NGPR: Anyone from around Cedar Rapids?

hollybabe

My BFF and I are planning a get-together about halfway between our homes: STL and Minneapolis.  I think Cedar Rapids fits that description.  I'm picturing a weekend at a lake, maybe?  Somewhere pretty with shopping and a good variety of restaurants and bars.  I've tried googling, but it's hard to find all that on one website. 

 Thanks for any tips!

calahr

I live in Cedar Rapids.  I would suggest Coralville/Iowa City.  It is about 20 minutes from Cedar Rapids.  It is a college town so there is a good variety of restaurants and bars.  I haven't been out down there in awhile so I am not really sure what is good anymore.  A lot of the bars down by the campus will be full of college kids but I know there are some that cater to non-college students.  There is also Coralridge Mall which has decent shopping....probably not what you are used to in Minneapolis and STL but it is one of the better malls in the area.  There used to be some fun specialty shops down at the ped mall near the campus that were fun, but I don't know if they are still open as it has been years since I have been down there.  The Coralville Reservoir (aka Coralville Lake) is also close by so there are a couple of beaches you can go to; however, I don't know what kind of shape they are in due to all the flooding last year.

 Here is a link to the Hoopla website that lists events and activities in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area. It is a fairly new website so I haven't really looked at it much, but it looks like it would be a good resource.  It looks like you can lookup area restuarants and bars.  You can also put in the dates that you will be in the area and find activities that are taking place.

 Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can provide any additional information. 

calahr

Forgot the link to the website.

https://hooplanow.com/about/

taciboo25

I'm around that area and thought if you wanted something different there is a town in Illinois, just across the Iowa border from Dubuque, called Galena. Tons of fun little shops, nice bed and breakfasts...didn't know what kind of a weekend you were planning. I love going there!!!