Who knew Holland was only 2 hours away? I have found memories of Girl Scout trips to the Netherlands I took when I was in grade school. We always drove to Holland from Germany on an enormous tour bus. Keukenhof Tulip Gardens, the Anne Frank House, canals cruises in Amsterdam, and of course a visit to an old time village with a windmill, cheese, Delft pottery, and wooden shoes – these were the activities that filled our days. I was in grade school so I haven’t experienced Holland as an adult, but I have a lot of great memories of trips there.
We’ve been living in Iowa for 6 years now and I’ve heard about the Tulip Festival in Pella – but we’ve never been before. I mean, how could it compare the real, live deal? I guess I can be kind of a snot sometimes… 
If it’s not as good as the real thing, why go? Sometimes I’m sad that I can’t provide my own children the experiences I had when I was little. Exploring Europe as a child is something I really treasure but isn’t exactly feasible right now.
But when our home school group organized a trip to Tulip Time in Pella, I jumped at the chance. And this past Thursday, our whole family loaded up and made the two hour trek to Pella to see what all the hub-bub was about. I’m so glad we went! It might not have been the real deal, but it was awesome and we all had a great time.
The Vermeer Mill was built in in 2002 ~ by Dutch craftsmen. It is a working flour mill and it was a lot of fun talking to the millers who were as interested to hear about how I grind my flour as I was to hear about how they grind theirs!
The kids had a great time trying on the Klompen – or wooden clogs. We also watched craftsmen making them ~ an amazing sight!
We toured the Wyatt Earp house – boyhood home of none other than Wyatt Earp. And later we met “him” on the street. I had no idea he lived in Iowa.
But my favorite part of the day was the parade. It looked like most of the “Pella-cans” donned traditional Dutch dress and came out for the parade. It was so much fun to see such a very well orchestrated parade. I loved watching the kids especially. No expense was spared for this parade, let me tell you! I loved it.
I highly recommend Pella Tulip Days. The only sad thing was the lack of tulips. Our non-existent winter coupled with a very early spring meant tulips in March instead of May. I would have loved to see all of the tulips. Oh well ~ it gives us an excuse to go back next year! 
About Michelle
Welcome! I'm Michelle and I'm glad you're here. Simplify, Live, Love is a blog about simple life in rural Iowa. We are a self-employed, frugal, green, mostly homeschooling family of 6 working to go off the grid on a modern day homestead in Eastern Iowa. Please subscribe for gardening tips, green living hints, recipes, fun giveaways, and frugal ideas. Thanks for stopping by.
I live two hours away, too. I’ve not been there either. But, I think I may need to put it on my radar. I’d heard about the tulip issue. My friend’s son lives there. She said the tulip bloom was gorgeous way too early. She wondered what they’d do. So, looks like they went on with the show. Good for them.
I grew up in Pella, so for me to see this brings back SO many good memories!! Wearing my Dutch costume, scrubbing streets, playing under the Tulip Toren, the food….I miss it!!!!
I haven’t been back in years! Your pictures brought back fun memories!
Fun post! I am of Dutch descent as is my husband. We lived in Michigan before Oregon which has a pretty large Dutch population. Unfortunately all my years living there I never went to Tulip Time in Holland, MI. Their tulips all bloomed in March this year! Here in Oregon the tulips are late due to a cold rainy winter and spring.