This summer has definitely been a strange one, but one of my favorite things about it has been the opportunities to explore little pockets of our own backyard. For the past three years, the kids and I have spent a summer day exploring a different town in Iowa within an hour of home. We kicked off Small Town Adventure day two years ago with a fun trip to Independence, Iowa, and last year, fell in love with Grundy Center's parks, pool, and soda fountain at their drug store. This has easily been one of our favorite traditions. We wait for a beautiful day, randomly pick a town from a map, pack a picnic lunch and throw in some swimsuits, and leave the rest to the open road.
This year we ended up in Manchester, Iowa, and it might just be our favorite trip yet.
Our day usually starts with something sweet for the kids and some caffeine for Mom. We had several options to choose from in Manchester, but decided on Aunt Emmy's Bakery because it had cute signage. ;) We took our smoothies and toasted bagels to go and went in search of a place by the river to map out our day.
The only thing I knew about Manchester prior to Small Town Adventure Day was that they had a bridal shop because I went to scope it out when I was dress hunting years ago. Fourteen years to be exact. I had no idea Manchester was a river town, with the Maquoketa River providing so many great opportunities for recreation and enjoyment. It didn't take us long to find an area perfect to start our day.
Just a block from Main Street is the Manchester Whitewater Park. This area of the river was beautified with sidewalks, murals, and large stone step-like features that allow for access right down to the water. Then six separate "drop features" were created as part of a whitewater course for kayakers, tubers, or anyone to enjoy. While we weren't prepared to whitewater raft, it made for the perfect spot to eat our breakfast, dip our toes in the water, and watch a few people pass by on their tubes.
Just beyond the whitewater course was a large sandbar area. Tubers could get out there to start the water course over again, or keep on floating down the river to a few dropoff points along the way. It was quiet on this particular Tuesday, so we walked the river, buried our feet in the sand, and enjoyed being strangers in a little hideaway on the outskirts of town.
We didn't realize until we were there that Cruz just so happened to wear his Manchester United Soccer shirt on our day to Manchester!
Although there were a few eateries calling my name for lunch, we decided to enjoy the great weather and find a place to picnic outside instead. We landed at Bailey's Ford campground just outside Manchester and this was a little slice of camp heaven. There were picnic areas and well maintained playgrounds, several trails to explore, and little trout streams perfect for creek stomping. We set up our picnic on the other side of the stream, waded in and out of the cold but refreshing water, and talked about when we were going to get Dad here for a visit.
We ended our day at the local drug store for ice cream. I loved the black and white checkered floor, the red vinyl seats, and the step-back-in-time feeling of this place. I told the kids that when I was a kid, I used to ride my bike up to our local drug store for candy and a pop before delivering my paper route. Small towns, simple living, special memories. And another successful adventure day!
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