(11) Chickasaw County 5.30.2021

We officially started Chickasaw County at the end of the evening of our Worth County adventure at the Giant Flag Mural in Alta Vista. Definitely worth a stop- this is the biggest US Flag we have ever seen!

 

 

We also stopped by the Immaculate Conception Church, an abandoned church in North Washington.

 

Next stop was the Wood Park in New Hampton. This park receives 6 out of 5 stars—the kids loved it!

 

We went to Klunder’s Café for dinner, and loved it so much we went back the next day for lunch! Everything we ordered was amazing—diner food at its finest! We will definitely go out of the way to hit this one up again.

 

After a stay in our hotel, we got up early for some coffee at The Gathering Place in New Hampton and then headed to the Hawkeye Buffalo Cattle Ranch. We’re not even sure how to describe the Buffalo Ranch tour- it was so awesome! Have you ever bottle-fed a baby bison or hand-fed a full-size buffalo? If not, you should definitely check out the Hawkeye Buffalo Cattle Ranch- this tops the list. The owner gave a great tour and was highly knowledgeable, full of fun facts.

 

 

 

 

 

We also got to see an interesting landscape feature in this area of Iowa- the glacier boulders. These are literally house-sized boulders that were dropped as ancient glacial ice moved across the land.

 

 

After the Buffalo Ranch, we headed back up to New Hampton to the Carnegie Culture Center which housed interesting exhibits highlighting historical features of Chickasaw County: a circus exhibit, mechanical toy sets, a miniature train display in the basement. It was a very well put together exhibit that really brings to life the history of Chickasaw County.

 

 

Of course, we had to stop at The Little Brown Church in Nashua and ring the bell (too many times probably!).

 

Right next to The Little Brown Church is the Old Bradford Pioneer Village. They had authentic historical buildings resembling an old-Iowa town with numerous artefacts from the ages. It was really interesting and fun to explore the different buildings and history inside them.

 

 

 

 

 

We drove through downtown Nashua and sad to say most of the downtown was boarded up, but we were able to wrap up Nashua and Chickasaw County at the Dairy Treat 😊

 

Return Rating: 3

Other things to see/do:

• Rock piles 3 miles north of New Hampton on Hwy 63
• Martha Timm Rock Garden, New Hampton
• Heartland Days in June, New Hampton
• The Dairy Barn B&B Inn, Ionia