Not everyone always wants to take cross-continental road trips or spend hours on a plane to have new experiences. In this series, I look for those towns, and other rarely talked about locations that may be worth a quick day trip or weekend adventure. I spend twelve hours in a place, exploring, talking to locals, and finding things to do, see, and taste.

The Place

Nestled in between corn fields and thick forests, Pella, upon arrival, doesn’t appear to be all that special. But after you snake your way past the large window factory, you will find yourself transported into what seems to be a different part of the world. A windmill on every corner, small canals lazily meandering through the downtown area, and even a towering monument in the central park with the Dutch coat of arms proudly stood atop. While Pella is most well known for its Dutch theme and vibrant tulip festival, the little storybook community holds many things to do, see, and taste. 

For a town that relatively few people have ever heard of, sleepy little Pella, Iowa, is one like no other. With only about 10,000 people living there, it is far from a thriving metropolis. Still, what it lacks in numbers, it more than makes up for in history, culture, and plenty of good food and cold drinks. So if you’re in the midwest, and looking for a taste of the Netherlands, to visit a bakery over 120 years old, to see where famed lawman Wyatt Earp spent the majority of his childhood, or even just to experience a magical little getaway, you have to check out Pella, Iowa. 

The History 

If you’re a fan of history, then Pella is the spot for you. It was founded all the way back in 1847 by a group of around 800 Dutch immigrants. They named the location they settled on “Pella” as a reference to Pella of the Decapolis, where Christians sought refuge from the Roman-Jewish War of 70 CE. The leader of the Dutch settlers thought the name was apt because they, much like the Christians of old, were searching for religious freedom. 

The small Dutch community went on to thrive, founding a private college, expanding their population, and creating the life they wanted there. The town’s history is a deep one, but you can learn just about anything you want to know at its numerous museums. Surprisingly, one of the lesser talked about footnotes in Pella’s history is that it was the childhood home of the famous old west lawman Wyatt Earp, who took part in the gunfight at the O.K. corral. There really isn’t an overabundance of material on Earp’s life in Pella; he was just too young. What is known is that he attempted to run away and join the Union army during the civil war multiple times but was sent home by his father, who was the recruiter for the area, and that he was already becoming quite an accurate shooter. Earp isn’t the only famous person to call Pella home, either. Many years later, it was also the home to the guitarist for the band The Killers, who was born and raised inside the city limits. 

Activities 

Keeping with the theme of history, there are quite a number of museums and historical locations to visit in Pella. Many of these sites, including the boyhood home of Wyatt Earp, a replica of the first church built in the town, and a log cabin, to name a few, are located in the 22-building historical village. All of these spots pay tribute to Pella’s rich Dutch heritage, so expect to see traditional Dutch snacks sold there and a Werkplaat, where traditional wooden shoes are still made. Pella is also home to one of the tallest working windmills in the country, showcasing even more evidence of their Dutch heritage. 

Pella still has plenty of things to do, even if you’re not a history buff. The town also sits just west of the largest lake in Iowa – Lake Red Rock. The vast body of water and the dense forests around it are a perfect location for camping beneath the canopies of trees, hiking the twisting trails to experience some of the midwest’s most beautiful scenery, and laying out on the sandy beaches to soak up some sun. However, you don’t even have to step foot outside of the town to see breathtaking sights. Pella’s downtown area, with its plentiful boutique shops and restaurants, is a perfect locale for a stroll. The downtown is so busy with pedestrians, people biking, and families window shopping, one feels the urge to look around for cameras in case you have inadvertently wandered onto a movie set. Even the local university, Central College, is worth a visit, even if just to see its decorated paths, buildings, and the iconic British style bright red phone booth situated in the middle of campus.  

The crown jewel of Pella, above all other things, has to be Tulip Time. It is a summer festival centered around tulips, which are shipped in from the Netherlands every year and planted all throughout the town. Thousands of people come from all around the world each summer to experience Dutch culture in the U.S. at its best. Every local business has street shops selling their goods, parades march along the streets playing music in their traditional Dutch garb, and singing and dancing competitions are put on in the shadow of that massive monument I mentioned earlier. It is truly a sight to behold and well worth the trip just to see the festival in all its multi-hued floral glory. 

Grub and Refreshments

For many people, food can be an essential part of any getaway. It can make or break a trip. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “Yeah it was great, but the food wasn’t.” Well, in Pella, you will have nothing to worry about. It is jam-packed with food, from traditional Dutch eateries, small cafes, quaint bars, and pubs, all the way to coffee shops and take-away Chinese food. I would be remiss not to recommend at least a few of my favorite places to grab a bite to eat or have a cold drink. To get a taste of Dutch cuisine, you have to try Dutchfix. They offer all kinds of things – coffee, burgers, street snacks pulled directly from the Netherlands, and my favorite, the Poffertjes. Poffertjes are, as I describe them to friends, uneducated on these delights, little tiny pancakes with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce on top. They are incredible. For dessert, it is almost crucial to your Pella experience to head over to Jaarsma Bakery to grab some Dutch Letters. These buttery, flaky S-shaped pastries are filled with almond paste and just might be one of the most delicious delicacies in the entire midwest. The bakery originally opened in 1898, and since then has gifted their sweet treats to the world. The bakery is so popular that on any given day of the week, you will encounter a line of enthusiastic hungry shoppers waiting to gain entry into the storefront of the working bakery.

If you’re looking for someplace to settle in after a day of hiking, museum walkabouts, and sampling Dutch foods, there are a couple great bars to hunker down in. The Cellar Peanut Pub is a local favorite due to its atmosphere and plentiful drinks. The dark, cozy pub is the perfect spot to slide into a booth or pull up a stool and talk about your day over an ice-cold beer. A personal favorite of mine is the Butcher’s Brewhuis Asylum. When you head up their narrow staircase onto the second-story bar, you feel as if you have found a hidden gem. It doesn’t hurt that their mixed drinks are incredible, either. Nederlanders is another bar perfect for an evening drink, but it has the added bonus of golf simulators to compete with friends and flat-screen televisions on every wall to watch any sport you would want to. These are just a few places, though, and with a bit of exploration, you will find precisely what you’re looking for. 

The Sum of it All

Regardless of what your interests are, Pella, Iowa, is the perfect place to experience a short vacation or day trip. They’ve got deep culture, outdoor adventures, great food, a handful of bars, each different and more wonderful than the last, as well as beautiful sights to make you go “wow.” I can’t recommend stopping by Pella enough to those looking for a magical little trip to experience someplace unlike any other. At the very least, the Tulip Time festival is a must for anyone on a hot summer day that wants to get away from real life and live in a fairy tale for a while.