Lincoln Highway's Mt. Vernon, Iowa, One of America's Coolest Small Towns

Yahoo Travel had a list of America's Coolest Small Towns and Mt. Vernon, in Iowa was on it. We just drove through it in late August on the Second Annual Iowa Lincoln Highway Motor Tour and were impressed with the place. It is your perfect small town America, and, even better, the Lincoln Highway goes through it.

We were a bit disappointed, however, at the Lincoln Highway kiosk by the old brick section of the road. It listed colleges along the Lincoln Highway and DIDN'T LIST Northern, Illinois University (our Alma mater) in Dekalb.

Anyway, the article about the town said that there is a lot of art in it, including a huge Grant Wood "American Gothic" on the side of a barn. In May there is a sidewalk-chalk festival where people put their marks on 4,000 square feet of the main drag (Lincoln Highway?). It is called Chalk the Walk.

Just this past weekend, there was an art festival as well.

And I found this of real interest, the Lincoln Cafe has a North Carolina chef who serves a variety of fresh, locally-grown foods, and even better, has Carolina-style bbq pork sandwiches!! Being a Carolina bbq fan, I sure wish I'd known this when we went through.

Next Time. --RoadDog