Country Life: Iowa Summer in Guthrie County

Another installment from the tourism blog I wrote for the four county region I live in.

Summer in Iowa can be quite a HOT experience. Hot and humid to be exact. Why my friend Sarah and I decided to start our tourism visits during the hottest part of the year, usually to primitive/historical buildings and sites with no air conditioning we will never know, but we did....... and in spite of our suffering, you get to enjoy our day from the comfort of your home or office.

With so many interesting places to visit in Guthrie County it was hard to fit much into one day, especially when we started out with one of the biggest attractions early in the day. But anyway, we started off the morning with a drive through Nations Bridge Park.

The park had several campers spending the weekend but we went through pretty early- there weren't too many people out and about just yet. But it is a very nice campground with fishing, hiking, a playground and lots of other activities to keep a family busy. They even have wifi in case you can't imagine your life unplugged.

After the campground we moved on to the city of Panora, and our first stop was the Raccoon River Valley Trailhead. The Raccoon River Valley Trail covers over 50 miles of bike and walking trail from Jefferson in Greene County to Clive in Dallas County. Lots of fun events take place along the trail during the year such as the Baccoon Run, a bacon-themed bike ride, and winter rides.

The trailhead in Panora is close to the halfway point. The day we visited, in spite of the heat, there were several riders on the trail, braver than us, that's for sure! I am a firm believer in air conditioner when it's 99 degrees outside.

After leaving the trail we stopped at the Historical Village in Panora. It was as if we were transported back in time.

There is a main building where you check in and serves as a museum itself and can walk around and view amazing displays from preserved animals to old Fords to Civil War registries.

Just one of many stunning preserved animals  on display

This Civil War Registry listed Iowa soldiers serving.

Antique "rooms" are set up throughout the building that are built around a theme- a canning kitchen, a ladies dressing room, a switchboard where a phone operator once worked, military tributes, an old dental office, and a courthouse display, just to name a few.

What a kitchen might have looked like 100 years ago

Antique canning supplies

Old court docket books line the walls of the courthouse display

Primitive dentistry- scary!

This was like a War Yearbook- very interesting

Can't imagine how this poor operator managed, and what she
would think of today's cellphone world

Stones, broken pottery and gemstones native to and discovered in Iowa are also on display. Antique items of all kinds fill this main building. But it's the village that proves to be a real treat.

Gemstones native to Iowa

Different rocks and pottery pieces

Moths and butterflies native to Iowa are on display

I thought he looked pretty cuddly!

A large building houses a huge variety of antique farm implements, old vehicles, a coal mine display,

and a covered wagon as west-bound settlers would have traveled in.

Next door is the Blacksmith Shop. One look around the perfectly recreated workshop made me glad I never chose that as a profession.

Next door is the village General Store. The store is filled with everything a family would have needed, some basic appliances, foodstuffs, gardening items, a post office counter and equipment for canning and preserving food. Baskets, cookware and all sorts of kitchen tools are also displayed.

The general store had everything needed for the "modern kitchen"

Home canning was a necessity in those days

The old pressure canners were MASSIVE

The village's attorney and abstractor's office is next door, and it looks much like I expected.

Docket books, tract books and registry books line the bookshelves. An impressive wooden desk serves as the work area for the attorney who once owned this practice. Even still, the desk had a small stack of old business cards.

Sarah Gomez, Esq.

The building is an original, as are most of the buildings in the village, and a photo album is there so that you can see how the building was prepared and moved to its current location in the Historical Village. I really enjoyed this building, as an abstractor for many years during my city life, it was like visiting an old friend.

Moving around the corner we came to the Newspaper Office. Like all offices of it's time, it is sparse in furniture and had drawers and drawers of printing stamps. Stacks of old newspapers are displayed as well as a plaque describing the history of the building.

The oldest building in Panora is the next building in the village.

It was surprising to see how much function a pioneer family fit into a one room house. Heated by a massive fireplace that also served as a heat source for cooking, the furnishings were again sparse, and multi functional. It was interesting to see that this house had been sided with modern siding at one time, and all that was removed before the house was moved to the village.

The massive stone fireplace provided not only heat but
a place to cook and prepare meals

Across the park from the house is the Train Station.

Actual railroad tracks are placed in the village to allow the display of railroad cars and repair/maintenance equipment. In the freight area of the station, luggage and trunks and crates stand floor to ceiling, waiting to be loaded onto a train.

A large seating area lined with benches and heated by a wood burning stove would have been bustling with passengers decades ago.

Across the tracks from the train station is the village church, and as expected, it is a sparse building built for the purpose of worship and little fanfare. It's currently displayed with a wedding theme, and bride and groom mannequins at the altar.

The old one room school house is the last building in the village. If you've ever seen the movie "A Christmas Story" this room is just like that. There is an outhouse directly outside the door (complete with a bucket of corncobs) and an area for washing up right inside the door. Old school books, toys and chalkboards line the room. Old canning jars full of marbles and jacks sit on shelves filed with old books.

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The historical village is a fantastic glimpse into Iowa's small town past. Growing up in the city you really don't get to see how difficult life must have been for folks who worked hard on farms and what the life of the farmer's family was like. This village answers all those questions and more.

Country Life- A Day in Audubon County

Here is another entry from the former tourism blog that I wrote for a previous employer, this time featuring Audubon County, Iowa. Since summer festival season is just getting underway this seemed like a good time to focus on the home of Operation T-Bone.

A Day in Audubon County

A very HOT day, in fact.

When we, Midwest Partnership, first started talking about ideas to help promote tourism in the region, we knew several things. We needed to see what's out there. We needed to experience what's out there. And we needed to get started.........at the hottest time of the year (actually, not sure why it worked out that way but it did).

So our first Tourism Day we chose Audubon County, and August 3, the first day of the weekend known as Operation T-Bone, which is the town of Audubon's big summer celebration. Every small town has a festival. Some they celebrate their heritage, some their local history, some their industry. Audubon is famous for Albert the Bull, and t-bones and thus Operation T-Bone.

The town of Audubon is a beautiful town named after John James Audubon and many buildings and parks and other landmarks in the town pay homage to him. The park in the middle of the town has the Bird Walk, a walkway paved with mosaic tiles depicting different species of birds. Statues and murals dot the town.

But let's back up just a little bit. There is one thing that really stands out when you arrive in the town of Audubon, if you're coming from the south you are definitely going to meet Albert the Bull right away. Albert is a fantastic work of art and in life-like detail. There is a kiosk in the park with many photos taken during construction and after.

Push the button and Albert himself will tell you his story. Albert lives in a very nice park with lots of playground equipment for little ones while mom and dad learn about the famous bull.

After leaving Albert we headed to downtown Audubon to find the Bird Walk. The town's "main street" is lined with quaint little shops and businesses and at the top of the hill is the park with a big statue of John J. Audubon, surrounded by beautiful plantings and of course, the Bird Walk. The tiles lining the walk are true works of art themselves. I can't imagine the painstaking care that went into the creation of these mosaic glass tiles- the detail and color is just beautiful. Each tile is sponsored by a person, family, organization, etc to help fund the walk.

Just one of many many tiles that line the walk, each depicting a different bird.

Also in the park is a group of old limestone footings arranged to create a small theater, along with a small building.

Again here you can read, and push the button, to hear the story of the limestone footings and how they came to be there.

They are arranged to allow small groups to listen to a speaker or perhaps tour guide describe the different areas of the park, which is right across the street from the austere Audubon County Courthouse.

John James Audubon

Heading back down the main street you just can't miss the giant stained glass window memorializing John J. Audubon. It's a beautiful tribute.

As we headed out to check out some other sights in Audubon county we made Kimballton the first stop. The beautiful fountain and statue of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" graces the park.

Like many small rural towns, Kimballton has the "main street" lined with small businesses, taverns, the post office.

Not far from Kimballton, and while technically NOT in Audubon county, we couldn't come this far without a visit to Elk Horn, to see the historic Danish Windmill and eat at their famous Danish Inn. The windmill is quite a sight to see.

It was literally purchased in Denmark, disassembled with each piece being labelled and numbered and delivered to Elk Horn, to be reassembled where it stands today. Instead of paper blueprints, the construction people who disassembled the mill built a scale model with every matching piece numbered so that once delivered to Iowa, the mill could be reassembled correctly.

Visitors to the mill begin their tour with a short video that tells the entire of story of how the mill came to be where it is today.

 It's an amazing story and quite a testament to what a small community can do when they join together and want something bad enough. After the video you are free to wander inside the mill as your leisure, which we did, taking pictures as we went, everything from the scale model to descriptive plaques on the wall, to the giant grindstones.

Going to up the second level is a simple fight of stairs, climbing to the third level, it's more like a ladder and higher still- well, we didn't venture that far !

Looking up into the mechanism of the mill. We could have climbed
higher but chose not to !!

After lunch at the famous Danish Inn we headed to Exira but before we even got there we had to stop at the Danish Countryside Winery.

This might have been the highlight to the day ! As it was a weekday we were the only visitors to the tasting room and so the owners, Al and Carol Petersen, were thrilled to give us a tour of the restored barn and tasting room. The farm has been in the family over 100 years and what once was a pretty ratty looking sheep barn was transformed by the owners into a beautifully restored and wonderfully decorated winery, tasting room and huge party room on the upper level. They have a photo album that shows the progress from junky old barn to the beautiful building it is today.

Back in the tasting room we tried several varieties and both Sarah and I found something to take home. The owners were so friendly and accommodating. They answered questions, talked about the different grapes and were the perfect hosts. The long drive from the highway to the winery building in lined with acres of beautiful Iowa grapevines in many varieties. We had to tear ourselves away from this charming couple and their beautiful winery.

Exira was next on the list as well as the Plow in the Tree in a park nearby there.

According to the local legend, a young man was working his farm when he was called off to war, leaning the hand plow against a then spindly little oak tree. He never returned and the plow was never moved. Today the oak is a GIANT grown tree and has grown around and "swallowed" the plow. Very little is still visible.

Our last stop  of the day was the Nathaniel Hamlin Park and Museum- just south of Audubon.

The museum is run by a friendly older man who had loads of fun stories and a 3 wheel golf cart he drove us around on (it was a fairly SCARY ride !!!) They had a HUGE barn like building lined with murals that were saved from an old sale barn that was being torn down and brought here.

Antique equipment of all kinds, preserved animals, farm equipment, even the Flintstones' car are all on display here.

He drove us up to the main house which is where the Hamlin family lived long ago. Each room is decorated in a different theme, from cooking to school to military, it was filled with memorabilia of Iowans generations ago. Also on the ground are live animals, rabbits, chickens, a tame raccoon and a herd of elk.

By the end of our huge loop around Audubon County we were pretty beaten up by the heat and ready to head home. There is so much more to explore in Audubon County we just ran out of time- and we will be back !!.............Monica,  August 3, 2012