It's time for a road trip!! Conde Nast Traveler has named Chicago as the best large city. They ranked everything in their Reader's Choice Awards from resorts to cities to airlines. I will vouch for Chicago as the top spot as I grew up outside of Chicago and attended college in downtown Chicago (Columbia College Chicago - What what). World famous pizza, museums, every kind of human, the blues, Lake Michigan, I could go on. And on. And on. If you haven't been, I highly suggest taking a road trip, it's only 4.5 hours from Des Moines!
Coming in second on the list is Minneapolis. Forever i've wanted to visit Minneapolis as I have been a near life long Prince fan. I finally visited Minneapolis three weeks ago to see Janet Jackson in concert. Loved the city. I saw the Mary Tyler Moore statue, the Target Center, got a quick taste of nightlife, First Avenue, Paisley Park, the Mall of America and the cool sculpture garden. My best friend is a native Minneapolisian (is that right??) so I had a great tour guide! After living in St. Louis for 15 years, it definitely seemed safe. Again, I highly suggest taking a 3.5 hour road trip to the Twin Cities!
Other cities that made the list include: Boston, New Orleans and Washington D. C. The best smallest city is Charleston, South Carolina.