Sep 15, Wednesday
We arrived at the West Overlook Campground around 1 pm. We had such a beautiful view of the lake that we decided to just relax at the campsite and enjoy the view.
This was the first Corps of Engineers campsite we stayed at, and I am unsure why. They are generally really nice.
Sep 16, Thursday
Solon Freedom Rock
Today, we left around 9 am and headed north toward Cedar Rapids. Our first stop was to visit one of the Freedom Rocks in Solon.
American Gothic Barn
On U.S. Route 30 near Mount Vernon, Iowa, there was a large replica of the Grant Wood “American Gothic” painted on a barn. The large replica of Wood’s painting covers the barn’s entire facade. The barn’s sides are painted to depict a bison in the prairie and an image of the Iowan countryside that inspired Wood throughout his life.
The American Gothic Barn wasn’t painted by the farmer who owns the property but was created by Mark Benesh, a local middle school art teacher, commissioned by the barn’s owner to replicate Wood’s masterpiece.
The barn is on private property, so we had to pull over on the highway to take our pictures.
National Czech and Slovak Museum
When then drove to the National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids. Established in 1974, the museum and library moved to their present site in 1983. The museum and library were severely affected by the Iowa flood of 2008. In 2012, rebuilding and expansion efforts were completed and the NCSML reopened.
We parked in the parking facility below the building and went up to the first level where the museum was located. There were three sections we were able to visit: their main exhibit, their temporary exhibit of traditional headdresses, and a cabin outside.
We learned that the Czech and Slovaks were recruited from their homelands to work in the local meatpacking facility. The cabin was a typical house used by these workers.
Besides showing aspects of the local Czech and Slovak, a great deal of the exhibits in the permanent exhibit was devoted to the Nazi and then Soviet takeovers of their country.
Our Lady of Sorrows Grotto
We then drove to Mount Mercy University to visit the Our Lady of Sorrows Grotto. The Grotto Complex was built on the campus by contractor William Lightner between 1929 and 1941. Over twelve hundred tons of stones were used, and Lightner traveled more than forty thousand miles throughout the United States and Mexico looking for building materials. After Lightner died in 1968, the Grotto and Lagoon fell into ruin as neither the college nor the Sisters (now dwindling in number) had the finances to maintain the site. The lagoon was drained in 1970. Erosion, lack of funding, and vandalism made it necessary to level the grotto’s main structure in 1974. The remaining structures were restored with grant money between 2002 and 2014.
Amana Colonies
It was getting late, so we headed to Amana Colonies around 1 pm. Since we were hungry, we first stopped at the Millstream Brau House, which had no German entrees on its menu. So we decided to go to the Ox Yoke Inn instead, where we ordered schnitzels and their craft beer sampler, consisting of Arms Race Pale Ale, Hannah Hefeweizen, and Schild Brau Amber.
Afterward, we went to the Amana Visitor Center, where they recommended visiting the Amana Heritage Museum before it closed. We had about an hour and a half before it closed.
The museum is based on three buildings that are cited together. The first is a bookstore and shop with a theater where we watched a 25-minute video about the history of the Community of True Inspiration, its emigration from Germany to upstate New York, and its subsequent relocation to Iowa. We then moved at our own pace through the other two buildings. One is a dwelling that holds rooms of exhibits addressing the founding of the individual villages, the nature of communal living, the daily regimen of men, women, and children, the nature of worship, the industries established in the community, the pressures that led to the Great Change and the current way of life. The other is a workshop that houses tools and farm implements used in everyday work.
We thought that our visit provided a good background and overview of the nature of the Amana Colonies and gave us an understanding that we would not have gotten from simply walking around.
When we left the museum, we saw that everything was closing. so we decided to drive through the other cities of the Amana Colonies. They were all small and were not tourist destinations outside a few art galleries. One exception was the High Amana General Store, which still looks like it might when it was built in 1857. The original tin ceiling, wooden floor, and glass-topped display cases remain. The store is truly a “museum” and an authentic general store in one. They had an interesting variety of trinkets and unique treasures and candy from days gone by. We got a couple of books about the Amana Colonies, and after we got back to the truck, I decided to go back and buy us each a bottle of the old-fashioned sodas we saw there.
After we finished the loop through all the cities, we stopped back in Amana and decided to walk around even though the stores were closed. We did find the Chocolate Shop open, which served ice cream, so we enjoyed some out on their front deck. We were disappointed that most everything was closed, so we decided to try to get out here one more time before we left.
Tiffen Rest Stop
On our way home, I took us to the I-80 Rest Stops near Tiffin, IA, to see their unique literary-themed architecture. The eastbound rest stop had a few concrete alphabet blocks. Still, the westbound rest stop had a giant fountain pen in front of it, a giant script over the front of the building, various literary quotes on all the picnic table shelters, and various concrete structures of books. It was interesting but not worth a detour.
Home by 7 pm
Sep 17, Friday
Devonian Fossil Gorge
Around 9 am, we headed toward Devonian Fossil Gorge. In the spillway below Coralville Dam, many 375-year-old fossils were exposed in a limestone bed after the floods of 1993 and 2008. The COE built an entry plaza and a ramp that takes you down to the bedrock to walk around and find the small fossils.
World’s Largest Wooden Nickel
We then continued on to see the World’s Largest Wooden Nickel just down the road near I-80. This two-ton wooden nickel was built in 2006 as part of a successful campaign to stop a county paving project. Now, it is just a local novelty.
Black Angel
We then proceeded south and stopped at the Oakland Cemetary in Iowa City to see the Black Angel. Though not as famous as other cursed grave markers, this nine-foot-tall bronze angel sitting on a four-foot pedestal has plenty of mystery attached to it, and it is a favorite in the area for ghost stories. It’s a jarring shift from the angels usually depicted in cemeteries, which hold their heads high, lift their wings toward heaven, and are white. It was built by a Czech-Bohemian immigrant and stands over the graves of Theresa and Nicholas Feldevert. It droops its head because it’s looking at the grave of Eddie, Theresa’s son, buried at the foot of the angel under a monument resembling the lower half of a tree. Another creepy detail was that though there is a birth date for Theresa on the memorial, there is no date of death.
The inscription on the monument:
The sun and clouds stood above my journey
There were tough and joyful days in my life.
You did my work just to make the world better.
You fold your hands, and your head goes down.
Your spirit flies away where everlasting reward
Is waiting for you after hardship.
The Tree Stump Monument next to the angel, which marks the gave of Theresa’s son, reads:
Like a bud just opening
Commenced my life to be
But death came without mercy,
without pity
The Lord had sent for me
I was not granted time to bid adieu
Do not weep for me, dear mother.
I am at peace in my cool grave.
Man on a Bench
We continued driving around Iowa City and passed another attraction called The Sitting Man — officially titled “Man on a Bench” — a 20-foot-tall, 110-ton limestone sculpture of a fat man sitting on a bench on a high hillside along the road. We probably would not have paid much attention to it if it was not listed as a roadside attraction, but we snapped a picture as we drove by.
Giant Metal Corn Cob
As we got south of the city, we stopped and took a picture of the 10-foot metal corn cob sculpture outside an agribusiness. It took us a couple of laps around the business to find it. Again, we had to stop because it was another listed roadside attraction.
Future Birthplace of Captain Kirk
The highlight of our day was our visit to Riverside, the self-proclaimed Future Birthplace of Captain Kirk from Star Trek. When we entered the city we were greeted by light post signs with the various Star Trek characters and the saying “Where the Trek Begins”. The museum was not quite open, so we drove downtown to an empty lot dedicated as the site of the future home. Across the street, the Post Office had several signs showing Star Trek postage stamps.
We then went to “The Voyage Home — Riverside History Museum.” Outside the museum was a parade float with a non-scale model of the Enterprise on it. Inside, the small museum was split into two parts: two-thirds dedicated to Star Trek and the third to local history. The Star Trek side was filled with various collectibles, which were not very impressive, but it was a lot of fun. The local history side was even more disappointing. Still, the docent was very excited to show us the lighting rod balls and tell us about the new casino’s positive impact on the town, especially since the new tax fees paid their utility bills.
We ate lunch across the street at the small park with a bronze statue of James Kirk.
Czech Village, Cedar Rapids
We then decided to return to Cedar Rapids and walk around Czech Village. Our first stop was Sykora Bakery, where we had some coffee and authentic Czech kolaches. Since the bakery was empty, we had a blast talking with the baker there. We then wandered down a couple of blocks to the Lionbridge Brewery. They had a lot of different types of beers but did not have a Czech connection. We ordered a flight anyway. We also ordered some perogies, and though they are generally considered Polish food, we thought they were close enough.
The brewery made us crave some Czech beers, so we walked across the river to the Little Bohemia, the oldest tavern in Cedar Rapids. They had three imported Czech beers, so we ordered a Rebel (Ale) and a Czechvar (Lager). It had been suggested that we try their goulash, but we were both bloated, so we left after finishing our beers.
We were back at our camper around 6 pm.
Sep 18, Saturday
Amana Colonies
We decided to go to the Amana Colonies for breakfast, so we left the camper around 8 am and headed to the Ronneburg Restaurant in Amana. The name “Ronneburg” comes from the medieval fortress in Hesse, Germany (pictured above) bearing the same name, which sheltered the Amana ancestors before they immigrated to the United States. The building was a communal kitchen for the colony for many years until it opened as a restaurant in 1950.
All the restaurants in Amana offer individual and all-you-can-eat family-style portions. We decided to eat the family style because we wanted to try the Amana-style pancake, which would push the individual breakfast cost higher than the family style. All the food was great, and we enjoyed the strawberry-rhubarb jam on the pancake. The pancake was like a crepe but less doughy and crunchier on the edges.
Afterward, we walked around Amana briefly, but most of the shops were still closed. We just seemed to be too early or too late. Instead of waiting for the stores to open, we decided to head back to the camper.
We were back by 10:30 and had departed by noon for Mark Twain Lake.