Weekend Getaway + Hometown Adventures

So this past weekend, I took a little roadtrip to home to Oskaloosa for my cousin's bridal shower.  I took a friend played tour-guide in my hometown.  Besides hitting up the shower and hanging out with my family, we drove around looking for the prettiest Victorian houses, explored an old college's outdoor amphitheatre and a cemetery down the road from it, ate at my favorite coffeehouse, explored an old college, and hung out for a while on the town square... where these pictures were taken.

Facing the courthouse.

Sunday's weather was absolutely perfect.  After all of this 110-degree weather, humidity, and drought we've been putting up with in Iowa... an 80-degree day with a nice breeze and not a cloud in the sky?!  It was heavenly!

The bandstand stands in the center of the square.

The town bandstand was built back in 1912, so it's celebrating its 100th anniversary this year!  Isn't it a beautiful centerpiece for a small town?

Ceiling of the bandstand.  

Another pic of the ceiling.

View of town from the bandstand.

Two of my favorite places: Smokey Row Coffee + The Book Vault.

Smokey Row is a huge coffeehouse and restaurant.  We stopped by for a salad and cheeseburger chowder in a bread bowl.  Next door is the Book Vault, one of the town's first banks that has been turned into a very unique bookstore.  (You can go into the old bank vaults and everything!)  It's one of my favorite places, but it was closed by the time we ended up downtown.  So I didn't get to show it off or take pics of the interior.

Just hanging out on the edge. :)

Love this pic!

Turquoise wedges!

Downtown.

It was a gloriously beautiful day.

Also had to snap a few pics of my lovely cat, Io.

Riding off into the Iowa sunset!

 It was a day-and-a-half getaway.  :)