Where could I go to on a weekend from Des Moines?

Also, we've already been to Omaha, Kansas City, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City. Also nature spots like Maquoketa Caves State Park, Mines of Spain, and other nature spots in Iowa. We also plan on later on going to the Ozarks, the Badlands/ Where Mount Rushmore is, and Minneapolis. This is just in regards to stuff we can/ have driven to.

>>1291110
Honestly you should have a guys weekend in Chicago since it's not that far, it's not as bad as the memes make it out to be, it has good food and a great nightlife, other than that your kinda fucked

>>1291110
The great lakes are pretty cool. Lots of parks up in Northern Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota worth checking out.

Madison Wisconsin is also a fun college town. I was there last labor day weekend and there was lots going on: local food festivals, boating on the lakes, college football. The restaurant scene is also great, lots of beer options if you're into that.

>>1291497
Seconding Madison as a fun place. I lived there for a few years and loved it. Big town, almost a city (about the same size as Des Moines proper, but a bit denser, since downtown is crammed onto an attractive little isthmus between two attractive lakes). Great food, especially well stocked with international cuisines, as it's the most diverse place in Wisconsin. Very good Asian restaurants, hippie restaurants, and a couple of good, new-American 5-star places, too. L'Etoile, on the square by the capitol building, was once voted by knowledgeable food snobs to be the best American restaurant in the Midwest, including Chicago (Chicago is, perhaps obviously, a hardcore fine-dining food city).

>>1291531
It's also got great dive bars and a decent music scene.

>>1291135
>>1291497
>>1291531
>>1291533
Thank you guys for the tips thus far. Hopefully his mom would let us go to Chicago as she kinda buys into the super dangerous memes. Didn't think of Wisconsin that much, I'll have to look into it. Anyway, thanks for the info thus far.

For anything longer than a weekend I'd hop on I80 and head west to Colorado. I've 4/5 day trips out there with 3 of us. Sometimes drive through the night. It's about a 13 hour drive for us. We ski or hike. It's unreal there.

>>1291111
Nice digits.

If you need Minneapolis advice, I can supply.

>>1291110
It is still warm enough to visit the beaches of Wisconsin and Illinois.

Try adventure mode, rather than going to a new place to do the same old, try doing something new in your old town: ever been cow tipping?

>>1291110
Chicago for art and architecture. The Art Institute is world class and there are great architecture tours downtown (i recommend the riverboat tour).

SW Wisconsin has interesting small towns and landscapes. I'd recommend the Sheboygan area of Wisconsin for lake michigan beaches you can camp at.

>>1292199
Same, I live here. Love the weather tonight.