Iowa State University

This past summer, I attended an academic conference at Iowa State University in Ames. I found Iowa State to be one of the prettiest campuses I've seen in a long time! Plus, Ames has two robust business districts -- Campustown, which is right across the street from ISU, and downtown, which is a short bus ride away -- to serve students, residents, and visitors.

Signs of nature abound on the Iowa State campus in the form of flowers, trees, birds, and lush lawns.

And that's not even including Reiman Gardens, adjacent to the main campus, which I was not able to get to during my visit.

Iowa State's sports teams are known as the Cyclones, but "Cy the Cardinal" is also a major mascot. The picture above shows us why!

Behind the Campanile (bell tower) in the very first photo above, is a large lawn, reminiscent of The Oval at Ohio State. The lawn at Iowa State is surrounded by several buildings, a few of which are shown below. These buildings are, respectively, Beardshear Hall, Carrie Chapman Catt Hall, Curtiss Hall (the old Agriculture Building), and the Gerdin Business Building (one of the venues for the conference I attended).

Buildings just outside the loop surrounding the lawn include, respectively, the Farm House Museum, and Food Science Building (home of the ISU Creamery and ice-cream store).

Across the street from the Campanile is the Memorial Union, where most of the conference was held.

Here's a view of the Memorial Union from closer up.

Like student unions at many midwestern universities such as Indiana-Bloomington and Wisconsin-Madison, Iowa State's offers a variety of activities and facilities such as a bowling alley, art gallery, food court, meeting rooms, and bookstore.

The campus also features Lake LaVerne, immediately to the west of the Memorial Union, The next two shots show the lake in relation to the Campanile and to the Union.

The campus also has an extensive system of residence halls. One large complex near the Union is Friley.

I stayed in a different residence hall, Eaton.

Across Lincoln Way from Iowa State is Campustown, a student-oriented business district with pizza and other fast-food restaurants, coffee houses, school apparel shops, and modern apartment towers (a shout-out to Jeff's Pizza, where each slice is nearly as big as the plate!).  

A bit away from campus, as noted, is downtown Ames, with its welcoming signs.

Featuring numerous restaurants and bars, and everything from an arts center to specialty tea shop, downtown is a nice place to spend some time. Two stores in which I browsed extensively were Dog-Eared Books, a very community-oriented store in terms of staff recommendations and author presentations... 

... and Raygun, which offers a variety of satirical and political shirts, stickers, and other mementos, as well as general ISU-related items...

Raygun had a field day with Iowa U.S. Senator Joni Ernst defending Medicaid cuts because, regardless of health care, "We all are going to die."

Finally, for those who enjoy visiting state capitals, Iowa's in Des Moines is 45 minutes from campus...