Amana Colonies

<- Note: If you have a cold in Iowa, this is the Kleenx you buy. They love their Hawkeyes here in Iowa City because of the University of Iowa.

Jenna and I did a little exploring today. She suggested checking out the Amana Colonies which is a German compound community about 30 minutes away. It has shops and traditional German influences through out the community.

On our drive there Jenna showed me some cool things around her town.

This red barn and cornfield is literally right around the corner from Jenna's house. I feel like my sister had a toy barn that looked just like this when she was 2 or 3.

We made it to the Amana Colonies, and it is about 3 streets of old traditional buildings. It has chocolate and candy stores, antiques, and tons of little random nicknacks in the boutiques. I experienced more corn references than I could even understand while looking in all the stores.
Above is the visitor center with information about the history of the colony. This colony is more modern than say an Amish colony (which we might visit tomorrow...), because they are more hip to the times and allow electricity. One store sign even had a website so it lead me to believe that the Amanas might even have wireless internet.

The main attraction at the colonies is the brewery. They have 10 different brewed beverages on tap for visitors to try. I tried the cream soda and it was surprisingly clear! I have only seen it be an amber color before. Jenna tried the root beer and she said it was pretty good. I think it is funny because I have been all over Germany and Switzerland, two beer cultures, and it wasn't until I came to Iowa that I visited a brewery.

Fun day hanging out and talking to Jenna. We agreed that it has been years since we have spent this much time together and actually able to legitimately catch up. Times have changed since high school, but we still have a great time together.

More tomorrow... I think I have my first minor league baseball game in my future!