Iowa
13th Anniversary
October 20, 2007
State of Iowa
City of Dyersville
Field of Dreams
Day One
Flew from Seattle to Des Moines, Iowa. Went to eat at Buzzard Billy’s in downtown Des Moines. Had two fabulous appetizers of armadillo eggs (bacon wrapped chicken breast stuffed with pepper jack cheese and jalapenos) and beer cheese soup. We stayed at the Renaissance Savery Hotel downtown which was lovely. After walking around downtown and visiting the J Creek Mall, we had dinner at the Hessen Haus (solid German food) including our favorite, sauerkraut balls first discovered in Minneapolis, MN at the Black Forest Inn on our 11th anniversary. Then we watched the movie Ratatouille in our room.
Day Two
Breakfast in the private lounge of the hotel. Then we drove to Winterset, Iowa where we enjoyed the covered bridges of Madison County and the John Wayne Birthplace Museum. We drove the small farm roads while attempting to find several of the covered bridges. The town square of Winterset was especially charming. It had a courthouse surrounded by brick storefronts on all four sides. The city park of Winterset had a great hedge maze where we wound about trying to find the center. Very fun.
We then drove to Pella, Iowa, namesake of Pella Windows and Doors. It is a Dutch town that boasts a small college and much Dutch heritage. We enjoyed seeing the many windmills and ponds. However, all of the flora had been pulled up to plant tulip bulbs for the huge festival next spring. We bought handmade chocolates (Julie’s favorite!) and saw the largest working Klokkenspel in the United States. (It was not as impressive as those we’ve seen in Europe.) The people were very friendly and enjoyable. We stayed at the Country Inn and dinned at the restaurant at Strawtown.
Day Three
Got up and made a run for the Dutch bakery shop, Jaarsma, and Smokey Row coffee shop which came highly recommended by the locals we met in Pella. Yum! Exceptionally delicious. We took the Vermeer Mill tour (a working authentic Dutch windmill that grinds flour). We were fortunate to get there and see a few things that most tours do not see, including turning the nose of the mill into the wind which involves rotating the 20-ton cap of the mill directly into the breeze, setting the sails on the blades (each blade extends 41 feet from the hub and is 82 feet end to end). We were impressed at the speed and power achieved by the windmill. The wood used in the construction of the mill was more varied than we expected, oak, purpleheart wood, Russian larch, and many others. It is beautifully constructed and fascinating to learn about.
The tour also included a miniature Dutch village display and a historic building self-guided tour where we saw Wyatt Earp’s boyhood home and many other Dutch buildings from the Pella area (wooden shoe shops, blacksmith, log cabin, pottery, church, etc.) We bought some mill-ground flour to take home.
While walking around downtown Pella, we noticed the First Reformed Church with the Second Reformed Church just across the street. On our way out of town, we passed the Third Reformed Church new location under construction. Pella historically is a Dutch Reformed community. We headed out of Pella and passed the large Vermeer factory (industrial and agricultural machinery). Overall, we loved Pella. What a great place! Genuinely friendly people, beautiful place, lots to do.
We drove Northeast to the Amana Colonies, a 19th Century German communal set of towns. A woolen mill was one of the original industries and is now the only operating US woolen mill. While we didn’t have time to explore all seven of the colonies, it seemed like a place we wanted to go back and see in more depth. We did buy a lovely wool sweater for Julie.
Our next stop was the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. This is a family-owned farm where they shot the 1988 film, Field of Dreams. There is a baseball field next to the farm house with a corn field outfield wall. There was a pick-up game of baseball of people from all over the country when we got there. We played catch and renewed our wedding vows in center field after all the people filtered out. A very fun place.
We finished the day in Dubuque, Iowa where we walked along the Mississippi River looking across the river to Wisconsin and Illinois and had a lovely 2.5 hour dinner at the Pepper Sprout downtown.
Day Four
After a nice breakfast and a quick stop at the Iowa Information Center in Dubuque we headed off down the Great River Road. The Great River Road parallels the Mississippi River and offers views of the river from along the bluffs and the cute towns that line the river. We also were able to see some of the locks and dams that allow tugs and barges to navigate the Mississippi River. There are 27 dams/locks between St. Paul, MN and St. Louis, MO. We were able to stop and see a tug with 12 barges make its way through lock 14 on the way down the river. The barge workers were very friendly, and it was a sight to see.
The river was running about two feet higher than normal, and we noticed how high it was along the banks. The fall leaves were still hanging on to a bit of color which made for an even more amazing drive.
We continued south along the river, enjoying the river view and the rural towns, until we got to Fort Madison, Iowa where we stayed at the Kingsley Inn, a historic bed and breakfast with views of the Mississippi and the Old Fort Madison. There was also a beautifully restored steam engine in the park across the street. (Also worth mentioning were the three sets of currently working railroad tracks not 50 feet from our room window. Chug chug, puff puff.)
In all, the Iowa countryside is quite beautiful with lots of rolling hills and no shortage of cornfields complete with combines harvesting the crops.
Exactly nine months later our third son, Benjamin, was born...hmmmm.
October 20, 2007
State of Iowa
City of Dyersville
Field of Dreams
Day One
Flew from Seattle to Des Moines, Iowa. Went to eat at Buzzard Billy’s in downtown Des Moines. Had two fabulous appetizers of armadillo eggs (bacon wrapped chicken breast stuffed with pepper jack cheese and jalapenos) and beer cheese soup. We stayed at the Renaissance Savery Hotel downtown which was lovely. After walking around downtown and visiting the J Creek Mall, we had dinner at the Hessen Haus (solid German food) including our favorite, sauerkraut balls first discovered in Minneapolis, MN at the Black Forest Inn on our 11th anniversary. Then we watched the movie Ratatouille in our room.
Day Two
Breakfast in the private lounge of the hotel. Then we drove to Winterset, Iowa where we enjoyed the covered bridges of Madison County and the John Wayne Birthplace Museum. We drove the small farm roads while attempting to find several of the covered bridges. The town square of Winterset was especially charming. It had a courthouse surrounded by brick storefronts on all four sides. The city park of Winterset had a great hedge maze where we wound about trying to find the center. Very fun.
We then drove to Pella, Iowa, namesake of Pella Windows and Doors. It is a Dutch town that boasts a small college and much Dutch heritage. We enjoyed seeing the many windmills and ponds. However, all of the flora had been pulled up to plant tulip bulbs for the huge festival next spring. We bought handmade chocolates (Julie’s favorite!) and saw the largest working Klokkenspel in the United States. (It was not as impressive as those we’ve seen in Europe.) The people were very friendly and enjoyable. We stayed at the Country Inn and dinned at the restaurant at Strawtown.
Day Three
Got up and made a run for the Dutch bakery shop, Jaarsma, and Smokey Row coffee shop which came highly recommended by the locals we met in Pella. Yum! Exceptionally delicious. We took the Vermeer Mill tour (a working authentic Dutch windmill that grinds flour). We were fortunate to get there and see a few things that most tours do not see, including turning the nose of the mill into the wind which involves rotating the 20-ton cap of the mill directly into the breeze, setting the sails on the blades (each blade extends 41 feet from the hub and is 82 feet end to end). We were impressed at the speed and power achieved by the windmill. The wood used in the construction of the mill was more varied than we expected, oak, purpleheart wood, Russian larch, and many others. It is beautifully constructed and fascinating to learn about.
The tour also included a miniature Dutch village display and a historic building self-guided tour where we saw Wyatt Earp’s boyhood home and many other Dutch buildings from the Pella area (wooden shoe shops, blacksmith, log cabin, pottery, church, etc.) We bought some mill-ground flour to take home.
While walking around downtown Pella, we noticed the First Reformed Church with the Second Reformed Church just across the street. On our way out of town, we passed the Third Reformed Church new location under construction. Pella historically is a Dutch Reformed community. We headed out of Pella and passed the large Vermeer factory (industrial and agricultural machinery). Overall, we loved Pella. What a great place! Genuinely friendly people, beautiful place, lots to do.
We drove Northeast to the Amana Colonies, a 19th Century German communal set of towns. A woolen mill was one of the original industries and is now the only operating US woolen mill. While we didn’t have time to explore all seven of the colonies, it seemed like a place we wanted to go back and see in more depth. We did buy a lovely wool sweater for Julie.
Our next stop was the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. This is a family-owned farm where they shot the 1988 film, Field of Dreams. There is a baseball field next to the farm house with a corn field outfield wall. There was a pick-up game of baseball of people from all over the country when we got there. We played catch and renewed our wedding vows in center field after all the people filtered out. A very fun place.
We finished the day in Dubuque, Iowa where we walked along the Mississippi River looking across the river to Wisconsin and Illinois and had a lovely 2.5 hour dinner at the Pepper Sprout downtown.
Day Four
After a nice breakfast and a quick stop at the Iowa Information Center in Dubuque we headed off down the Great River Road. The Great River Road parallels the Mississippi River and offers views of the river from along the bluffs and the cute towns that line the river. We also were able to see some of the locks and dams that allow tugs and barges to navigate the Mississippi River. There are 27 dams/locks between St. Paul, MN and St. Louis, MO. We were able to stop and see a tug with 12 barges make its way through lock 14 on the way down the river. The barge workers were very friendly, and it was a sight to see.
The river was running about two feet higher than normal, and we noticed how high it was along the banks. The fall leaves were still hanging on to a bit of color which made for an even more amazing drive.
We continued south along the river, enjoying the river view and the rural towns, until we got to Fort Madison, Iowa where we stayed at the Kingsley Inn, a historic bed and breakfast with views of the Mississippi and the Old Fort Madison. There was also a beautifully restored steam engine in the park across the street. (Also worth mentioning were the three sets of currently working railroad tracks not 50 feet from our room window. Chug chug, puff puff.)
In all, the Iowa countryside is quite beautiful with lots of rolling hills and no shortage of cornfields complete with combines harvesting the crops.
Exactly nine months later our third son, Benjamin, was born...hmmmm.