In town for a tourist activity or business? New to the Quad-Cities? Or maybe you’re from the Q-Cs and live here and you’re just looking for fun recommendations of things to do? In this special edition of QCUncut, the number one-rated podcast in the Quad-Cities, Sean Leary gives a fun and freewheeling tour of the local hot spots and places to go, whirling through all the downtowns and hitting on cool spots and great places to get tacos, pizza, steaks and more!  Read More

After 40 years of drawing crowds to Walcott, Iowa, off I-80, the annual Truckers Jamboreee will be virtual this July 9-11, including an online Antique Truck Show; Super Truck Beauty Contest; Trucker’s Best Friend Pet Contest and free meals for drivers. “The good news is we will most definitely continue with our long-standing tradition of Celebrating America’s Truckers,” Heather DeBaillie, Vice President of Marketing for the Iowa 80 Truckstop, said in a recent release. “While we can’t host 45,000 people at Iowa 80 to celebrate, we will take the Jamboree virtual and still celebrate the... Read More

One of my favorite local artists, Jon Burns, will be helping out the Black Lives Matter movement by donating 50 percent of proceeds from sales of his artwork in his current gallery to the movement. Pieces will be marked as sold when paid for and can be picked up by appointment at my living room window in downtown Moline. Burns’ art is a colorful and fun pastiche of pop art and pop culture images in a unique style. Send Jon a DM on his Facebook for interest. New pieces will be added throughout the month and you can check out his artworks in his virtual gallery here. Here’s a sampling... Read More

Several Q-C arts and cultural organizations received emergency relief funding, among 173 grants throughout Iowa announced Wednesday by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs (IDCA). The department awarded more than $1.1 million in grants — $923,372 for emergency relief and another $178,000 in humanities grants to help Iowa cultural organizations rebound from the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Funding for the emergency relief grants was made possible by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The IDCA distributed CARES Act funds through its partnerships... Read More

Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse is hoping to re-open in July, with fingers crossed that all goes well with the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. Owner Denny Hitchcock has issued a statement on the current state and future of the revered local entertainment venue. Released on Facebook tonight, it reads as follows: To Our Dear Guests, I hope this finds you doing well and remaining safe. Since a few weeks have passed since you’ve heard from us, I wanted to touch base and let you know what’s been happening – unfortunately not too much. We still have no one working in the offices and the phones are... Read More

Camp Hertko Hollow, which offers annual camps to children with diabetes, has decided to cancel its summer season of programs in lieu of the covid-19 threat. The camp released the following letter via e-mail: Dear Friends of Camp Hertko Hollow, In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and in the interest of the health and safety of all campers, volunteers and staff, Camp Hertko Hollow has made the very difficult decision to cancel our upcoming summer sessions. After careful deliberation and review of the health and safety guidelines provided by the government, CDC, American Camp Association,... Read More

Sept. 30, 2016 was one of the best nights of my life. At the Boho Chic Gallery in downtown Davenport’s Bucktown Center for the Arts, I was surrounded by friends, samples of Front Street beer (including its Bucktown Stout), and copies of my first book, “A Brief History of Bucktown: Davenport’s Infamous District Transformed.” It was because of this quirky collection of art galleries and studios – which had a brief, busy, vital life from 2005 to this past March – that I was commissioned in August 2014 by The History Press to write the definitive story of the colorful east end of downtown... Read More

We continue our journey to find the best Instagram walls in the Quad City Area! Here are six more top spots to make your Instagram pop. Ike’s All American Cafe Burger Wall – 635 15th Ave – East Moline, Illinois. Dude… it’s a burger… on a wall! Need I say more? Cabana’s Sea Wall – 2120 4th Ave – Rock Island, Illinois – Located across an alley from the now vacant bar that was once Cabana’s (you cant miss the shark on the roof!), this 2 story wall of sea creatures is a one of a kind in the QCA. Freight House Wall – River Drive – Davenport,... Read More

America in late May 2020 turned into a dystopian hellscape of grief, loss, and rage. A relentless global pandemic has killed over 100,000 U.S. citizens just since March; 40 million are on unemployment; a nation has been tense, restless and confused in shutdown, and 75 cities were plunged into chaos and violence this past weekend as thousands protested racial inequality and police brutality – including looting, rioting and death in Davenport late Sunday night. So, it is oddly comforting to find calm, methodical distraction in a new Netflix documentary that recalls a different kind of terror and... Read More

It was baby’s first protest. My daughter,  Harper, is 6, and didn’t quite understand why we were there but she knew it was important and it was for some guy who died. Kids have empathy so she was on board. It was really something to see. And her reaction to it was awesome. She somehow got it. And it wasn’t hard to grasp the importance and grace of the event. Downtown Davenport. A beautiful Saturday evening. The streets filled with people. It could’ve been any other Saturday night, pre-covid, in the summer, during a festival, or even just a nice evening with the streets... Read More