Adventureland
Adventureland Amusement Park in the northeast Des Moines, Iowa metro area is home to over 100 rides, shows, and attractions and is considered one of the top family attractions in the Midwest for fun and entertainment. Open since 1974, Adventureland was built on the site of the old Des Moines airport and a farm. (The farmhouse is now part of the farm exhibit.) The original park consisted of Main Street filled with shops and the Palace Theater. Across a bridge was the amusement park.
Top ride attractions at Adventureland include the “Saw Mill Splash” – a white water adventure with the twists and turns of a water slide with a giant rafting tube. The “Inverter” is a boom arm that swings riders up fifty feet, and repeatedly flips them 360-degrees, causing sensations of vertical assents, upside down rotation, and falls at zero G-force. The “Space Shot” hurls riders 200 feet in the air at 4.5 G's, then lets gravity take over into a freefall back to the ground. Other top rides include the “G-Force”, the “Underground” runaway mine train, “The Outlaw” wooden coaster, the “Giant Skywheel”, “The Dragon” double-looping roller coaster, the “Tornado” (considered one of the ten best wooden roller coasters in North America), and the “Raging River” white water raft ride.
Traditional rides such as the carousel, which is prominently featured past the front gates, and kiddie rides are available at Adventureland.
Shows at Adventureland include a magic show at Sheriff Sam’s Saloon, live music at Soda ‘n’ Sounds, and live gospel music at the Chapel. The 5-piece Adventureland Band stops at various places throughout the park to perform. Food is plentiful with approximately 17 places to eat throughout the park from ice cream cones to burgers and pizza, to chicken buffets, with funnel cakes, kettle corn, corn dogs, cotton candy, and everything in between.
Adventureland is open daily mid-May through mid-August, and open weekends starting late April through early May and mid-August through September.
Amana Colonies
In the midst of the rolling hills of eastern Iowa lie the Amana Colonies. The Amana Colonies are seven villages founded over 150 years ago as communal, religious centers for the Community of True Inspiration (or the Amana Church) a sect founded in Germany in 1714. The first American settlement of the sect was in New York, but beginning in 1855, the believers moved to Iowa, about 1,200 people over ten years. The Amana Colonies were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 noting the colonies’ significant contribution to United States history. The colonies as a whole are National Historic Landmarks – this includes over 475 historical sites and buildings. The Amana people are often confused with the Amish, but they are distinctly different sects.
The seven villages are Amana, Middle Amana, East Amana, West Amana, South Amana, High Amana, and Homestead. There are currently less than 1,800 residents in the villages, which are now open to others outside the Amana Church. The villages were laid out in typical German fashion, with one main street for shops. Each village had a church, school, bakery, dairy, wine cellar, post office, and general store.
The church buildings are located in the center of the town. They have no façade to distinguish them as churches, as churches elsewhere do, such as stained glass or steeples. The inside is equally austere with plain paint and simple pine benches. The cemeteries are located outside each village surrounded by pine trees. The plain stone markers symbolize everyone’s equality in God’s eyes. The colonies functioned under communalism, where the community shared all property (except clothing, toys, and personal items). The Amana Communal kitchens supplied the meals for the people who were assigned to eat at a particular kitchen.
The communal lifestyle lasted for almost 100 years before “The Great Change” of 1932 when the people voted to separate religious and economic interests. People began to cook their own food, individualize their homes, and work for wages. A high school was built to continue the children’s education. Many left the community. More importantly, the isolationism ended and outsiders were now welcome. To that end, the Amana Colonies have become one of Iowa’s top attractions – each year over 1.5 million visitors come to the Amana Colonies to discover the history of the area, to shop for handcrafted items such as furniture and clocks, or fresh cheese, wine, and beer. There are eight museums, Amana Colonies Arts Guild Center, Amana Community Church Museum, Amana Heritage Museum, Communal Agriculture Museum, Communal Kitchen and Cooper Shop Museum, Homestead Store Museum, Homestead Blacksmith Shop, and the Mini-Americana Barn Museum. In total, there are 475 historic buildings, aside from the museums, these include over 50 shops, nine restaurants, nine wineries, and seven breweries, and one microbrewery.
The Amana Colonies are open to visitors year round, with seasonal events and festivals throughout the year.
Iowa State Fair
It is America’s Classic State Fair. It inspired a novel, motion pictures, and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved musical “State Fair”. It is the quintessential state fair and for ten days in August, it draws over a million visitors. It is nationally acclaimed and has been featured in nationwide magazines such as The National Geographic Traveler, Time, Life, Newsweek, People, Gourmet, ESPN Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, and many more.
The Iowa Fair has been a tradition in the Midwest for over 150 years. Each year, the fair features one of the largest livestock shows in the world and the largest state fair food department with over 900 classes, art shows, hundreds of competitive events and contests. Nearly 700 agricultural exhibits and food displays, which includes about 200 food stands, 300 exhibitors, and 200 merchandise booths. The Iowa State Fair is famous for the hog-calling, Butter Cow and other butter sculptures, and the many food-on-a-stick items, including bologna, pork chops, and Twinkies.
In 1986, the Iowa State Fair and Exposition Grounds Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History buff will enjoy the fairground complex for its rich history captured in the new and the old State Fair museums. The fairgrounds house some interesting historical buildings. Exposition-style architecture is featured in the Agriculture Building (1904) and Sheep Barn (1917) and Art Deco is seen in the Youth Inn (1939). Other historic buildings include Pioneer Hall (1886), Pavilion (1902), Horse Barn (1907), Swine Barn (1907), Administration Building (1908), Grandstand (1909), Varied Industries Building (1911), Cattle Barn (1920), Ye Old Mill (circa 1921), and the 4-H Exhibits Building (1937).
As one of the largest meeting areas in the country, during the other 50 weeks of the year, the Iowa State Fairgrounds hosts well over 150 different events from flea markets, to gun shows, to horse and dog shows.