SharivilleLife stories from Shari

You see…while on vacation you never really know what day it is.  I
thought yesterday was today. Does that sound like me?  We ate
breakfast in this morning, mainly because it was about 40 degrees
outside. In fact tonight they are shutting the water off at this RV
park too.  Seems we are running just ahead of the winter. Tomorrow “ON
THE ROAD” again.

Today we had the best time checking out the largest colony, Amana,
that seems to be where most of the best shops are.  Liz you would have
THE best time here.  It’s definately a super place to shop.  They have
everything a person would need or not. The best part is that
everything here is quality, hand crafted. Naturally we started the day
at The Sandstone Winery.  They make their wines from whole fruit.  But
have you ever tasted Dandelion wine?  It’s very different, it would be
considered a dessert wine. Angie, I bought both of us a bottle, because
I bet you have never had Dandelion wine either. The winery is housed
in a 150 yr old house, with the winery in the basement. In the General
Store I found just the right  cookbook for you Renee.  A thank you for
all the wonderful meals you have cooked for us. I thought The Amana
Colonies would have the kind of cookbook I know you like. We visited
the Old Lace shoppe, but nothing caught my eye, and also the Kitchen
Sink, nothing there either.  The  Amana Furniture and Clock shop was
really a wonderful place.  The clocks were incredible and kept Jerry
busy for awhile, he really likes clocks.   We watched some of the
craftsmen at work and took some photos.  They make large and small
items, mostly out of local hard woods, cherry, walnut, oak and maple.
Georgous items.  The Woolen Mill was another wonderful place to see.
They had all kinds of wool items and some cotton woven items too.  I
broke out in a sweat just touching all that wool.  Jerry found a
cotton throw he wanted, like I said its cold here, and I won’t share
mine. The mill has been in continous operation since 1857.  Just the
vast number of years these places have been doing business is
incredible.

Then we went to The Ox-Yoke Inn for an early dinner.  Served family
style, Jerry ordered baked steak and I ordered Jagger Schnitzel.  It’s
a breaded pork loin with mushrooms and spatzel,  Delicious.  First
they brought chive cottage cheese, and a bacon broccoli salad.  Then
the entree, with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, the ever present
sauerkraut, and  two kinds of homemade bread with preserves. We
ordered the half serving entree and still rolled out of the place.
One special thing about The Amana Colonies is that they serve
wonderful food.

Then we resumed touring the shops.  We went to Heritage Wine and
Cheese, and anyone who knows me knows my fetish for all kinds of
cheeses.  Well, I was not dissapointed.  There was over 25 different
cheeses.  Lots of jams and jellies and preserves,  Joann you would
have loved this place, in fact this whole place, especially the General
Store.  When you enter you step back in time to the 1850s, They have
all the old fashioned candy in jars and barrels. Everything is
displayed so nicely – just a beautiful store.  Lots of ambiance. Lastly
we hit the Meat Shop and Smokehouse.  Talk about wonderful smells, and
wonderful things to eat.  They had great looking whole hams and apple
smoked bacon and pepper topped bacon,  I bought some bacon.
Everything is better with bacon. I’m thinking maybe I will actually
get around to cooking in the trailer again after we get away from here
and all the temptation. At the RV park when we arrived they gave us
wooden nickles, good for a pound of sausage with a buck, so I got two
different kinds of sausages, the Bratwurst type, 4 in a pkg for a buck
each.  Good bargains, lots of samples.

Then we returned to the trailer and did laundry, what a drag after
such a truely fine day, but it had to be done.  No telling where we
will be tomorrow, and they have a good laundry room here. Anyway, we
always meet the nicest people in the laundry room.  We usually get
good tips on traveling and share experiences.  Jerry becomes a real
chatty Jerry with other RVers.  Well we are all hooked up and ready to
leave in the morning.  Don’t know what route we are going yet, scenic
or interstate.  Guess we will see tomorrow.
Stay tuned,   Hugs,                S and J.

WILLKOMMEN.  is welcome in German, and the Amana Colonies were started
by Germans from the old country in 1855. How can I even begin to put
into this chapter all that we have experienced today?

We started with breakfast at the Colony Village, family style and
highly recommended.  First came coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, a
bowl of fresh fruit and home made bread, toasted with strawberry
perserves.  Then came German style pancakes, 2 per plate and covered
the plate, lots of butter and thick real maple syrup, not that
imitation stuff.  Then a plate of 6 overeasy eggs, a plate of crisp
bacon and sausage patties, and a bowl of sliced fried potatoes.
Jerry’s favorite meal was not a dissapointment. Very reasonable prices
and as much as you wanted.  What can I say, we ate and then waddled
out to visit the other 6 villages in the Colonies.

We went to the visitor center for directions and did the drive route
of all the other 6 villages.  They are only minutes apart, 1 hour by
Ox cart in the old days.  The entire Amana Colonies are on 26,000,
acres.  The only housing is in the villages, the rest of the land is
used for farming,  The Colonies presently operate the largest farm in
Iowa,  and manage Iowa’s largest private forest. The Colonies are
located in the georgous Iowa River valley.  The River runs through.

From 1855 until 1932 the Amana Colonies lived a communal lifestyle.
Today they have a group of diverse business’.  There’s a furniture and
clock shop, woolen mill and calico works. Stone Hearth Bakery, where
we had apple struddle and coffee this afternoon.  There’s a General
Store, several restrauants, a few B and Bs, a book store, smoked meat,
cheese and condiment shop, and many other shops, including this huge
RV park where we are.  Theres also a winery, fruit wines and a brew
house where they make beer and old fashioned root beer.

The Amana Colonies are a Nationall Historic Landmark.  Remember the Amana
refrigerators and freezers, thats here. Some of the houses date back
into the 1800s.  They are make of brick, made here too, sandstone and
clapboard.  They were allowed to weather naturally as wood was
plentiful and paint expensive. Most of the private houses have their
own garden patches and fruit trees and grapes.

We spent a couple of delightful hrs at the basket and broom shope.  We met the most facinateing old fellow, 91 yrs old who is the
broommaker.  He kept us entertained and laughing while he worked on a
broom he was making for me.  I even had him sign it.  He was born in
the Colonies in 1918, and was only gone long enough to serve in WWII,
in Germany, as he was fluent in the German language.  There he met his
wife of 61 yrs. I got some great photo’s of him working on my broom
using a hand operated machine over 100 yrs old.   The local paper did
a story on him and I have a copy for my scrapbook.

Got a picture of Jerry in Iowa’s largest solid walnut rocking chair.
Without Jerry it weighs 670 lb, with Jerry………..well, after 3 days
here neither of us are weighing in.  Some of us may remember Edith Ann
in “Laugh In”, that’s what he looked like in that rocker.

Yes, we are extending one more day at least.  One reason there’s still
so much to see and eat and ST Louis is on flood alert, and the
Mississippi is on the rise. So we will have to see how long this storm
lasts there.  And I wanted to take the scenic river route down.  Will
I ever learn? I love scenic routes, Jerry loves interstates, but then
I’m not the trailer hauler either.  More tomorrow.          Hugs, S and J