The Amana Colonies, what are they we wondered. It turns out it is a group of seven settlements some Germans founded in the 1800’s. Mom says back in the 1970’s, she remembers a lot of people vacationing there and talking about it. She even went there at least once, but doesn’t remember much about it. Being curious, we had to check it out. They are actually a National Historical Landmark.
Our trials started at 8 am and ran all day, so the best time for us to go was early morning. Another benefit of going early is that nothing is open, so no people were out and about. We went on Saturday morning, it was a beautiful warm but sunny day.
The General Store was our favorite find on the main street. It was built in 1868, making it really, really old, but cute. We think it is even cuter with two hounds on the bench out front!
Here is a close up of us with the pretty flower decorations.
They sell a lot of fun stuff that my mom likes to look at. We find it rather boring, but thankfully for us, the store was closed. Mom had to window shop. We didn’t take any other photos with buildings because everything was tall, and we are short, so it didn’t bode well for our kind of photos. They also had big COVID signs posted on doors and windows and we didn’t want those in our photos.
On the drive into town the first day, we stopped at Lily Lake. Here at home we see lily pads, but not as many as this lake has!
We took a photo of the story of the lake so we could read about it and find out why it has so many lilies.
After a short walk around the Amana Colonies, we headed back to the trial grounds to start our sports day. Being a hot, mini GBGV, I decided to help advertise the hot, mini donuts they had for sale. It worked, too, because Mom bought a bag! Have you ever heard of or been to the Amana Colonies?
My GBGV Life is joining Living Laughing and Barking in Our Backyard for their Nature Friday blog hop.
oh the red truck… wow our mama had “srtong buy” in her eyes hahahaha.. what a nice place you saw, that’s also a great benefit for doing dog events, we see a lot of things we wouldn’t see without being on da road with us pups.
We go places many people will never see, some are good and some are crazy weird!
Have not heard of it but sure looks pretty.
It’s probably more of a Midwest thing.
OMDs what a beautiful place and such a pretty day to be out and about. I
Love the country store photo….each photo so pretty but quite frankly you two lovelies ENHANCED each one twofold.
Hugs Cecilia
Well, thank you. It is a fun place to see, even if it was super quick.
We sure haven’t been there but those mini-donuts sound terrific! You two do look great on that bench.
Mom never shared the donuts with us, but she said they were really good.
We too had not heard of Amana Colonies, but it does look like a cool place to visit. Love the Lily Lake. And what building, old or new, is not improved by the presence of two hounds posing in front of it!
It is more of a Midwest US place I think, but fun to see.
Love the Amana Colonies! haven’t been for a LONG time ( maybe 45 years??) but it was so fun to learn and talk to the children and adults about how things worked and what they were used for.
We went so early in the morning, nothing was open, but then there were no people around either.
We would like to visit there. We just haven’t traveled much.
Mom used to travel all the time being a flight attendant, so now she just like fun car trip excursions to our trials. No desire for other travel anymore.
I had not heard of it, what an interesting place. The general store front is so pretty, I’d want to shop there like your Mom. We think you girls would have drawn in a lot of business if they’d been open! π
We like to avoid the crowds, and it saves us money too because Mom can’t buy anything.
How fun. Your mom takes you to the coolest places and then she shares your adventures with us. I’m thankful for that.
Have a woof woof day and weekend. My best to your wonderful mom. β₯
We are glad you enjoy our little road trips that we combine with our sports. Happy weekend!
My mom would sure love to shop here! Me too!
We hounds are not much for shopping and Olivia gets into so much mischief, it was a good thing for us to go when the stores were closed.
The Midwest has the best “tourist” stops! We had never heard of the Amana Colonies, but will be on the lookout on our next cross country adventure for sure!
It used to be super popular, now we don’t hear as much about it, but there were still a lot of people there despite the virus thing.
No, never been there, YOU are BOTH prettier than that old timey, cute, country store! We had to get up early again today. Puffin and I had an appointment at the spa. Those trips tire me out! Have a wonderful weekend. XOXO, Sparkle
I will need a spa appt in the coming weeks, but I don’t like to go. None of us like to go, but it does feel nice after and we always are worn out too.
What a cute little place to visit. I love the old truck decoration. Y’all have fun!
They have tons of fun hand crafted stuff, but since we were there early, nothing was open…much cheaper that way!
Never heard of it, but it looks beautiful and educational.
There is a lot of history there, but we didn’t have time to take much of that in because we were there for our competitions.
Boy I would want some of those donuts! Great pictures.
Mom says they were super tasty!