June 15-16 Amana Colonies in Iowa

  75 degrees and sunny.  We passed the world's largest truckstop.  Drove through a downpour, too bad we didn't bring the ark.  Short trip from Davenport to the Amanas.  It was sunny when we arrived, but sprinkled all afternoon as we drove and walked around.  Supposed to rain for the next 3 days here.
     Living in Iowa, and since, I always thought the colonists were Amish, but they aren't.  They were a group of people and their leader who came over from Germany in the 1800's to continue living the communal life they always had, but to escape religious persecution.  Their order was called the Community of True Inspiration. 
     Everything they needed was supplied by the commune and they all worked together. They started in NY but moved west, finding 26,000 acres east of Des Moines.  They formed 6 villages and then bought the 7th.  Their multi-family homes were made of brick and are still occupied.  There were communal kitchens where the women took turns working to feed 35-50 people 3 meals and 2 coffee breaks a day.   The women who weren't on the schedule brought picnic baskets to carry their meals to their families.
   We visited the cooper's shop-new word for us.  He was the barrel maker and also worked on wagons and wheels in the winter.  He also probably cut ice on the lake and in the good weather he helped in the fields.
    We knew they are famous for their beautiful furniture.  Tom held me as I cried while watching 2 men making dressers, missing Dad and his brother, Homer, and their other brother and father, all such wonderful carpenters and woodworkers.  The furniture showrooms showed such beautiful furniture-some table tops had burl designs in them.  They hand make clocks, too, and the grandfather ones were so neat and the ones built into large curio or china hutches.  My brother-in-law's grandparents had a lot of furniture from the colonies, so dad saw it at their home.
    In the 1930's they went to an independent lifestyle.  Since the 1950's anyone could move into the community.  Now about 800,000 people per year visit.  Ther are several gift/antique shops that are nice and a very nice quilt shop and one antique shop sold completed quilts.   We were a little disappointed that more exhibits weren't there, but people have to make a living and it only cost for a museum tkt that got us into several places.  There is still an Amana Society, which receives some proceeds from things like the museum tickets and is used for the good of the community, I would say.  We visited the church.  The 80 something lady said they are a typical modern group of people now, but have never changed the style of worship that their great grandparents did.  They have a huge building with wooden benches, a table with a Bible at the front (no cross anywhere, inside or outside) and oil lamps (now electric) on the walls.  They have added 2 ceiling fans.
    Wednesday we went to the village bakery for a pastry for breakfast.  The courtyard bordered on the entrance to an antique and gift shop and the lady there had great patriotic displays with flowers, flags, old laundry basket, big dishpan etc. outside.   One lady was sketching it and I asked if she is a painter and she said she was one of many taking a watercolor class this week in the colonies.  As we drove around we saw a lady sketching a real old barn and another one sketching a flower garden at a house.  So many of the yards have the orange tiger day lilies like were always in my grandma's yard and they were growing wild many places along the roads between the villages.  Tom commented that we hadn't seen any dandelions in yards or along the roads.  When we walked around the campground that night we found a few in the hay field we were staying in.  It was so wet from all the rain and they only had a small amount of gravel for the wheels to drive on.  The road was good.  It was what we referred to as a loblolly growing up - a muddy mess.  Both nights we heard frogs near the camper and there wasn't a creek real close!
    We drove past the Amana manufacturing plant in one of the villages.  It is now owned by Whirlpool.  My sister's husband has been a wholesale salesman for them for about 30 years-mostly in AZ.
    We drove 6 miles away from the villages to another small town called Oxford for lunch.  Someone recommended it as a nice place.  Appears the owner lady is from Louisiana.  Cooks some cajun stuff, but what appealed to us was the Iowa pork tenderloin sandwich.  You can't buy those west of about Nebr.  Usually they are pounded thin.  We knew we wanted to split one and he said he'd bring an extra bun.  When he brought it out it was a whole tenderloin, not pounded, laying across 2 buns.  It was good.
    The campground started filling up.  There are small pop-up tent-like campers called A-liner's and there is a rally of them in the camp this weekend, but many were here when we got here early in the week and many came in.  So tiny, but some had screened porches they attached.  They'll be lucky to get out of here if it rains 3 more days.  They have buildings groups can rent and had 2 large event tents set up.