if you find yourself barreling across Iowa going either east or west on I80 on one of the busiest thoroughfares in the Midwest through the center of ‘The Hawkeye State’ and looking for a quiet little corner of this barren corn-field patch of land to call home for the night, then this non-descript Walmart located about 3 miles north of I80 might just be a decent place to layover. Here in Newton, which for some mysterious reason is dubbed ‘The Washing Machine Capital of the World’ (who would have known, right?!) on account that this little town was once home to the Maytag Corporation, you’ll find a nice little small town offering.
As for this particular Walmart Supercenter, it’s located on the southeast side of Newton, where you’ll access the spot by heading north on Iowa Speedway Drive, passing by the local KOA (more on this later) before heading a few miles north to a bit of the town that I would describe as nuveau urban sprawl, chock full of brand spanking new non-descript restaurants, tires stores and grocery chains. So, suffice it to say, the Walmart that is over here serves as an anchor to this particular retail location.
Should you pull into this vacant slab of concrete and be on the look-out for a place to drop anchor for the night, my suggestion would be to keep to the western and southern-most fringes of this open lot, which is opposing to the main entrance of the store itself. While the place was jam-packed when we visited, you will have a degree of quiet and solitude if you stay on the periphery. Overall, we found the place to be quite new, but incredibly busy with lots of car traffic darting around in different directions making for a quite hectic feeling. While not particularly noisy and far enough away from any busy highways, you won’t be bothered by constant traffic volume.
If you are looking to stock up on groceries, and like me, don’t really shop at Walmart, there is a Dollar Tree just across the street for those that are more budget conscious and for those who are, like me, more concerned about better quality, there’s a Hyvee that is located just due west of this location that is a pretty amazing offering and a bit further west of this is Fareway Grocery, which is like the local deli, butcher and farmer’s market all wrapped up into one.
Hungry and looking for a bite to eat? Right near this Walmart is an Arby’s, but that’s about it. Further down the road heading to Newton is the prerequisite number of Mexican restaurants that you’ll find in every great Midwestern town these days, including Taco John’s (but for the sake of authenticity shouldn’t it be called Juan’s?) and La Cabaña Mexican Restaurant – both just OK for Mexican comida – and Newton Family Restaurant. But if you are looking for something really different and spectacular, I would suggest heading on over to Dan’s Sandwich Shop, which feels like real Americana from a bygone era, complete with a diner-esque vibe and matching elbow counter to warm up to over a nice piece of apple pie and some really dank, but hot coffee to slog it all down with.
Should you be looking for a slice of nature then head to Newton Arboretum & Botanical Gardens for 6 acres of family-friendly landscape to explore with more displays and demonstrations that you can shake a stick at! Seriously, there’s a butterfly garden, peony border and nearly 200 individual species of trees here to check out. Even the kids will love it!
While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience (EZ on- and off-access), safety & security, quality (of facilities), peace & quiet and amenities (either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot:
Convenience: 4
Safety & Security: 4
Quality: 3
Peace & Quiet: 3
Amenities: 2
Overall, I scored this location a 3.
Happy Overnighting!
