US-20 turns to fast, four-lane freeway around Cedar Falls, a historic industrial town founded in the 1850s along the Cedar River. Now home to the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls preserves the remnants of its manufacturing heritage and has some surprisingly upscale bistros tucked away in its sleepy but tidy downtown district. The Olde Broom Factory (319/268-0877), at 125 W. First Street, serves up American and Cajun cuisine in a renovated broom factory; and Montage (319/268-7222), at 222 Main Street, lives up to its francophone moniker by presenting a nouvelle variety of Latin, Southwestern, and Asian dishes. For die-hard road-food types, there is a vintage Maid-Rite diner (319/277-9748) a few blocks away at 116 E. 4th Street, in the small industrial section of downtown “CF,” and the Cup of Joe, a 1950s-style chrome diner on Main Street. For a place to stay, check out the lovely Blackhawk Hotel (319/277-1161) at 115 Main Street, which has a great lobby and oodles of charm.
Downstream from Cedar Falls, and similarly bypassed by the modern US-20 freeway, Waterloo (pop. 68,747) is a bigger and busier city, with an almost urban feel and yet more good museums, including the Grout Museum(closed Mon.; $4.50; 319/234-63570). (Despite the name, it’s a general science and history museum—not a collection of great tile-setting materials!). Waterloo is also home to the massive John Deere Tractor assembly plant on the outskirts of town at 3500 E. McDonald Street, which is open for free tours (Mon.–Fri. only; 319/292-7697). There’s also a small shop where you can stock up on their trademark caps and souvenirs.
In keeping with its blue-collar character, Waterloo’s favorite place to eat is Moosie’s Loosemeat Sandwich Shop (319/232-5030), at 518 Jefferson Street, which prides itself on thick soft-serve malts and three types—beef burger, buttered turkey, and BBQ pork—of Iowa-style loosemeat sandwiches, a sort of Midwestern Sloppy Joe.
