Davenport, United States
Brendan, 27
Tour Guide, Small Business Owner, Guy Who Gives a Sh**
see his Davenport city guide

ask Brendan about

dive bars local design viewpoints music venues burgers performing arts museums

What do you do and why do you do it?

I'm a tour guide, so I show people around for a living. It's a pretty awesome thing to get paid to help people have fun and share my love for my region with others!

What’s the one place in Davenport you think is underrated?

The Hilltop neighborhood. There's a growing number of great shops and restaurants there and it's a nice distance between downtown Davenport and St. Ambrose University up the hill.

Where would you take a date for a romantic night out?

I'm kind of a big kid at heart, so playing some arcade games and drinking some beers at Analog Arcade Bar in downtown Davenport is a pretty ideal night out for me.

If you had unlimited resources and one weekend in Davenport, what would you do?

I would probably rent a huge boat and throw a party for my friends out on the Mississippi! Life is better on a boat, in my opinion.

It's freeeeezing out - what should a visitor do?

Hit up the many great museums in the area. Visiting the Figge (art), Putnam (science/history), and Children's Museum (kiddo things) are a great way to spend a day.

Where do you take your guest when you want to impress?

The Davenport Skybridge. It's been a controversial - derided as the "bridge to nowhere" - ever since it was built, but it does offer pretty awesome views. This is especially true during our seasonal floods, where downtown Davenport is partially underwater and you can gawk at the Mississippi River from safe above it.

You’ve been working hard and wanna treat yourself to something nice in Davenport - what do you do?

Sweets are my kryptonite, so a stop at Whitey's Ice Cream would be the top of my list. An Oreo shake is a perfect reward for a job well done!

Which local creators do you admire?

All the other entrepreneurs in the area. There's a lot of talent here and lots of cool stuff to come from innovators.

Special views that mainstream tourists don't know about:

You can catch some pretty great views of downtown Davenport and the Mississippi from the Gold Coast neighborhood in Davenport.

Tomorrow’s your last day in Davenport. How do you spend it?

Along the river, man. Sometimes we locals take it for granted, but we're so lucky to live right next door to the Mississippi, the 4th longest river in the world. It's not all that clean, but hey, it is pretty darn huge and is a central part of the area's past, present, and future.

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Brennen Tope