Downtown Ames has more to offer than most typical undergraduates realize. You could spend an entire afternoon there and still have more to see. One of the few things downtown Ames is missing, though, is students.

“Students don’t come downtown a lot, and I just don’t understand why. There are so many opportunities for them that they don’t even know about,” said Angela Moore, executive director of Main Street Cultural District.

So here are the top 10 reasons to visit downtown Ames.

1. Customer service

The customer service downtown in those locally owned businesses would blow the customer service of other corporate-chain businesses that you may visit frequently out of the water.

“These businesses will help you find exactly what you’re looking for. If one business doesn’t have it, they’ll send you to the one that does to make sure you’re satisfied,” Moore said.

2. You will always find a gift for that hard-to-buy-for person

There are clothing shops, shoe stores, antiques, jewelry stores and more. There is no way you won’t find the perfect gift for someone downtown.

3. The food

You can’t go wrong when eating downtown. There are many restaurants to choose from at prices students can afford. Whatever you’re craving, you will find it. Some great places to go to downtown are Aunt Maudes, Great Plains, and Olde Main. For dessert, your options are even better: Temptations, with one-dollar ice cream cones available every day; Chocolaterie Stam; and Yummies.

Cook’s Emporium frequently has interactive cooking activities. Every Saturday morning, for only $5, you can watch someone prepare your food, learn how to make the dish, and then you get to eat it too.

“Cook’s Emporium is a great place for learning. If you went in there and asked them a question on baking something or cooking something, they’ll take something out of their own sample and show you how to do it,” said Moore.

Finally, Olde Main, an Ames favorite, gives away free root beer floats on customer’s birthdays.

4. Complete wedding planning

You can plan your entire wedding in downtown Ames. There are churches, reception areas, cake shops, photographers, catering companies, jewelry stores, etc. So stop driving all the way to Des Moines and wasting your gas; there are perfectly good businesses and people downtown that can do the same job or better.

5. ISU swag

There are multiple locations downtown that have all the ISU merchandise you could ever dream of owning. The Hy-Vee Drug Store has a ton of different ISU apparel to choose from. Temptations and Chocolaterie Stam have handmade ISU goodies, and Gilger Designs makes hand-crafted ISU jewelry.

“They have the cutest Campanile necklace. It’s just amazing,” Moore said.

6. Clothing stores.

Downtown, there is a huge array of clothing store options, ranging from consignment to high end.

“We have some great consignment stores downtown. They’re high quality, trendy clothes and really reasonable prices,” Moore said.

So before you head over to the mall or to Target for clothes, check out the clothing shops downtown. They have more variety at a cheaper price.

7. Pampering

Girls, you are missing out if you haven’t made a stop inside It’s All About Me! They have facials, pedicures, manicures and all the feminine gifts you could ever dream of.

Along with It’s All About Me! there are a lot of other stores downtown that provide salon services.

“There are so many beauty salons downtown that have massages, manicures, pedicures, and they are way more affordable than some other options in the area,” Moore said.

8. Creative outlet

“You can literally work with pottery at Kil’n Time Studio, then go to the Octagon for a poetry class, then go look through all of the Octagon galleries and then walk through our other downtown businesses and see much more,” Moore said.

9. Jewelry.

It’s already been mentioned a time or two, but it needs to be brought into clear focus. These stores have some of the most amazing hand-crafted jewelry available. Stores such as Nature’s Touch, Gilger Designs, Ames Silversmithing, the Octagon and Great Stuff have a wide variety of jewelry; you can’t go wrong. If you’re buying it for yourself or a loved one, the options are endless.

10. Adorable animals.

A large group of the stores downtown have their own pets at their stores every day.

“You have to meet Everts’ cat Daisy, and the dog at Gilger, the cat at Skunk River and the two dogs at Nature’s Touch. Those are just some of the animals that you have to meet downtown,” Moore said.

Every student should make the trip to visit downtown at least once; it’s a promise that once you finally go down there, you’ll have many more trips to come. With so many options and activities available, students can easily come up with their own favorite reasons to visit downtown Ames.