(12) Fayette County 6.19.2021

This county started with a nice little surprise- The Hawkeye Days Parade! We were going to bypass this little town, but upon our drive into Fayette County the signs pointed to Hawkeye and the local festival. We also happened to get right behind the Tractor parade which delayed our arrival to the parade slightly, but in the end, we made it, and the kids were delighted 😊

 

After the parade, we got back on track and headed toward West Union, our first stop where we fueled up at Euphoria Coffee. We were ready to go after the delicious coffee, tea, and dessert waffles- would definitely recommend this place! They roast their own coffee and all food items are made from scratch.

 

 

 

We didn’t get to do anything else in West Union, but the town square has recently been renovated and has a lot of neat little shops and historical buildings.

Our first big stop was Montauk, the residence of the 12^th governor of Iowa, William Larrabee, who was friends with Grover Cleveland, who visited this house. The Montauk house is absolutely amazing and holds so much history within its walls. The tour guides were highly knowledgeable and entertaining. The house is in its original state with original furniture, clothes, books, paintings, and even an original plaster of Abraham Lincoln’s head. There are also original photos throughout the house to authenticate the original furnishings.

 

 

On the grounds there are also statues that Larrabee had made for the St. Louis World’s Fair, which were later returned to the Montauk Estate. The historical farm buildings on the state can also be viewed.

 

Directly after Montauk, we drove around the corner to the Heritage Farm Park. There were a few buildings to look at but couldn’t go into any of them.

 

 

We didn’t spend much time in the town of Clermont unfortunately. The town of Clermont, where the Montauk Estate is located, is also full of history, with numerous buildings made of brick from the local brick factory, from the early 1900’s. There are several museums that we were not able to go to: the Historical Museum, the City Hall and the School Building made entirely out of stone.  We did get to stop and take pictures of the local train depot as well as some of the local churches, including the “Sunday School Church” which has a very unique Kimball Organ.

 

 

On the way to the Gilbertson Conservation Education Area, stopping at the Eagle’s Nest for a picture was a must as well as a quick drive through Elgin.

 

 

The Gilbertson Conservation Education Area had a neat outdoor hands-on play area as well as some neat displays inside including an active honeybee hive.

 

 

 

On site was also the Mavis and Connor Dummermuth House, circa 1890’s to the 1920’s.

 

The Conservation Center also had a small petting zoo with livestock.

 

 

Next up was some trout fishing in the Dutton Cave Park area. Unfortunately, you are not able to go into the cave anymore, but there’s a nice walking trail that leads up to it.

 

 

Before turning in for the night at our hotel in Fayette, we stopped for dinner at the local drive-up in West Union, The Barrel Drive-In for some traditional diner food. This is a MUST stop as it will take you back to days-gone-by. It was an obvious local fav as it was never empty!

 

 

The next morning, we took a brief driving tour through Upper Iowa’s Campus as it was raining—Go Peacocks!

 

 

We attempted to go to the Wildwood Conservation Center, which is a small building just before the Assisted Living/Recycling Facility, so if you reach the Recycling Facility, you have gone too far! The Wildwood Conservation Center had a few wild animals outside in fenced in areas that you could look at- a bald eagle, a red fox, and a raccoon. We stopped for lunch in West Union at Gus & Tony’s Town House Cafe, your classic small-town buffet restaurant.

 

Then onto the main event—Otter Creek for some more trout fishing.

 

 

On our way back home, we stopped in Olwein, where the we tried to visit the Hub City Heritage Railway Museum, but were thwarted because it was listed on its website as open but unfortunately appears to have closed down. It looks like it could have been a really awesome museum with train depot and real cars and engines to climb into and a lookout tower, but all we got were a few pictures 

 

Fortunately, Olwein wasn’t a total bust because we did get to stop and enjoy some ice cream at The Ice Cream Junction.

 

Return Rating: 3

Other things to see/do:

• Otter Creek, Glovers Creek, West Union
• Elgin Iowa Historical Society and Museum
• Eldorado Double Church Steeple
• Brush Creek Canyon State Preserve, Alrington
• Fayette Depot Museum
• County Historical Center, West Union
• Johnson-Erickson Museum, Wadena
• Amish Tours, Olwein
• Olwein Area Historical Museum