Parades, Petals and Poffertjes! Windmills and wooden shoes!Everyone was looking forward to the popular Tulip Time Parade in Pella, Iowa. Who doesn’t love seeing thousands and thousands of the most beautiful, varied, and colorful tulips in the springtime?! And Poffertjes? Never heard of them? Neither had I. Couldn’t even pronounce the name (poff-er-gees), but I was ready to sample these delicious mini-pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar. This four-day tour took us to Pella, Iowa, just east of Des Moines. We enjoyed dinner at a unique restaurant called “Iowa Machine Shed” in Davenport. The food was excellent. As our tour progressed, I noticed that most of our scheduled dinners included fried chicken and old fashioned pot roast, and most were served family-style.

We checked into our hotel for a two-night stay in Grinnell, Iowa. Early the next morning, we were on our way to Pella, a beautiful little town of about 10,000 residents, and one of the cleanest, neatest towns I’ve ever seen. Tulip Time began in 1935. We were told that over 350,000 tulips are planted all over town every year. Once their petals fade, other flowers are planted to beautify this town for the rest of the year. Tulips are replanted each fall. Pella is very family oriented as we observed during the parade where whole families participated, dressed in traditional Dutch attire. Pella is the home of Pella Windows.

The day’s activities began with a city tour and a step-on guide providing interesting and valuable information. Our lunch was in the downtown area, either at street vendors or restaurants of our choice. I’m an experimenter when it comes to different types of foods. We came upon a vendor offering a unique sandwich of Dutch spiced, shredded beef, Gouda cheese, and bologna. It’s been years since I’ve tried bologna. The sandwich was delicious. For dessert, poffertjes!

We had time to explore the shops and check out the many multiple colored tulips. In the park, we came upon a group of young girls dressed in traditional Dutch attire and wooden shoes. We stopped to speak with them and learned that they would be performing in the parade. Their manager was nearby and she said “Girls, go ahead and do a dance.” Their manager said for us to stand in the middle and the dancers would circle around us and sing Happy Birthday in Dutch. What a treat! As we went on our way, we spotted a couple men with cameras and noticed that they were from TV Channel 5. My friend stopped to talk to one and told him that we had a Channel 5 in Cincinnati. Lo and behold, he said he knew one of the meteorologists in Cincinnati named Allison Rogers. Small world moment!

It was time to find the grandstand seating for the pre-parade activities. There were lots going on before the actual parade, such as dozens of dancers dancing in the streets. When the large throng of dancers dressed in Dutch costumes came running into view, their wooden shoes sounded like horses hoofs! They performed as a group and then invited members of the audience to join them. A fun challenge for sure. Since I do line dancing, I thought it would be easy. Long story short, it was not! There was a fashion show complete with explanations of the different Dutch fashions and their meanings as worn in different provinces of their country. There was the presentation of the Queen and her Court, all paraded in on the arms of their fathers. One big event before the parade was “street washing.” I had advance information about this but it was beyond my wildest expectations. I expected a serious street cleaning event. Well, the streets were already as clean as they could be! Dozens of participants were waiting to make their entrance, and what an enthusiastic entrance. A large group of people, including entire families, rushed by, each pushing a push broom. Some carried buckets and would run to the side where large tubs of water had been placed for this purpose, fill their buckets, and dump the water onto the street in front of the push brooms. This was one of the most interesting and joyous events I’ve ever seen at a parade. The tiny children with little push brooms were so adorable. Imagine the anticipation each year for this event. Imagine the memories.

Finally, it was parade time. There were floats, bands, walkers, past Tulip Time queens and future Tulip Time queens, bicycles, antique baby carriages, a float of carved wooden shoes, each shoe large enough to hold a person, and hooked together to form a train. The Dutch name for Santa Clause is Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) and he brought up the rear of the parade riding on a beautiful float.

Our dinner location was nearby at Central College. We ate traditional Dutch dishes, delicious roast beef again, chicken, red cabbage stew, iceberg lettuce with sweet dressing, potatoes and vegetables. Other groups joined us in this conference center and we were joined and entertained by the Tulip Time Queen and her Court.

Today, we returned to Pella. There’s a lot to experience on the grounds around the Vermeer Windmill, such as the Wyatt Earp Museum (Pella is the boyhood home of Wyatt Earp and his family), a blacksmith shop, two wooden shoe-making shops and beautiful tulip gardens. I spent time in the wooden shoe shop that contained an entire rack of antique wooden shoes. A man was telling very interesting stories about the history of each pair, including various uses and why certain symbols were carved on top. He explained how, with time, the shoes can become so worn out that the bottom is smooth and thin. The shoes still have life left in them. They are hung on the outside of a home for birds to build nests inside. The windmill is one of the largest working windmills in North America. It was first assembled in Holland and was designated to resemble traditional 1850s Dutch grain mills. It was taken apart and reassembled in Pella in 2002, where it sits on a four-story brick base and rises 124 feet, allowing it to catch the wind over the surrounding buildings. The second and third floors of the windmill have museum displays.

Our second event was to tour the Scholte House, a 22-room mansion originally the home of Pella’s founder Hendrik Pieter Scholte and his wife Maria in 1848. The tulips are beautiful and plentiful almost everywhere you look. However, on this property there was a tulip bed with the sign “Oh deer, look who’s been here.” One could see where the deer decided to nibble on the tulips! After lunch, a couple hours drive took us to the Amana Colonies, Amana, Iowa. This area originally had a factory that manufactured Amana appliances. It was taken over by Whirlpool in 2006. A step-on guide joined us as we drove around the countryside which covered a 17-mile loop, learning about the history of all seven villages and 26,000 acres. This unique German culture had its roots in Germany and flourished in the USA for religious freedom during a communal era for over 90 years. We visited quaint craft shops and woodworking furniture shops. We watched a documentary film. We visited wine shops and a huge general store. Our dinner was at the Ox Yoke Inn where we were served family style – more fried chicken, roast beef and a third choice of fried whitefish. Dessert was strawberry/rhubarb pie with strudel topping. As is well known, Croswell feeds us well!

A quote from a passenger: “What a hidden treasure we found in Pella, Iowa’s Tulip Festival!”

From the escort seat of,

Maxine Harris,

Croswell's Pella Tulip Festival