Things to Do in Cedar Falls

For more than 10 years, The Heart of Darkness has elicited scares from nearly 10,000 visitors every Halloween season with one of the largest haunts in Iowa. People from across the country and ghosts studying abroad brave nine separately themed areas on the terror-infested grounds, from a haunted playground to a maniacal-clown asylum. Each section crawls with grotesque creatures. A living scarecrow swipes at guests with a rusted sickle, causing them to flee right into the padded cell of Crispy, a demented arsonist whose victims gave him a taste of his own medicine by scorching his skin.

So committed to their duty to terrify, owners Kevin and Dolly Schults are affectionately known as The Halloween Family, as detailed on a 2009 episode of ABC's Wife Swap. Outside their spooky corridors, the Schults reward survivors with concession stands, a live DJ, and a photo booth that snapped the pictures Crispy uses for his online-dating profile.

Lush green fields roll outside of Eastern Iowa Sports Complex’s titanic facility. Throughout the week, guests from all over the region sprint across the full-size indoor soccer field, practice slugging within indoor batting cages, and hone their short games on an 18-hole miniature golf course. They can also be found hooping it up in full-size basketball gym and actually braving the elements on the facility’s three outdoor athletic fields.

Throughout the year, young players can sign up for the complex’s recreational programs, and adults can work out excess competitiveness in sporting leagues and athletic tournaments. The facility also hosts dance classes, community events, hourly field rentals, and a full-service pizza restaurant.

When customers reach the third floor of the Cherry Building and walk into Send U My Love, it's not unusual for them to notice the aroma of rich, freshly brewed coffee. Owner Teresa Eadie puts on a pot on most mornings to share. Teresa's life is shaped by her desire to share. In the beginning, she started Send U My Love as a way to share her own love of handmade goodies, and her shop has grown to encompass a dazzling assortment of journals, charming albums, greeting cards, and all the supplies her customers would ever need to make them. Rows of rubber stamps and scrapbooking paper inspire crafters to embark on new projects, and the schedule of classes offered at the shop helps them realize their visions. Teresa also puts together thoughtful kids’ birthday-party packages to take the stress, worry, and piñata-herding out of planning. :m]]

Nestled in a remodeled bank that was built in 1905 by baseball player Jake Kimm, the Iowa Baseball Museum of Norway today chronicles the history of the American ballgame in Norway and the talented players who learned to catch, pitch, and give inspirational pep talks to baseballs in the town before going on to join the major or minor leagues. The old Norway High School’s odds-defying 1991 baseball team was featured in the film The Final Season, and the museum delves into the high school’s rich relationship to the sport over the years. Volunteers created or organized all of the displays, murals, trophies, and photos, turning each exhibit into a labor of love.