A Day Trip to the Pella Tulip Festival

Hubby suggested that we take a weekend trip for Mother’s Day but the hotel in Minnesota we wanted to go was booked…as were almost all of the other places we looked into!

So we decided to take a day trip to Pella, IA to see the Tulip Festival instead. It worked out perfectly because we got to feel like we were on vacation but were still able to rest our weary heads in our own beds at the end of the day.

I’ve heard of acres and acres of colorful tulips during the Tulip Festival and I was excited to see them. I don’t know if we just didn’t know where to look or what, but we didn’t see nearly as many tulips as I had imagined. It was still fun though.

Pella is a unique and beautiful town. It is known as “America’s Dutch Treasure” and features numerous Dutch windmills, including the largest working grain windmill in the United States.

I didn’t feel like I was in Iowa while walking through the town—the architecture was more European and the beautiful city square reminded me of something from a metropolitan area.

We sat on the grass under the shade of a tree in the city square and enjoyed a hot dog from a food vendor at the festival. I could imagine having picnics here every weekend—it was gorgeous!

There were numerous people walking the streets in traditional Dutch clothing—including wooden shoes!

We enjoyed some Dutch treats & ice cream. I let baby girl have a few little bites of ice cream and she kept going “MMMMMMM” really loud—my goodness she loved it. It was so funny.

It was a lot of fun just walking around and looking at the scenery. There were so many people there—at some points it was a little too crowded for me.

After that, we decided to head over to West Des Moines for a little shopping. I found the perfect outfit for baby girl’s 1 year photos on clearance at Gymboree. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything for myself! Even my favorite head bands (Bani Bands) are no longer sold at the Scheel’s there! I was so disappointed. I guess I will have to order online.

The best part—hubby and I really racked up the steps!! I hit a new personal record.

 

I was supposed to pick a restaurant for supper so I picked Jethro’s BBQ. I have been wanting to eat at this place forever. We tried two locations and they were super packed. Since baby was very fussy, we decided to just go to Perkins. It was delicious anyways—but I still want to try Jethro’s!

I hope you had a Happy Mother’s Day!