can tell you where to go, depending on what you are into. I have not been to Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Delaware, and Maryland.
Iowa is definitely underrated.
Yes Decorah is a real gem, I grew up there but moved away 30 years ago
@@kyleelsbernd7566 Vesterheim is a top notch museum. Spent a lot of time in Decorah with one of my best friends who was from there. Phelps Park, Dunnings Springs, Pulpit Rock, upper Iowa river canoeing...trollfolk...lol...etc.
Wow! First timer here! & I’ve gots to say, I’ve never been so proud to live in Cedar Rapids as I am now! I’ve been here 16 yrs (from Chicago) and never seen the beauty of this city the way you’ve shown it! 16 yrs & now I wanna go out & venture the city and it’s beauty to appreciate it more! Thank you for the view and history lesson 🥰
Please do, there is alot to offer here!
Just moved here last year and love it!
My dad recently died there and I'm from CR. I was familiar with every place you went, albeit 20 to 40 years ago. It was surreal. I laughed there, cried there, worked there, loved there along the river, even performed at the Paramount and saw Citizen Kane with my father there. Thank you for that sir!
Born and raised there, although moved away 3 years ago. Nice to see they've planted new trees since the 2020 derecho took out half the city's trees. That was a crazy day I'll never forget! That and the huge 2008 flood that flooded all of downtown and destroyed a neighborhood on the NW side. CR is still looking good after going thru those disasters.
what is a derecho?
@@cdiz765 hurricane force winds on land.
@@SykoByte thanks
We just had one come through the Houston, Texas area about 10 days ago. Tore up a lot of things, broke many windows in the downtown highrise office buildings.
@@cdiz765140 mph wind without warning plowed through about 700 miles from the west through Cedar Rapids and continued east.
I’d never heard of Derecho until it bent six story tall trees at my property. Then, ripped the roof off. Made a tree taco out of the house.
Took about two years to replant over 60% of the trees that had been lost. And, help fix as many houses as possible, and the streets.
The toughest part is we had no warning. No electric for a ten or more days depending on the person. No internet for many months depending on the area.
Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, joined the Navy where I did 6 years time, and moved back to Cedar Rapids. Theres something just special about our little city.
Glad you were able to visit! Safe travels!
My history almost matches yours perfectly. Farm near CR, Navy 6 years, moved back for a short programming contract but moved away when I was done. I moved back to Iowa when I retired a few years ago.
Great video of my hometown. You showed my house which was cool. Glad I had the yard work done. 😅
It is so interesting to watch this video on Cedar Rapids. I grew up there. Lovingly referred to as Cedar Crapids, it’s a great place to have a family. It is rather plain but safer than most towns and it’s easy to become a homeowner. The roads aren’t great, a lot of people come from Chicago, and there are a LOT of drugs. The derecho completely devastated the community a few years ago, ripped out so much landscaping. The biggest pride I personally have was knowing Grant Wood is from Iowa. Ashton Kutcher too. He donates tons of money to his community that he grew up in. Those small homes you show are typical, and the ones that look decent sized are surprisingly compact on the inside. They have a lot of old architecture which takes up a lot of the interior.
You should really check out Anamosa, Amana, and Iowa City. The small towns are my favorite. So charming 😊
It is always with a rare pleasure that I discover each of your videos which offers the French that I am an America different from the usual images that I see! I am happy to be able, in your company, to discover this unknown America which is very different from that which we are shown on many other media: Thank you and congratulations for your videos!
Iowa territory was part of France (later Spain) at one time. Our flag is based on the French flag, unless you knew that already.
You gave me a new view on a city I've lived in since 1989. Thank you!!
Thank you for your video. I grew up in CR & I’ve gone back to live there a few times since I left for CA in 1976.
It was a great place to grow up, good education system in 60s & 70s. Downtown used to be thriving back then, amazing how quiet & deserted the streets are! Thanks again!
Another great video. What an awesome road trip.
The Memorial Window was beautiful!
@@TaterTots380 Original Grant Wood stained glass. The original blue prints were destroyed when I worked at the Art Museum as for some odd reason kept in the basement and was water damaged during heavy rains in '79
How awesome to show a Veterans memorial building on Memorial day weekend. You guys have been getting some cheap meals lately.
Funnily enough, Black sheep is one of the pricier restaurants in Cedar Rapids. Cobble Hill a block over is probably the only thing more expensive in the immediate area.
Grant Wood used his own sister and their dentist as his models for American Gothic. I agree that turning Mt. Trashmore into a park is great! There are some biking trails on it too. The blueberry burger at the Black Sheep is my favorite! Never seen that dessert before - it looked delicious. If you ever do get back to Cedar Rapids, I recommend checking out the Czech Museum in Czech Village and Newbo City Market. Thanks for a great review of the city!
This is definitely a "I had no idea" video -- I had no idea Cedar Rapids had so many interesting features!😊
Tons. We are one of the first towns in the country to be declared a Holy land, we were the first of 2 cities to have police radios in cars the other S.F. The original plans for the Wright Bros airplane were drawn up here where they lived for a time. We were also in the top 10 cities on the bomb list during the cold war as the largest cereal plant in the world is here along with at the time Collins Radio that was heavy with gov avionics contracts.
I always love the courthouse on the river but the floods really took a toll it's amazing .I live close . unfortunately cedar rapids crime is up more than ever ugh 😩
@@peggypasson8794 Do they still have the sweet corn festival? I remember when it had issues because of gangs.
Yep there is a sweet corn festival.
@@aboveaveragebayleaf9216 St. Jude's and I can't wait for the funnel cakes lol
Glad you enjoyed our wonderful city, thanks for making a stop!
Hawaii's next. Nicole will love that. Nice story on 'America's Mona Lisa' - the famous "American Gothic" painted in Iowa in 1930.
They got within 3 or 4 blocks from where it was painted.
I lived in Des Moines/Davenport/Eldridge, IA for a few years and now I wish I had visited this beautiful little town while I was there. The Veteran's Memorial building is beautiful. Thank you for a wonderful video.
Thanks for visiting, lived there my whole life. It's an interesting place if you look long enough.
Iowa farmer here, another interesting video, it’s been many years since I’ve been in Cedar Rapids.
sad.
It is deceptive how long it can take to get across Iowa. We have just a bit more land area than England but are a tad short on rail transportation!
@@iowapanner2223I heard that amtrak has some plans for the Midwest, but the government always cuts funding to amtrak
@@jimmyjohnjohnson9803 So true
12:00 that building is abandoned and is not currently being used. It used to be home to a bar called “Toocans” which was a tropical theme bar, then taken over by a country bar called “Hazard County.” That bar moved across the street to a former tire center and uses the building’s garage doors to open up more space in the summer
Love your content. One thing stood out to me as you drove around the neighborhoods of Cedar Rapids, no mailboxes on the curds. They were all in the yard or on the houses. It surprised me that some mail carriers still have to walk to deliver the mail. Looking forward to seeing more of your travels. 👍
I'm glad you started with our fun little islands. It's honestly my favorite thing about our city. It's neat. ❤
Happy Memorial Day weekend to all my fellow veterans fallen and present. Thanks for sharing video. SALUTE
It's always cool seeing people go to places I see almost everyday. Thanks for the simple but very informative video!
An awesome video, as always ! A very nice city, beautiful homes. I always love the old theatres ! Your food looked amazing ! Thanks so much, Joe and Nic.😊💗
That memorial window! Wow. Yet again another nice history lesson. Large respect for your architectural knowledge.
Sehr schöne Stadt, alles sauber und ordentlich!
Vielen Dank für die Infos!
My Russian friend says everything is so clean and orderly in the midwestern USA.
Another great travel video. Thanks guys. To be honest Joe I only really knew 3 things about Cedar Rapids. The artist and painting, the corn processing and the cereal production. LoL and only knew that from my trucking days. LoL. Really nice looking city really clean and as you said kinda on the quiet side but peaceful seemed. Great looking neighborhoods also clean and well kept. Liked the story behind the island and government buildings there. And the really great veterans memorial very fitting for this weekend especially thanks for that as a vet myself. And the other thing I really liked a lot was Mt Trashmore. LoL 😂 now that’s a great idea right there. And as usual thanks for the stats I always like that. Safe travels my friend. Keep filming and I’ll keep watching.
Always enjoy videos and seeing you and Nicole having a meal out.
How cool is it to have the memorial building almost to yourself? The stained glass window alone is enough for me to put Cedar Rapids on my list of places to visit.
Seeing Grant Woods' name, what immediately came to mind was a poster I have from the Santa Cruz Brussels Sprout Festival--it has the American Gothic couple standing in front of the Giant Dipper...and each pitchfork tine has a sprout on it. (Just one of the parodies that you mention)
Mt. Trashmore, what a perfect name and what a great view! See ya next time, happy trails!
Thank you for highlighting my hometown ❤
Looks really nice. Iowa has some very nice towns and scenery. Dubuque,and Decorah to name a few. Mississippi river and bluffs,beautiful farm land.
I lived in "C.R." for almost 15 years. Left for my tour in the Navy, and moved away again for my work. But, it's the only place I've ever felt truly at home. Someday, after I retire, I will probably see if any of those houses on Grande Ave are for sale!
So good to see you Joe and Nic....Love the way you set up Memorial Day!! Thank You!!
Memorial Day like the students forgot
I've been all across the country, even Iowa. I'm from Wisconsin, but I have never been in ceder rapids. Very impressive. Clean safe and for a city beautiful.
It's one of the bright spots on vlogs. Nice, quiet and livable.
Absolutely gorgeous that glass is absolutely gorgeous. Look at the people that’s made out of glass. Wow I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you for this video Joe. That’s beautiful view from on top of the trash lol
We had a Mt Trashmore in Miami. It was the highest elevated area in South Florida, therefore our local Naval Air Force base had a substation up there. Imagine being getting stationed at that post? And....this was before it was grassed over like you're seeing here. It was literally a mountain of trash! And it stunk up a holy hot mess!!!
I've been enjoying your show for several years now, to be honest I always look forward to the dinner and especially the wife, she's the one who makes it worth it
Looking forward to the Hawaii video! Have fun there!
Lived in CR from 1997 to 2022. Great place to do business, raise a family and make great, life-long friends!❤ Great video!
Joe..if you ever get to Virginia Beach Va..make sure you check out their Mount Trashmore. Opened in 1974 it represents landfill reuse at it's best. The park sits on 165 acres of an abandoned trash dump. Many miles of walking trails..has 2 lakes for fishing..many picnic areas and even a 24,000 square ft skate park. It gets 1 million visitors a year...more than any park in the city (and they have a bunch).
Thank you for the awesome video with homage to our American heroes. The veterans are truly selfless amazing people who gave to make our country so magnificent. Your service will never be forgotten.
the derecho of 2020 was very hard on the tree canopy of CR. estimates of 60% tree loss. many, many, many mature trees destroyed. very sad for everyone who lives here.
I grew up there in the 60s we used to go to the memorial building for all sorts of events thanks!
What kind of events did they hold there? Was this the place to be before the Alliant Energy Center? Seems like a lot of building was going on in the 60s downtown ❤
I remember going to a home show type thing and hobby shows and they had dances and concerts there, also the shrine circus, 4th of July fireworks of course memorial Day events they have a lot of cool civil war stuff and displays
Joe, you're general knowledge is rather impressive. History, science, and art and architecture. Just goes to show that a good education doesn't always come from a university, but from a person's curiosity to learn about things they don't know.
I don't know your background and I don't know whether or not you attended college. But I do know you are a former bartender. But your general knowledge is impressive, regardless of your education background.
He preps for the shows by reading things off the internet. Just tricks.
@@mexicounexplained How can you possibly know that? Either way, he does his research and presents himself quite well on camera.
@@LyleFrancisDelp Because his general knowledge is not impressive to me, a person with a real treasure trove of general knowledge in his head. People online always prep for their shows to be more intelligent-sounding, and their viewers/listeners always think they're smart as a result. I guess you are living proof that it's working.
@@mexicounexplained, is your whole intent here to ruin folks' enjoyment of the channel? Yeah, no one has a genuine encyclopedic knowledge of every location they visit, but there's no shame in studying up on a location before touring it. Joe never pretends otherwise.
@@ShawnD1027 No, that's not my intent. My message is very clear and concise.
I was born and raised in Iowa. Left after high school and came back after I retired. Lived in CA, TX & MN along with some travel and long stays at other places in the world and in the US. I have never been to Cedar Rapids but always wanted to check it out. I live in the north east of Iowa very close to Minnesota. After watching your video a weekend stay will be planed in the near future.
That's the prettiest trash pile I've ever laid eyes on! Your son will love that bag. I can only imagine the jokes it will bring on! Cedar Rapids is so pretty. I love the history you told about it and especially the American Gothic Painting. Joe, that certainly was a different kind of burger! Dessert looked great and different! Thanks.
Super-cool building. I love those old Beaux-Arts buildings. Something wonderful about a building that is also designed as a monument. I like both the Beaux-Arts structures you show.
Basketball 🏀 sensation Caitlin Clark generated some major buzz for Iowa which usually only gets attention for its first in the nation caucus in Presidential election cycles.
I have lived in Cedar Rapids for my whole life and did not know a majority of the things mentioned in this video 😂 good to know
Enjoyed all of this, glad to be able to come along 👏👏😊
I used to go to Cedar Rapids in the late 80’s to visit a friend at Coe College. Never saw any of these treasures. Love the stained glass window and courthouse. Love American Gothic. Appreciate the backstory. Love the homes. The East side looks more familiar to me. Black Sheep Social Club looks great! Look forward to Kansas! Have a great weekend!
I have lived in Cedar Rapids for 35 years ... never been to a Kum & Go 😂. When you started that segment I thought "Oh, he's going to Casey's." Black Sheep is some good stuff. Learned some new things too. Thanks.
They're pretty much the same. Kwik Trip / Kwik Star is my favorite gas station
@@Eric-xh9ee Kwik Star for breakfast, Casey's for pizza.
Thank you for visiting Cedar Rapids. Live in Marion now, but used to live one block up from that Kum & Go, you went right past that street in the construction. You also passed the old Higley Mansion behind that brick wall right before you got to the gas station, it has been added onto and turned onto a care center. Brucemore mansion would be a great place for people to visit as it is open for tours. Imagine all those streets lined with even more trees, the derecho of 2020 caused alot of damage from the 140 MPH winds. For perspective the flood of 2008, just as you went down that hill past the Kum & Go was ALL flooded, the hospital had water just above the ground level and had to transfer patients to the other hospital.
North east Iowa is in the unglaciated Driftless region (also in Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois) like a min Appalachia the size of West Virginia. I recommend Decorah, Viroqua lacrosse Dubuque Madison etc
Another great video! The city looked very nice, learning about Mount Trashmore is another thing I never knew, and the houses were fabulous. The Veterans Memorial building was very beautiful, that window is superb. And now I know all about American Gothic and the Guy and daughter duo who were the models for the painting. The drone work was spliced in at just the right spots. Your videos have become very professional art that is very entertaining. TH-cam just surpassed Netflix and now has more viewers. Your channel is one of the reasons why, it is informative and entertaining. Thank you for your efforts. You are approaching the half million mark. There is a good reason for that and it is your work. It is very good!
The models for "American Gothic" weren't father and daughter. (The painting is supposed to represent a father and daughter.) For the models, the man was Grant Wood's dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby, and the woman was Grant Wood's sister, Nan Wood Grant.
Appreciate your authenticity, keep being real
Unlike you, bot spammer.
Except the information isn't correct. Cedar Rapids USED to be one of 2 cities with their local government on an island the other being Venice. Cedar Rapids no longer holds that distinction. He needs to correct his mistake
@@williamchiafos3889 Paris has their government buildings on an island.
@@synvolz since when ?
@@synvolz always Venice and Cedar Rapids for decades
Another great video along with information I would have never known! Captain Krunch. Happy trails!
Loved the vid Joe.. but ya gave no honorable mention to them 2 angel 🐿🐿 squirrels chasing each other starting at the 19:58 mark lol. Don't think ya even noticed them.... stay frosty for them fuzzy butts.. please 😎. Happy memorial weekend....
saw that, he missed the fun
I've lived in this city my entire life, thank you for teaching me new things about it.
Also, I've always been told that our fifth season is hospitality!
Iowa is such a different place, being from Wisconsin, I’ve driven through and even played travel ball down there during my youth. Iowa is that place where you always see people driving through but you don’t see many people sticking around
Because you're on thru roads 😂
please keep them on the roads
Always look forward to watching these small town videos. Very relaxing. Keep up the great job.
Kum & Go with lots of pumps... great description!
And clean restrooms
Great choice on black sheep for the food. The brewery attached is fantastic too
i was born there! sometimes it'll smell like crunchberry cereal throughout the whole town, but mostly it'll just smell like oats or burnt sugar smell
I’ve seen videos (not yours), of the homeless in L.A. and Philly. Very depressing. This one is more what one would want a small to mid-sized city in America to look like. Clean and wholesome where the citizens care about the looks of the place, right down to the trash.
Cool video showing my hometown, I loved growing up here and remember when the Flood of 08 destroyed most of down town. There was an old train bridge that I loved seeing as a kid and it got pushed over by the flood and I remember feeling so sad about it. A lot of of the houses on the west side of the river got completely flooded up to the roofs, destroying them. Pretty much everything on the west side of the river downtown has been rebuilt. The city is installing flood walls now to try and prevent another flood like the one in 08. The 2020 Derecho knocked down so many of the trees here, Cedar Rapids used to be so beautiful and had lots of trees and shade. The trees left standing are the ones that were strong enough to withstand the 120mph winds that blew through. When ever I drive around certain parts of town I just think about how many trees are gone now.
Amazing the lack of people on the streets! Almost a ghost town feeling!
We all have jobs on the outskirts of the town and if you do work in the city every car during the week is in parking garages and the people are working in the buildings. Friday night-Sunday that downtown area has thousands of people roaming around.
he likely came in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day. everyone is working! now come on a friday/saturday at 6pm and the streets are full
It's so nice to see how far Kum and Go has come from being a pop up brothel way back in the day.
Ah our little town finally visited in the daylight, not a disaster in sight! What a wonderful video, though I might put forth that a great deal of the residents aren't seen until sundown. Half of the city is best explored after dark.
You might have liked venturing through the Oakhill Cemetery (that was the area to your left when you were giving the crime statistics) lots of interesting old czech tombstones and logtowers there to see. Indeed, you might have seen Tilly the witch's grave. Buried so close to the founder, George Greene, that it should give people pause for the history beneath those stones. The city of 5 seasons indeed! Stormy spring, blistering summer, perfect fall and unpredictable winter. That last season though, maybe Donovan sang it best.
A pity you missed Czech village and the Indian Creek Nature Center, though with construction going on you would have had to take Otis road to get there... maybe not the liveliest drive.
Wonderful video! Be sure to check out Danville if you ever find yourself in southern California! Enjoy Hawaii!
I tried to visit the Czech Village. It was freakin’ packed! I drove around trying to find a parking spot but couldn’t find one.
Just moved to CR and have been wanting to explore Oak Hill. Do you know how to get in or where I can park?
@@amyb347 With construction your best bet is behind the cemetery on 12 th Avenue. It's easy to find from Newbo, just head to the uphill east areas. You'll see another graveyard there as well to the south overlooking Van Vecten Park and the river, I strongly and vehemently suggest that you not explore in the woods between the park and the Graves. There are plenty of things tossed away in the woods that you don't want to come across and the hills have sudden drops hidden by brambles. Take a good walk around Oak Hill, Greene's stone is quite interesting to look at!
@@JoeandNicsRoadTrip That's almost always the case. Whether because of the restaurants or the antique shops, it's always busy there. Be thankful you just missed houby days, everything and everyone down there is all about morels and people will knock you over to get the best deals!
I’m always impressed and I learned so much from your knowledge of architecture.
Hi Joe & Nic, Cedar Rapids looks like a beautiful city, it's sooo clean and I love the architecture Beaux-Arts but it has a state like Spartan edge to it which I really like. Also, the city has a cleanliness and practical environmentalism like the city park built on recycled trash. I would 💓to visit Cedar Rapids one day (not sure if I can get a direct flight from London, though?). Also, could you do a tour sometime of Idaho, especially Franklin County where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed? 👍🤗
I'm sure there's nice areas, but every time I drive through there it looks kind of dumpy to me. Also, they have those annoying as hell speed cameras.
@@bb5242 Unfortunately, they have speed cameras all over the world these days. It's not about safety, it's an extra source of revenue!🤑 Cedar Rapids looked beautiful to me and very clean, but you can't always tell from one source of info, but Joe tells it pretty much as it is, he pulls no punches! Besides, a return flight would cost me almost £900 and ATM I can't afford that, so maybe another time?🤗
Heathrow to Chicago ORD, Minneapolis or St.Louis. Then regional flights to Cedar Rapids (CID). Nice airport. ORD always bewilders me. American premium economy class works for us. From London, suggest stay over Premier Inn, Heathrow is economical. Can never get from London to airport on time.
@@wm6h Thanks WM6H, I can get a flight directly from LHR to ORD then to Cedar Rapids East Iowa airport, but its expensive £900 but I can't afford it ATM.
How about this. You can get good deals LHR to SW Florida. Brits are always going to FLA. Rental car to Punta Gorda, FLA. Agilent Air to CID. Non-Stop. Many from CID have winter homes in FLA. I myself never thought about that route until just now.
0:50 Lived here 35 years, didn't realize that it was so unique as to be only one of three cities in the world who's government sits on a separate island. Always something new to learn.
Yes the '08 Flood was a 500-year Flood Plain situation, it was insane the amount of the city that was like up to 6-7 feet underwater. Never seen something so devastating.
I enjoy all your videos about the United States. I'm still waiting for a video on Yoakum Texas.
I'm from CR, and moved back here. I love this town. We have been rocked with the flood of 2008. That's the reason why DT is empty. DT used to be very busy, but most of the people that used to work DT now work from home. This exponentially increased after Covid. We then were rocked with a deracho the summer of 2020. The wellington area of town where the big houses had so many more trees. 2nd Ave is not the main drag also, it is 1st Ave. But I love the kind thing you said about our town. My wife and I love the Black Sheep!
I've lived in Iowa all my life and never been to Cedar Rapids that I know of. I need to get out more. I'm wondering what highway you took to get there from Wisconsin......the drive along the Mississippi is beautiful.
Thank you for visiting my HOME TOWN 😊 Come back real soon.
CR has upscaled since we left in 1980. SE is still RichKid Central though. The rest... tiny houses on tiny lots... I wonder if it still smells of wet-process molasses?
Yes, I work at St. Luke's, and that is a great description of the smell.😂
Southeast? I thought that was Marion
@@jakobwaack4148 I owned a house in Marion 1976-80... it was FAR from affluent. (846 sq feet, 3br, 1bath, backing onto an active railroad track.?
@jakobwaack4148 SE is the old mansions. South of First Ave and east of 19th. Ya, some of Marion is like that! Lol
@@jakobwaack4148
Marion is just a suburban slog, not quite luxury.
Thanks guys great tour snd history of the town and the food looked good !! I can’t wait to y’all get to Hawaii and hopefully y’all try some interesting dishes while there !! God bless ❤️🙏🙋🏻🌈🌈
Also like his Fall Plowing painting.
And Parson Weem's Fable. Washington as a child but with his old head is hysterical.
Hey you both... My partner and I watch your videos almost daily, or as much as you upload em. We just finished this one and you mention coming back to the East Coast after Hawaii...
Please give Portland, Maine another shot. The last time you were here it was rainy and you missed a lot of really awesome stuff. From John Calvin Stevens homes, to Revolutionary war forts, to a haunted hotel, High Roller Lobster Co... and more...
I lived there, they call it the "City Of Five Smells." The river floods often.
They should dredge it often
Lots of ugly things down there that don't like being disturbed. Don't swim in the Cedar unless you have some good speed.
@davesbainrps6909 Kings (a local company who makes block) used to dredge it for free and keep the sand for raw material. Local government decided Kings needed to pay the city for the sand, so Kings stopped dredging for free. That's when the flood happened. The almighty dollar
@@valo6245 greedy spoils a lot
This is a BEAUTIFUL city! Thanks for sharing!
Iowa is a great place to raise a family. My family has farms all around the Midwest. Great people but I can’t handle the cuisine.
I lived in Iowa, the best pizza came from a gas station.
Casey's? Their pizza is supposed to be really good, and surprisingly inexpensive.
@@oldrustycars You can get excellent pizza in Iowa City right down the road and not at a gas station, so I don't know what you're on about.
@@bb5242 And if I didn't live in Iowa City? Where I lived, there were several pizza restaurants. The pizza was awful, all in their unique ways. Casey's gas station had tolerable pizza. That, sir or madam, is what I'm "on about."
Yes I love your delivery of information, your clear manner of speaking and clear video-ogragh. Thanks. 27:04
City of 5 seasons because we often have what was always called "Indian summer" where we have a 2 week period of above 75 degree weather in the fall.
It's supposed to be "the time to enjoy them" though that doesn't make a lick of sense either
Thats the reason I always knew growing up. Weird, ive never heard the motto but its plastered everywhere when i look it up
How awesome! I learned a lot about my city through you! What a fun video. Thank you for visiting! If you are even more curious about Grant Wood, he was born in Anamosa, not entirely far from Cedar Rapids, and painted the little town of Stone City, where he also spent some time. Apparently he is buried in Anamosa. Stone city is a gorgeous little place. If you ever come through here again I highly suggest it. Safe travels
Happy Memorial Day to all my Veteran Brothers and Sisters. S A L U T E
Memorial Day is to remember the fallen.
@@BirdDogey1 Their sacrifice makes our celebrating possible- USA 1662-1967
I live 20 mins East of DSM and never been to CR. May have to check it out now! Amazing video and learned plenty of new things! 🙌🏻💯