Is their motto, like, “all we need is u” because TRUST me, they have enough. Somewhat intuitively, however, I am able to spell “Dubuque” without the help of Google. I think…

Ahem.

Aside from passing over state lines on a drive to Wisconsin last summer and my initial entry into Iowa as a permanent resident, I never stopped to hang in Dubuque. That changed last weekend when a friend and I found a fun trail race located in the Mines of Spain park… recreation area. We decided to make a little overnight adventure out of it.

Dubuque is about a 3-hour drive from Des Moines. Much corn. Very Iowa Scenic. We got into town in the evening and had already settled on where we would have dinner: L.May Eatery.

Cutely and appropriately situated on Main Street, the restaurant was buzzing when we arrived. It was fairly busy for a Friday night and despite not having reservations, we were seated quickly. There was so much available for me in the way of gluten-free menu options: I started with a yogurt curry cauliflower appetizer, ate nearly a whole gluten-free pizza by myself titled “You’re in Dubuque” (natch), and a CHEESECAKE (yes, also gluten-free!) that I happily shared with my friends because it was a GIANT slice.

L.May also had a great wine list and an adorable outdoor dining arrangement (which was full on the evening we visited). Service was top notch – our server even entertained me by wanting to take pictures of all my food because ALL THE GLUTEN FREE FOODS! I would make a trip back to Dubuque purposely to eat here again.

Saturday morning was an early rise for the Mines of Spain trail races. We opted to drive to the start location (the race also offered a shuttle from a nearby hotel). Packet pick-up was available on race morning at EB Lyons Interpretive Center at the recreation area, and we found the parking to be plentiful.

Initially I had signed up for the half marathon distance, but since my training has been… well, total POOP, I dropped down to the 7-mile race. That was great foresight because while the Mines of Spain was beautiful, OMG there were so many steps. The elevation changes made for a fun and challenging race and I finished in 1:38 (my slow ass is merely enjoying the view and the glute burn these days).

The race had a super fun after party immediately afterward with free Zevia cans (yay!), free pizza (no gluten-free, far as I knew) and grapes (GRAPES! SO AMAZING!), and beer provided by 7 Hills Brewing (definitely not gluten-free, though that coffee beer smelled amazing). For some reason I opted out of the shirt again – and of COURSE I loved it (same thing happened to me at NewBo last year). Happily, I was able to pick up a MoSTR branded shirt from the “freebies” table post-race to commemorate my run. There were quite a few door prizes given away, too – no winner-winner brewery dinner for me. All runners also got a pair of free socks and a magnetic koozie!

We hung out for about an hour before a quick shower (and late check-out) at the hotel. On our drive home, we initially considered driving up to Dyersville to see Field of Dreams (something on my Iowa Bucket List!) but ultimately decided it was too much for our time-crunched and burning-glutes weekend. We opted for burgers in North Liberty at BeerBurger on the drive back to Des Moines. YES MORE GLUTEN-FREE NOMS. Not only did they have gluten-free buns for the burgers, let us not bypass the most amazing side dish: sweet potato waffle fries that is served with marshmallow fluff dipping sauce. If you know me, you know how important marshmallows are in my diet.

Shhhhhh, I was hungry. As immortalized in this “Yes, I am basically always eating” selfie.