About the Book
The Quad Cities—three hours from both Des Moines and Chicago—is a unique metropolitan area along the mighty Mississippi River that is growing in both size and nationwide reputation. It's the only stretch of the 2,320-mile-long Mississippi where the river runs east to west, rather than north to south. This region of 400,000-plus people has all the friendliness, affordability, and short, headache-free commutes of many small towns, but also a staggering variety and quality of things to do that is comparable to many larger cities.
100 Things to Do in the Quad Cities Before You Die is an invaluable source to help you track down some of the top places, events, and organizations that make the area pulse and thrive. Take a tour of the creative, intoxicating QC Ale Trail including Bent River and Front Street breweries. Taste some terrifically varied restaurants like Me & Billy, Tantra, and Food Affair Bistro, or enjoy live entertainment at Circa '21, Raccoon Motel or the Adler Theatre. Abounding museums and art galleries like the Figge and Putnam make the QC a genuinely special, entertaining place.
Veteran local journalist Jonathan Turner is your knowledgeable, friendly guide to all that is great about the QC and how to make the most of your visit—whether you’re here for a busy, rich weekend or a satisfying lifetime. You’ll want to check all 100 things off your list and then come back around the River Bend for more!
The travel guide is published by St. Louis-based Reedy Press, and is part of a series of "100 Things" books that cover cities and states across the U.S. To see other books in the series, visit www.reedypress.com/100-things/.
About the Author
Jonathan joined the Local 4 News team (WHBF-TV in Rock Island, IL) in September 2021 as a digital reporter. He’s been a full-time journalist since 1988 and has experience writing for daily newspapers in Wisconsin, Indiana, Connecticut, and since 1995, the Quad Cities. Jonathan has expertise across a wide range of subject areas—including government, politics, education, the arts, economic development, historic preservation, business, and tourism—and is especially passionate about covering arts and culture.
A long-time piano player, he earned his bachelor’s degree in music from Oberlin College and a master’s in music education from Indiana University. Over the years, Jonathan has accompanied musicals, singers, choirs and instrumentalists, and performed as John Hinckley in a 2019 production of the musical Assassins at Moline’s Black Box Theatre. Since 1999, he’s been piano accompanist for Zion Lutheran Church in Davenport. He's also written an original musical based on The Book of Job, Hard to Believe, which premiered in 2010 at Playcrafters in Moline.
In 2021, he won the Iowa Broadcast News Association, Best In-Depth/Series for Large Market Radio, Third Place award for his 2020 series COVID & The Arts with WVIK-FM, produced with Herb Trix. Jonathan also wrote a 175-page history book about downtown Davenport, A Brief History of Bucktown, published in 2016 by The History Press.
Click the links below for more QC coverage by Jonathan.