What to do in Forest City?

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yoda2405

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Heading to Forest City for service appointment August 27 for three days. Would appreciate any recommendations on what to do while there during the day when coach is unavailable. We have 2 small dogs that will be with us, so activities have to be pet friendly.
Appreciate your recommendations,
 
Your options with doggies in tow are a little limited.  Pammel Park is nearby - take your lawn chairs and critters to the park and find a shady spot and hang out or you can hang out around the service building and surf/email on the free WiFi.

There are some Geocaches in the area if you are into that.

Before we got our Corgi, the ladies behind the parts counter would watch our two cats (we put them behind the counter) and they would pet/scratch them while we were at the Casino a little north on I-35.

I don't remember any doggy day-care in Forest City but you can check with the vet and ask them, chances are you can find a sitter which will present more options like visiting my very favorite store in Mason City - Mills Fleet Farm (it's like a giant Tractor Supply.)

Another option for dealing with the critters is getting a room at the Super8 motel - they are pet-friendly.
 
60 miles south west of Forest City is the Grotto of the Redemption. It is one of the coolest places I have ever seen. If you have a chance on the way to or from Forest City you should stop there and spend an afternoon.

http://westbendgrotto.com/
 
You can check out the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake where Buddy Holly had his last performance, the Hobo Museum in Britt, IA. There is a winery just NE of town, Green Gian t Museum in Blue Earth, MN. Mason City is interesting, it is what the "Music Man" is based on.
 
John Hilley said:
You can check out the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake where Buddy Holly had his last performance...
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The Surf Ballroom is one of the coolest things in Iowa however it is a bit far from Forest City. Walk into the Surf Ballroom is like stepping back into the fifties. It is almost a museum to the 50s. They still have the phone booth and phone Buddy used to call his wife Marie Elena the night he died. Here I am on stage at the Surf Ballroom and in front of it.
 

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Pammel Park in Forest City is a lovely place to hang out for awhile. In fact, we usually stay there and enjoy the peace and quiet over  the "madness" of Camp Winnebago. There are picnic tables, trails and plenty of room for the pooches to roam.

Enjoy your stay.
 
Not knowing from where you hale (hail) just driving around the area is a treat to this California Kid.  Might suggest taking a ride to Thompson, about 18 miles and have dinner at the Branding Iron. Mason City, boyhood home of the "Music Man" composer is reasonably close (30-40 miles) with all the amenities of a metropolitan city.  Hospitals to Walmart and a ton of antique stores.

In as much as you will be at the factory, you might find a temporary fur baby sitter and do a tour.  We Winnebago People are a pretty good bunch and always willing to extend a helping hand.  By joining WIT you get a 10% discount on parts and labor, just be sure there is not a waiting period before it becomes effective.

Don, WIT 70041
 
Thanks for all the great suggestions, the Gratto sounds interesting and is pet friendly. So will probably do that one day. Hopefully we can work out something with the pooches so we can do a factory tour while there. That is something I have significant interest in doing.
The Parks sound good, hopefully the weather will cooperate. Would love to do some sightseeing as the weather and pooches allow. If not too hot we can leave them in their kennel in the car, but really depends on the temps.
We are WIT members so hopefully that will help with any paid service, although mostly going for warranty work.
Any additional suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
 
We managed to get in a Factory Tour. Was informative just wished we could have been a bit closer to the production line to see the assembly process up close. Would have been helpful when you go to do some repair work on the coach, still was a good event.
A lot of grumbling with some of the customers here for service, so far so good for me, but have already extended my stay at least one day and probably tow. They found on their own a leaky jack that they ordered. I did not even know it was leaking.
Wife is a quilter so she has drug me to the quilt shops in the area. Surprisingly some large shops here with lots of fabric, patterns and kits.
Warming up the rest of the week so going to be a bit more challenging trying to keep the pups out of the heat. Sitting in the waiting room is not for us, so we may drive to the grotto and spend a day there.
They have already accomplished more in 2 days than the dealer did keeping the coach for 30 days.
Staying Positive,
 
Still in Forest City waiting on parts. Service closed until Tuesday, so we are sitting watching the corn grow, and there is lots of corn.
We did go to the Branding Iron, it was excellent - thanks for the suggestion.
There is a Draft Horse Competition this weekend so may go check it out tomorrow.
Our 3 day appointment looks to be stretching to 9 or 10 days, but things are getting resolved.
 
Draft horse competition - WOW!  I love the shows on RFD featuring working draft horses.  Don't miss it.  Sorry you are having to stretch out your stay there but FC is a nice little town where to hang out.  Don't miss the Farm-Fleet store in Mason City - plan on three hours to see the entire store.
 
Was at Farm Fleet today - quite a store. Surprising for the size of the city.
 
We're here today, too. Had a nice happy hour with a bunch of other folks waiting out the weekend. We stopped by the draft horse competition yesterday, but it was near the end of the day and we didn't want to pay the admission for such a short period of time. We went to the Surf Club in Clear Lake yesterday. That's a pretty interesting place.

This afternoon we trekked up to Austin, MN and visited the Spam Museum. Another cool find. Not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow.
 
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