Welcome to Ames

This is a small list of fun or useful things to do in Ames and surrounding areas. Featuring some highlights from Des Moines too. If you have some additions, let me know. It is NOT an exhaustive list but it can get you started. Additions are welcome.

Restaurants around Ames

• The Café Fine food
• Provisions Lot-F Fine food
• Starbucks (Nevada) Did you have a burger or icecream in Starbucks?
• Mucky Duck English Pub
• Hickory Park Ames Signature BBQ and ice-cream
• CornBred BBQ Downtown BBQ with outside seating
• Jethro's BBQ another BBQ
• Wasabi Sushi/Asian food
• Dublin Bay Irish Pub and Grill
• Wallaby's Bar and Grille
• Szechuan House Chinese in west Ames
• Great Plains Pizza Pizza with honey to dip the crust

Restaurants/food near Campus

• Café Beaudelaire Brasilianish food
• India Palace Really good, also reheats well.
• Union eateries poke bowl, Panda Express, pizza, sandwiches...
• Thai Kitchen
• Little Taipei chinese
• Mr. Burrito mexican ala qdoba
• 1+1 asian
• Sandwiches - Subway, Jimmy Johns, Potbelly, West Street Deli
• Pizza - Jeff's, Blaze

Coffee

• Morning Bell Best coffee, downtown
• Cafe Diem coffee in downtown
• Hub Coffee closest to Carver, also middle eastern food.
• Stomping Grounds Good campus coffee, healtier food
• Clouds Sky high coffee by campus
• Lockwood Café Hippie dippie crunchy granola crepes and coffee (kid friendly)
• Cafe Milo coffee and sandwiches
• Starbucks - several locations around town, including campus

Theater and Music

• Ames Community Theater Local volunteer driven. Really nice and affordable.
• Stephen's Audotorium Typically musical performances
• Des Moines Opera Music and standups
• Summer Sundays Free concerts on Sunday nigh in Rooevelt park. During summer only.
• Ames Town & Gown Chamber Music Association music series and a book club
• Ames Chamber Artists sing or listen
• Ames Choral Society
• Central Iowa Symphony
• ISU Music Department has many performances, mostly free

More Culture and Entertainment

• Ames Public Library Great library in Ames
• M-Shop Comedy and music on campus
• Cyclone Cinema Free cinema in Carver Hall
• Iowa Event Center (Des Moines) Ice Hockey, Basketball, Music, Comedy, WWE,..
• Boone Speedway Weekly dirt racing (Saturday night), cash only mostly
• Iowa Speedway Nascar and IndyCar racing 1 hour from Ames
• North Grand Cinema Small cinema
• Cinemark Large cinema
• Rieman graden Botanical garden and butterfly wing. Free for ISU students.
• Museums on Campus Free museums
• Barn Dancing learn how to barn dance!
• Valle Drive-In Drive your car to movies. Memorial day to Labor day

Recreation

• Peterson Pits Free beach for swimming! and walking trail
• Ada Hayden Walk, bike, or run around a lake. Kayak rental possible.
• Reactor Woods Nice one hour loop on a forest trail
• Ledges Nice walk around a hill/hole. May get busy on nice days.
• Big Creek State Park Large beach, bike path along the lake all the way to Des Moines.
• Ames Outdoor Pool Nice outdoor pool but it gets crowded.
• Nevada Pool Good pool that is less busy than Ames
• Days Inn in Story city pool. For $5 (in 2022) access to the hotel pool. Great for small kids
• Trails in Ames List of other trails in Ames
• Hight Trestle Trail Bike, run, walk path with a nice bridge
• RentFun Rent a kayak on a nearby lake

Sport

• Foosball in Carver Gradualte Lounge. Ask Nate or Jay to join the grandmaster league.
• Disc golf (ISU) Wooded 18 hole course
• Disc golf (Ames) More open with elevation 18 hole course
• City leagues Many sports, leagues differ by skills
• Seven Oaks Skiing and snowtubing 20 minutes from Ames. One of my favorite. In summer kayak/canooing
• Robert Thomas Dance Studio Learn how to really dance.
• Contact Ann Russell if you are interested in ballet email list because there is a secret (and really good) ballet class.
• Perfect Games Bowling, Laser Tag, Mini Golf, Arcade, and pizza+beer
• Ice Arena Ice skating and ice hockey
• Community Center City gym. Pickup volleyball, picke ball, badminton, basketball, gym
• Spinning Wheels in Ogden. 30 minutes West of Ames, inside roller skating. They rent skates, great music and a lot of fun. Check openign hours.
• When it is freezing, City installs free outdoors ice skating
• State Gym offers many classes Yoga, Barre, Zumba, circuit training,..., and other activities
• (Ice) fishing is an option around Ames

Groceries

• Aldi least expensive, in house brands
• Wheatsfield healthy, local, more expensive
• Pammel Grocery Middle Eastern grocery store
• Fareway 2 locations, general grocery store
• Hy-vee 2 locations, largest selction, warm food
• Wallmart and Target - we have those as well
• Farmer's market May to October on Saturday
• Trader Joes (Des Moines) Nicer, Hip food, Des Moines
• Des Moines has European grocery stores
• Des Moines has Whole Foods and CostCo
• Farmer's Market Des Moines, gets busy
• Community Supported Agriculture get locally grown things in the summer. Wheatsfield has CSA fair.

Beer

• Alluvial North of Ames, outdoor seating, sometimes music, good beer, sometimes food truck
• Torrent Downtown Ames, ok beer
• Boone Valley Best beer but in Boone
• London Underground Downtown Bar

Ice Cream

• ISU Creamery Support ISU!
• Hickory Park huge selection (and BBQ)
• Cold Stone Creamery
• Orange Leaf fozen yogurth make your own
• Starbucks Really, Starbucks in Nevada has ice cream and burgers.
• Top of Yelp

Fun

• Horray for Ames! Learn about Ames in 3 minutes with an awesome tune
• Bus system Our bus sytem is pretty good!
• Carousel in Story City
• Carousel in Des Moines
• Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines better than expected (Wednesday nights for adults only)
• Science Center includes IMAX, also have adults only event
• Time Out arcade in Ames
• Up-Down Barcade in Des Moines
• Berry Patch Farm pick your own berries, apples, and some years pumpkins at a local farm
• Rail Explorers paddle on rails in Boone
• Central Iowa Aeromodelers learn to fly a remote controlled airplane just south of Ames
• Sleepy Hollow Sports Park snowtube witbout snow

Baby time

• Play Pals Let your baby run around city gym and play with provided toys

Random and occasional

• Skunk River Paddlers If you want to learn more about paddling.
• Trails around Ames
• The Great Ames Advenutre Race Kayak, bike and run triathlon in Ames. Annual
• Bike races around Ames maybe 2x a year.
• Ames Art Walk once a year (June?) see your local artists. The website lists other events in downtown too.
• Rumage Rampage Get rid of your old junk or buy for each donated stuff. In the middle of summer
• Block party truck If you are lucky to live on a street with social neighbors. Once a year.
• Rent a car or a ride to airport

Politics

• Ames Council News See the future of Ames
• Governor's office Share your opinion
• Ames People see who is pissed
• Ames Reddit
• Iowa State Reddit