The Amana Colonies are seven villages on 26,000 acres (11,000 ha) located in Iowa County in east-central Iowa, United States: Amana(or Main Amana), East Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana, South Amana, West Amana, and Homestead. The villages were built and settled by German Pietists, who were persecuted in their homeland by the German state government and the Lutheran Church. Calling themselves the True Inspiration Congregations (German: Wahre Inspiration's Gemeinden),[3] they first settled in New York near Buffalo in what is now the town of West Seneca. However, seeking more isolated surroundings, they moved to Iowa (near present-day Iowa City) in 1856. They lived a communal life until 1932.
For eighty years, the Amana Colony maintained an almost completely self-sufficient local economy, importing very little from the industrializing American economy. The Amanians were able to achieve this independence and lifestyle by adhering to the specialized crafting and farming occupations that they had brought with them from Europe. Craftsmen passed their skills and techniques on from one generation to the next. They used hand, horse, wind, and water power, and made their own furniture, clothes, and other goods. The community voted to form a for-profit organization during the Great Depression, the Amana Society, which included the Amana Corporation.
Today, the Seven Villages of Amana are a tourist attraction known for its restaurants and craft shops. The colony was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
Marcel was anxious to check this out! Unfortunately, by the time we got in, everything was sold out!
High Amana was the 4th Colony to be built in 1857. We visited the High Amana General Store, the Meat Shop & Smoke House and the Arts Guild Centre.
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| Meat Shop and Smokehouse |
All kinds of good stuff!
We all went to the Ox Yoke Inn for lunch, which is a quaint, storied restaurant serving hearty German and American food since 1940.
We were served "family-style" coleslaw, cottage cheese, chicken, pot roast mashed potatoes, corn and rolls. Delicious!
This was topped off with apple pie for dessert.
After lunch we walked around the shops until it was time to get back on the bus.
We went back across the Mississippi to Moline to the John Deere Pavilion, where you can climb into a cab, sit in the driver's seat and test your skills in state-of-the-art simulators. Explore some of the biggest John Deere machines - from combines and dozers, to excavators to swing machines. It was amazing to see these machines up close and realize how BIG they are! |
| Marcel is trying to operate an Excavator - didn't make any money! |
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| WOW! This is HUGE when you see it up close and sit in the driver's seat! That concluded our day and it was back to the campground to start packing up to move on tomorrow. It ended up being a beautiful day, warming up to 18.8C |
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