Monday, July 27, 2009

Mall of America and More

We've been busy this week exploring northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota. We always wanted to see the Mall of America, and spent the day in amazement wandering this huge complex of shops, restaurants, theaters, an aquarium, and even an amusement park. With over 520 stores in four individually-themed wings, it can take days to see everything, and if you're hungry, there are 18 full-service restaurants and 26 fast food places (we ate at "Bubba Gumps"). It's over 1/2 mile to walk each of the three main levels, and we did that plus the fourth level, which has a 14-screen theater. What is amazing is the center of the mall, where Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park, is located. With over 25 rides (including three roller coasters), it's a neat place to take the kids while mom shops - but at $29.95 for a day's pass it's a bit pricey. Interesting piece of trivia - the park is built on the former site of Metropolitan Stadium, and home plate is still preserved near one of the rides. Also, it took 65 semi trucks of trees to create the outdoor feel of the park. You can read more about interesting facts here. The Mall of America is now the 2nd biggest mall under one roof in North America, next to one in Edmonton, Alberta, with over 800 stores. But there's good news; the Mall of America has acquired land which will allow expansion to 900 stores! Hopefully, the "Scooter Store" will open up an outlet so that we'll still be able to see all the new additions.
One of the neat things about our lifestyle is the ability to visit little interesting places that intrigue us. The movie "Field of Dreams" was a movie that we both enjoyed, and so we drove to the Iowa town of Dyersville to see the actual movie set. As movie sets go, it's a surprise; first of all, it's all real (and free), and second, the only commercial aspect is a small stand selling t-shirts and movie memorabillia. There's not a lot here - the field and the farmhouse, surrounded by corn fields; but we had a chance to stand at home plate where Kevin Costner stood, sit in the bleachers, and walk in the outfield. What's neat is that families were here with the dads playing baseball with their kids. There's no restriction on using the field and it's well maintained. The house is beautiful and is still occupied by the family that owns the farm. You can read about how the farm was selected, and other interesting facts here. We enjoyed our visit here, and seeing the movie again will be a bit more special.
Another of those interesting places to visit is Northfield, MN, where Jesse James, Cole Younger, and their gang tried to rob the local bank and were surprised by armed townspeople. The movies "The Long Riders" and "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid", were movies that we remembered, and we thought we'd see where it happened. Northfield turned out to be a picturesque town with a beautiful shopping district along the Cannon River. The bank is now part of a museum, and we were given a tour by a delightful young lady dressed in period costume. She explained how the robbery occured, and how a bank cashier refused to unlock the safe (it turned out that it was open but the door was closed) and was killed protecting the town's money. The townspeople, alerted to the robbery, grabbed their guns and met the gang in the street; as a result, two of the gang members were killed, two badly wounded, and the rest fled for their lives. Jesse and Frank James made it to their home in Missouri, but it marked the end of the James gang era. It's an interesting story, you can read more about it here.
We had an unexpected surprise while visiting an Indian casino in Minnesota - there was a large Indian Nation Pow Wow. Hundreds of members from tribes around the country were represented, and the highlight for us was watching the ceremonial dance competition. Although I can't tell you much about the types and meanings of the dances, the dancers were spectacular, and here are a few photos from the event:
We've enjoyed our stay in this area, but now it's time to head for Forest City, IA and the home of Winnebago Industries for the annual Grand National Rally. Come back and see what it's like when over 1200 senior citizens driving huge motorhomes get together!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Amana Colonies

Whenever I heard mention of the Amana Colonies of Iowa, I pictured people in Amish garb hunched over refrigerators and stoves carefully assembling these prized appliances. Of course, the question arises: why is a guy who doesn't have electricity in his home assembling electric apppliances? Well, no problem, for as usual, I wasn't even close - there are no Amish in the Amana Colonies. We spent some time here at the Amana Colonies RV Park, in the midst of the seven Amana Colonies, and had the chance to explore each colony and learn how they were established. The colonies were founded in 1855 by German immigrants who were Pietists, a movement within Luthernism, which advocated an emphasis on piety and return to Christian life. First settling in New York, the group, led by Eberhard Gruber and Johann Rock, moved to Iowa to take advantage of the inexpensive land and fertile ground. With 1200 followers, they built the colonies of Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana, East, West, and South Amana, and Homestead. The colonies provided a home, medical care, food, and schooling; everything was shared and around 50 kitchens provided meals. They were completely self-sufficient; livestock, orchards, and gardens provided food, and there were craft shops and mills that provided furniture and clothing. By the 1930s, however, a combination of the depression and a desire by the people to achieve individual goals for themselves and their children signaled the end of the communal lifestyle. Today, the colonies are a profit-sharing corporation that manages the mills and other major functions. And yes, there's still an appliance factory here, although it's now owned by the Whirlpool corporation.
Of the colonies, Amana is the largest and is a town of shops, restaurants, and museums. Like so many of these locations, it's become highly commercialized - locally produced crafts sit next to items imported from China, and prices are on the high side. Restaurants featuring German family style cooking are located throughout the village, although our visit to one of them resulted in a pretty ordinary meal. We did find that the smoked meats were a bargain and stocked up on smoked pork chops and bratwurst - just walking past the smokehouse made you hungry! The big attraction here for us was the scenery - beautifully maintained houses from the 1800s, neatly maintained gardens and flower beds, and the gently rolling hills of bright green corn all combine to make this visit enjoyable.
At a shop in West Amana, we found this huge rocking chair. Billed as the "World's Largest Solid Walnut Rocking Chair", it's exactly three times the size of a standard rocker. Our first thought when seeing it was...."Edith Ann", comedian Lily Tomlin's character of a little girl sitting in an adult rocker. As it turns out, when Lily Tomlin was in the area giving a concert, the shop took the chair to her and had pictures of her sitting in it. While Lily wasn't available, Brenda was happy to stand in for her so that you can get an idea of the scale. What's remarkable is the quality of the workmanship - it's a beautiful piece of furniture, even if it is a bit large for our motorhome.
Everywhere we drove in this area we were treated to vistas of beautiful farms and farmland. It's almost calming to see this area; so much beautiful bright green punctuated by white farm houses and red barns. It truly is what you think of as the heartland of America!
Next stop - Northern Iowa/Southern Minnesota and the Mall of America!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Czechin' Out Cedar Rapids

We're spending some time in Iowa, and although it wasn't in our original plans, a segment on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" (click to listen) about the 2008 Cedar Rapids flood piqued our interest, especially the story of Czech Village, a neighborhood that suffered an immense amount of damage. Last spring, the Cedar River, which runs through the center of town, reached what people are now calling the "500 year flood". Swollen by heavy winter snows, a wet spring, and torrential rains, the river became as large as the Mississippi, putting 10 square miles of Cedar Rapids underwater and cresting at over 31 feet above flood stage. 1000 businesses and over 5000 homes were affected by the flood, and a year later, an appalling amount of damage still exists.
One of the hardest-hit areas was the Czech Village neighborhood, an area that we were interested in visiting, since it was home to the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library. As a third-generation Czech from Northeast Ohio, I'm always interested in visiting places where there are Czech communities, and more importantly, Czech/Bohemian restaurants and bakeries. Our visit to the area was not what we expected, though. The museum, housed in a beautiful new building overlooking the river, was closed due to flood damage. We visited the temporary location in a mall where we learned that the building may never be reopened as a museum due to the inability to obtain insurance. Fortunately, most of the exhibits and archival documents were saved and plans are to relocate the museum to another building until government studies can determine if and where a flood wall can be constructed. So many people have been affected by this flood and driving through the streets of this blue-collar community, it is rare to see a home occupied. Most of the homes were in the $50-80K range, and many of the owners had no flood insurance which is the reason why so many have been abandoned. At first glance, many homes seem only slightly damaged, but looking closer shows how the water, reaching up to 10 feet above ground here, destroyed foundations and eroded the structures. The water line can be clearly seen on some houses like the one pictured. The main street of Czech Village is only half occupied now. What was a vibrant area of restaurants and stores is mostly quiet. A couple of restaurants remain, one, The Bohemian, is fairly new and offers authentic Czech food and bakery. We loaded up on Kolache, and had a great lunch of pork loin stuffed with sausage for me, chicken paprika for Brenda, and each sharing side dishes of red cabbage, sauerkraut, and dumplings. The neighborhood is rebuilding, but there's so much damage that it's doubtful that it will ever be the same. As you travel around the city of Cedar Rapids, you can see the damage throughout the areas along the river; this was primarily an area of moderate incomes and modest homes, and it appears that many families have left and will not return. Seeing the destruction and realizing the economic catastophe that families and the community have experienced make us thankful for what we have. Our hearts go out to these folks and we hope that their homes and lives can be restored.
Next stop - the Amana Colonies! Are they really renegade groups of appliances living together?
C'mon back and see!

Friday, July 03, 2009

Meandering Around Michiana

As we drove around the South Bend area, we noticed advertising signs for "Michiana" and realized that somewhere a marketing person had created the name to describe the area bordering on the two states. We've enjoyed our stay here - South Bend has much to offer and the surrounding countryside is intriguing. We spent a day visiting the communities of Nappanee, Middlebury, and Shipshewana, all located in the center of Amish country. All are picture-postcard pretty, but Shipshewana has to be the "Disneyland" of the Amish. A large farm/learning center offers tours, there are rides in Amish buggies, music festivals, and of course, stores. Over 100 offerAmish furniture, Amish food, Amish produce.....everything Amish. The streets are chokes with tourist cars and horse-drawn buggies, and you have to be careful where you walk; apparently the horses aren't potty-trained. We stopped at a meat and cheese store and were treated to a huge cooler offering dozens of varieties of smoked cheeses at reasonable prices. We loaded up (the smoked hot pepper cheese is amazing!) on cheese but skipped the meats except for smoked bacon (meat prices weren't quite so reasonable). Surprisingly, we were in the checkout line behind an Amishman, while an "English" girl with studded cheeks and nose ran the register. As you wander around Amish country, you see all types of conflicting behavior. Undecorated buggies with wooden and steel wheels (old order), buggies with rubber wheels, lights, and orange panels (new order), are all mixed together. On one corner we watched an Amish farmer mow hay with a team of horses, while driving by was another Amish farmer driving a tractor and pulling a power mower. We passed houses where Amish women, complete with bonnet, were mowing the lawn with a gas-powered mower. Sometimes you see an interesting mix; in this picture of the Amish farmer spraying his field you can see that the horses are pulling the wagon, and the wagon axle powers a drive shaft to power the spray mechanism. Besides the farms and stores, the Amish also work at factories; we saw a number of them when we toured the Newmar RV plant a few years ago, with beards and hats, working next to non-Amish. It's an area of interesting diversity, and for a fascinating look at Amish youth and their coming of age, we recommend the video "The Devil's Playground", available on Netflix. There's also an NPR feature on the documentary here.
If you watch college football, then you know that South Bend is the home of Notre Dame University, and we took a short drive around the university to see the sights. The local news announced that the university recently surpassed it's fund-raising goal of $1.5 billion....yes, billion. Those poor students must have sold a LOT of candy bars.
On a wonderfully cool and breezy day we took a drive north to the shores of Lake Michigan and the town of St. Joseph. There's a large sandy beach on the lakefront, a tree-lined park on the bluff above, and a pretty shopping area. We enjoyed walking along the bluff and exploring the downtown shops. It was the kind of day that makes our lifestye so special.
We're off to the Amana Colonies in Iowa - come back and visit!