Meet:
Johnson County Fair grounds 4261 Oak Crest Hill Rd SE, Iowa City leaving promptly at 9:00
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS:
National Pearl Button Museum -guided tour.
117 W 2nd Street, Muscatine
In the early 1900s, Muscatine was known as the “Pearl Button Capital of the World”. In 1891, John Boepple cut the first buttons in Muscatine. He and his entrepreneur companies made 1.5 billion buttons per year. Consider the lives of the workers who harvested mussels, labored in the factories and organized unions to fight for better working conditions. The museum is a study of mussels, the amazing creatures which made it all possible. Check out the button craft creations and the button gifts.
Merrill Hotel
The only AAA 4 Diamond Hotel in the area, located on the banks of the Mississippi River, 119 W Mississippi Drive, Muscatine. There will be a short tour of the hotel after lunch.
Lunch at Merrill Hotel, Maxwell’s on the River (inside the hotel).
LUNCH:
Lunch menu will be created by Executive Chef Tessa. Chef holds a culinary degree from LeCordon Blue Chicago and has been in the industry for 14 years. Lunch will consist of soup and sandwich with emphasis on fresh, local and sustainable fare (the New Classic American Food). On your registration form, please choose one soup and one sandwich:
Soups:
1. Roasted red pepper and tomato bisque with garden herbs and goat cheese.
2. New England Clam Chowder.
Sandwiches:
1. Reuben– slow braised corned beef, roasted sauerkraut, roasted garlic sauce, swiss on rye.
2. Fried Chicken– buttermilk breaded chicken breast, pickled cucumber, lemon chive aioli, brioche bun.
3. Mushroom Melt– braised artichoke, sundried tomato spread, grilled red onion, goat cheese, ciabatta.
Muscatine Art Center-guided tour
1314 Mulberry Ave, Muscatine
Built in 1908, the Laura Musser Mansion, part of the Muscatine Art Center, provides an elegant setting for the display of fine and decorative arts. The hallways display a collection of works by Renoir, Degas, Chagall and Pissarro. Period rooms blend family furnishings with paintings that depict the Mississippi River. On the grounds, in spring and summer, is a historic Japanese Garden installed in 1929.
The museum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. It is 1 of 775 museums nationwide accredited by American Alliance of Museums.
For questions contact: Theresa Tometich, Carolyn Rourke, or Jeanne Stracuzzi .
Cost: $38. Mail check made out to Theresa Tometich, 744 Galway Drive, Iowa City, IA 52246
Please indicate your willingness to drive on the registration form below.
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, February 26
Limit OF 25 People
Meet at Old Hy-Vee Parking Lot, 1201 North Dodge Street across from St Joseph’s cemetery at 9:30 A.M., leaving promptly at 9:45 A.M.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS:
Come join us in West Branch, Iowa as we celebrate the 150th birthdays of President Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover.
We will begin our day at the Hoover National Historic Site where we will tour the Visitor’s Center, view a movie about Herbert’s childhood and his involvement in developing the park, and shop in the Park gift shop. Next, we will have a guided tour of Herbert’s Birthplace Cottage, Quaker Meetinghouse, and operational Blacksmith Shop. We will then visit the Hoover Gravesite.
*****Reminder, if you have a National Park Passport, please bring it to get your official stamp!!*****
LUNCH:
On your own in West Branch — choose from several family eateries, including Herb and Lou’s, Main Street Sweets and Sandwiches, Mexico Lindo Cantina, The Serving Cafe, and more.
Following lunch, we will have a short presentation by the Foundation Director on the Timeless Values/ Modern Experience Project supporting the renovation of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.
We will then learn from Bridget Nash, the Presidential Library Education Specialist, about Lou Henry Hoover: Her Early Life, Career, Girl Scouting Leadership, her Contributions as First Lady, and her Amazing Legacy!
After our time on the Hoover Campus, you may take the opportunity to visit the many shoppes and share a cup of coffee together before you return home. We do hope you can join us for this trip!
Cost: $10.00 Guest $12.00. Lunch will be on your own. The cost provides for donations to the Hoover National Historic Site and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.
For questions please contact Marianne Weiss, or Jeanne Stracuzzi.
To register, please mail check and completed registration form below to:
Marianne Weiss 820 Longfellow Place, Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Registration Deadline: must be to Marianne Weiss by Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
Limit of 25 attendees.
Meet at Johnson County Fair grounds 4261 Oak Crest Hill Rd SE, Ia City at 8:00 A.M., leaving promptly at 8:15 A.M.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS:
1st Stop:: Burlington Public Library 210 Court Street (RESTROOM BREAK)
2nd Stop:: The Leopold Compound 101 and 111 Clay Street
The Alliance is a nonprofit organization that owns and administers Aldo Leopold’s adjacent boyhood homes. We will learn about this great man's vision for conservation and significance in Burlington and about Iowa-Illinois opportunities to restore land. We will visit the Starker-Leopold House as well as the Leopold House and hear the history of this incredible man while enjoying beautiful views of the Mississippi River. Leopold’s philosophy was connecting working landscapes and wild land recovery. He is widely known as the author of “A Sand County Almanac” (1949) and is most famous for his expression of the idea he called a “Land Ethic.” Artwork from nature carvings by Dean Hurliman were donated and are on display as well as for sale. You will see the wooden bowls that are hand hewn from fallen trees that were on the property. The uses for the homes include: Researcher/Writer/Artist-in-Residence Programs.
STAIRS to 2nd and 3rd Floors
3rd Stop:
LUNCH: The Drake on the Riverfront
106 Washington St.
Meal choices :
1.Open faced Chicken Artichoke Dip Sandwich
2.French Dip sandwich with cheese
3.Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich
All served with Drake Fries and a Drink of your choice
4th Stop:: Des Moines County Heritage Museum, 501 N. 4th
This Heritage Museum is in a former library built in 1898. It offers 3 floors of changing exhibits on the history of Des Moines County. Our guided tour will include many displays and collections along with being able to see preserved and detailed woodwork and elegant open spaces. Three different levels of the museum are capped by a giant leaded skylight. There is an elevator.
5th Stop: Garrett-Phelps House Museum/Snake Alley
521 Columbia Street
The Garrett-Phelps House Museum is a Victorian-era historic house built in 1851. One floor is dedicated to Medical Memories from the time it was used as a wartime hospital. It was occupied by one family for over 100 years. STAIRS TO ABOVE FLOORS.
Snake Alley runs next to the house and was built in 1894 initially constructed as an experimental street design. It was composed of tooled, curved limestone and locally fired blueclay bricks. The bricks were tilted to allow better footing for horses to climb the street. The street is still used today as a walking path and is recognized in Ripley’s Believe It or Not as The Crookedest Street in the World!
COST: $35 Member/Guest $37
Questions: Margaret Kaltefleiter, Diane Dalton, Theresa Tometich.
Complete Registration Form below.
Mail Check and Form to Margaret Kaltefleiter, 2129 Abbie Ct., Coralville, IA
Registration Deadline April 30th. No refunds after this date.
Limit of 25 attendees
The Danville Library/Museum–Home of the Anne Frank Letters Danville, Iowa
Lewelling Quaker Museum Salem, Iowa
Meet: Johnson County Fairgrounds at 7:45 A.M., leaving PROMPTLY at 8:00 A.M.
Trip Highlights:
9:30-11:30 A.M. 102 N. Main St. Danville, IA
The Danville Library/Museum—Home of the Anne Frank letters and Pen Pal Exhibit. Iowa is one of only two places in the world to view the pen pal letters. The guided tour of the exhibit features the story, starting in the 1920’s, here in Iowa as well as in the entire United States during the pre-WWII years.
Step through the bookcase into Anne’s time in hiding. The museum is collecting 1.5 million postcards in memory of all the children who lost their lives in the Holocaust.
Please consider bringing a postcard, new or used to add to their effort.
They have collected 64,000 so far. Also learn about the daunting task of bringing a pre-WWII railcar from Germany to be reassembled to add to their exhibits at the Danville Museum.
LUNCH: 12:00 -1:15 P.M. Pizza Ranch., 708 N. Grand Ave. Mt. Pleasant, IA
Senior Adult pricing under $15. Member pays at restaurant.
Lewelling Quaker Museum/Gibbs House
1:30-3:30 P.M. 401 S. Main St. Salem, IA
Join us for a tour of the 180 year old home of the Underground Railroad. Learn about the pioneer settlement of Southeast Iowa including the families and businesses that occupied this home; the western migration of the Quaker community; the tragedy of slavery and the courage of those who sought their freedom aided by abolitionists. See where freedom seekers were concealed below the kitchen floor.
Cost: Member $20 Guest $22
Please give your driver $7 for gas.
To register please mail:
Completed registration form below
1 check for each participant, payable to: Marianne Weiss, 820 Longfellow Place, Iowa City, Iowa 52240.
Registration deadline is May 28,2025. No refunds after this date.
Questions: Nancy Rossley-Barnes, Diane Dalton, or Marianne Weiss .
***Trip limited to 24 members*** 6 drivers needed, 4 people per car.
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