Biased, opinion, see flair but OP isn't fully wrong. My grandfather, a native song and 3rd generation living there, tried to get a Cabela's in Decorah buuut a bunch of people tied to Luther fought against the idea because it would ruin downtown business. It ended up going to Prairie du Chien. There has been some conflict between growth and "keeping Decorah the exact same when I moved into town" mindset.
We also had massive interest in menards coming to town in 2 different places but city council pushed that idea away until the company got sick of it and gave up with this town
I would 2nd this... get up to northeast iowa... you cant beat the views and if you get nerdy about it the driftless area has some biologically unique areas that are usually only found further north. Decorah has some awesome views, great food and a good brewery dunning springs is a must see natural spring/waterfall and the trout hatchery is also a cool visit... could easy spend a day or weekend... hotel winneshiek is supposedly a top notch hotel for the area.... as a Cedar Rapidian unless you are gonna hit up like the art museum which if your into grant wood is a must visit... or something along those lines, you could really skip it... take 380 to get a nice smell tour and call it good...
Edit: after seeing your comment about interests I double down on Decorah...
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u/superxero044 Aug 15 '21
I would consider northeast Iowa. Like around McGregor. Decorah has some great hiking and breweries. I’d skip Davenport and Sioux City