Gonna be in the Quad Cities for about 4 days here in a couple weeks. What's there to do? I have driven trough the area many times
and outside of a few concerts many years ago when I was younger, I have never spent any real time in the area.
Will have 3 full days with nothing to do. I do think I will drive up to the caves in Maquoketa, but outside of that what's to see and do?
Is Rock Island open to civies and is there anything to see there? Up for just about anything except that adult establishment I once
ventured into south of downtown in the mid 90's when which I knew just based on the sign hanging on the building was a bad idea,
but you only barley live once....  

If the Arsenal is accepting civies, which I dont know off hand they have a pretty cool gun museum there.  Its also kinda neat to watch a barge go thru locks once if you have never seen it.  Lately I would avoid downtown Davenport after the sun goes down, been lots of shootings and such lately.  

Maquoketa caves are always awesome, Wildcat Den just south of the QC has some neat hiking trails as well.  We have lots of new places to eat as well, Portillos, Canes, a fancy mac n cheesery over in Betterthanyoudorf.  

If you can shed some more light on what you like to do I will likely be of more help I have lived in the QC most of my life

I am down for pretty much anything but not really into the nightlife/bar hopping thing or artsy fartsy stuff.

Hiking (which I will get some in at Maquoketa). mil related stuff, interesting history related stuff.
General site seeing and stuff to do. I think my wife will be coming over on Saturday.
It doesn't have to be quad cities only, (although that's where I will be staying).
I will have some time so Dubuque to Burlington is not out of the question.
I would prefer to spend any money on the Iowa side of the river but IL is
also not out of the question. Any must eat at locations? What would you do with 3 days
off and nothing better to do. Of course living there you have likely done all there is to do.

If you're interested in seeing a lot of stuff marked "Mike's personal collection, not for sale" you can head to LeClaire and see the American Pickers' store. 70-80 percent of what's actually for sale is TV show souvenirs, but they have a few cool things to look at if you're in the area.

The museum on the Arsenal is worth the visit if you have time; but I'd check on requirements for getting on the island. I remember the last time I was there 5 years ago I just brought my passport.

And if you do go, check out the outdoor tank collection.

Sounds like the RIA Museum is closed for renovations .
Maybe can still get on the island for a drive and see the stuff outdoors. Bummer...

If you like Tanks, there's an M103 down on Credit island.

The outdoor tank collection is neat, there's also a civil war cemetery I never took the time to stop at, might be interesting.

Credit Island has some good history.  From the pictures in the article looks like the British guns would have been about where Tuxedos (long gone past strip club) was located, empty lot now.  

The Battle of Credit Island occurred on September 4 and 5, 1814, as American troops tried to take control of the Upper Mississippi away from the British and the British-allied Native American tribes. For the Americans, Zachary Taylor led 334 men in eight gunboats. The American force hoped to destroy the Native American village and crops on the Rock River, upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River.

John Deere Commons is neat as is the "Rusty Palace" out off of John Deere Road in rural Moline where the John Deere Headquarters is located.

Also worth a look since we have not had **** for rain around here lately and water levels are really low in the creeks and rivers.  Geode hunting down near Keokuk might be super productive and fun.  I have had good luck in the past doing.  You can get locations from google maps.  But I know where the Mississippi and Des Moines river meet is a good spot.

There is a close-ish by Trout Hatchery up in Manchester that raises trout for Iowas trout program, and sometimes we loan them out as well for other nearby states that have bad brood years.  

Effigy Mounds is another neat historical site in northern Iowa a few hours away that offers some cool hiking.  However its been a bit un-seasonably hot here so depending on temps when you visit....  

MacGregor and Marquette towns offer some nice historical river town stuff to do see and do too.

Effigy Mounds is awesome but a tough, uphill hike so take water! We were on an overlook over the river and found ourselves looking down at an eagle's back-and he was still 100 feet above the water.

You don't realize how far you're walking. Signs posted saying ".2 mile to X, .5 mile to Y," etc. Then you get to the end of the trail and it's "Fuck, now I have to walk 3.5 miles back to the car."

But a fun day!

To get on the Arsenal Island you have to enter at the Moline Illinois gate, but first go to the right just before the check-in station to the visitor processing center, fill out a short form of personal info, hand it to the nice policeman with your government-issued ID and wait for your criminal history check. They then give you a paper permit that's good for one year. Wife and I went last week for renewals...took 10 minutes.  Allows you to get to the cemeteries and the military vehicles display which is interesting. The museum's closed for renovations.  The Corps of Engineers visitors center at the lock and dam at the west end of the island main road may be open now and is worth a quick visit.
John Deere Pavilion (inside farm and construction equipment displays) is just a couple blocks from the arsenal entrance on River Dr. in Moline.
If it interests you, there's a German-American Heritage museum in downtown Davenport and the Putnam museum just up the hill.
There's a new $1.3 Billion bridge project nearing completion between Bettendorf Iowa and Moline Illinois that you can get some nice views of from the Iowa side river front flood wall walking/bike path.
Downtown Bettendorf is Veit's Vettes collectible cars (not just vettes)...nice but expensive stuff to look at (and buy if you like).  And there's land-based casinos on both sides of the river.
LeClaire has a little museum that includes an old stern wheeler river boat that's enclosed and you can walk around on. On the river front nearby is the typical small-town military armament display piece...not a cannon but a WWII quad-fifty mount.

Hope this helps.

Can't believe no one said to hit Whities up for ice cream. I always take people from other parts of the country to get some of the best ice cream made.

I think the Commons is closed for renovations, although there are still machines sitting outside you can climb on. JD Headquarters display floor (I think) is open and would have a number of machines to look at.  


There are plenty of breweries around the IA side of the river like Green Tree in LeClaire, Stompbox, Five Cities, etc.

Wildcat Den is decent place to hike around for a bit. There's really only a couple small trails that are worth doing, like the Devil's Punch Bowl.

Thanks for all the tips. What are some good food spots? Doesn't matter the type,
Where would you take your friends or family that are in town visiting?

Zeke's Island Cafe (Hawaiian/mexican in Bettendorf)

Lunardi's (Italian, get the 7 layer lasagna in Davenport)

Boozies (cheeseburger in Davenport)

Lo Pies (Pizza in Davenport)

Stout's Irish pub (Clinton)

Whitey's Ice cream (multiple locations)

Skinny's BBQ in Muscatine is excellent.

Harris Pizza is a Quad Cities sort of thing.  Sausage and Onion is amazing.

I second the Zekes Cafe - There Garlic Chili Lime Shrimp with black beans is amazing - Get the Ghost Pepper!!

Jims Rib Haven - BBQ - Illinois side - Rock Island

Clarks Landing (Buffalo), Iowa Machine Shed (Davenport), or Tommy Cafe (Davenport) - Great Breakfasts

MJs Chinese - Really darn good Chinese in Davenport - Whiteys Ice Cream is down the block for dessert

LoPiez - I second this one as well for Pizza

Jim's rib haven has the nastiest bbq I have ever eaten. Do not go there unless you like meat that has sat in a plastic tub for weeks then thrown in a microwave to heat it up. That is exactly what I got the last 2 and never again times I went there.

I also will never let my shadow darken Jim's Ribs in R.I. again.

I prefer "What BBQ and Bar" in Leclaire.

Someone mentioned Harris Pizza and I do enjoy their sausage or sausage/mushroom on occasion.

Someone mentioned MJ's Chinese in Davenport and they are my current favorite for Chinese.

Zeke’s and Whitey’s were great!