Highway 27 North

[BROOKE KOHLSDORF] On this episode of Road Trip Iowa, we're traveling the northern section of Highway 27. From Charles City to Waterloo, we discover historic treasures, hometown traditions -- 

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Who's ready to crash some combines.

[KOHLSDORF] – and sweet spots along the way.

[KRIS BOETTGER] A really cool place for, like, little reunions to happen.

[KOHLSDORF] Coming up next on Road Trip Iowa.

[ANNOUNCER] Musco Lighting is an Iowa company that travels across the US and to more than 125 countries to light community recreation fields, stadiums, airports, monuments and more. While our reach is global, we're committed to our local communities.

[ANNOUNCER] Beverly Thomassen Schultz -- honored to support local programming on Iowa PBS.

[KOHLSDORF] From Saint Louis to Saint Paul, the Avenue of the Saints is a four lane highway connecting two major U.S. cities that was originally proposed by an Iowan. In Iowa, the route is officially State Highway 27, and today we're taking it south from Charles City to Waterloo. Let's take a look at our itinerary.

[KOHLSDORF] We'll tour a place of worship made famous by a beloved hymn. Visit an old dairy barn now serving up comfort food alongside locally made arts and crafts. Go fast and get wet at an unexpected oasis. And we'll explore an iconic Iowa dairy with a unique mascot. We begin just outside Charles City, where rolling farmland gives way to an unexpected patch of turf serving up a stage for a timeless game.

[MARK KUHN] Well, I'd like to think it's a little piece of heaven.

[KOHLSDORF] Along a quiet country gravel road nestled within rolling farmland sits the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club.

[MARK KUHN] It's a grass tennis court made in replica of Wimbledon Center Court. And I've been very fortunate, I've been to Wimbledon and worked with the ground staff. So we picked up many of the techniques that they use there and brought them back to Iowa. It took a year and a half to build. It was built over the summers of 2002 and 2003.

[KOHLSDORF] In 2016, the Kuhn’s lost their son, Alex, unexpectedly. To honor his memory, the family dedicated the court as the Alex J. Kuhn Court of Dreams and launched an annual Youth Tennis Invitational.

[MARK KUHN] It's just been a great family legacy that now bears Alex's name, and so it's just something that we want to keep going here.

[MARK KUHN] It's easier on your body. You know, it's softer. You can play on it longer. It doesn't reflect the sun's heat back at you. It absorbs that in the grass. And it's just all the bad hops and everything to expect. But that's just part of playing on grass and that's what makes it fun.

[MICHAEL SHUM] She played tennis growing up and into college, and we had seen just that this was a playable public grass court that we could reserve, and it looked incredible. We looked up the story about Mark and everything about it and it just seemed amazing.

[DORA TZENG] It's really different from hard courts, which is what I played on exclusively growing up. But it's fun. I feel like there's a lot more variety.

[MARK KUHN] Our guests come from all over. This year we've had, so far we had people from 17 states.

[KOHLSDORF] Travelers can reserve a slice of Wimbledon worthy court time, Memorial Day weekend through mid September, and even settle in for the night at the charming farmhouse just steps away.

[MARK KUHN] Our goal is to sustain it, and that's why that is now a vacation rental and people now pay to play on the court.

[MICHAEL SHUM] I just think it's a really special story. You know, for somebody to really fall in love with the game, to fall in love with the place, so much to commit to, you know, breeding your own grass and really building this in Iowa of all places. I just think it's a really special location and worth seeing.

[MARK KUHN] There's a lot of reasons we kind of want to keep this going. It's just an Iowa treasure.

[KOHLSDORF] A proud fine arts tradition is alive and well in Charles City, thanks to its lively arts community. We're stopping in at the public library, where a permanent display of prints are showcased, made possible by the generosity of a local art collector.

[KAMRYN KRONSCHNABEL] We are currently in the Charles City Library's Mooney Gallery. It's a small section of the library that has been set aside and was renovated in about the year 2000 to give space to all of this beautiful art that you see on the walls around us.

[KOHLSDORF] Born in 1859, Arthur Mooney spent most of his youth in Charles City, where his love for art first took shape. After studying photography and art in the Midwest and building a successful career with Eastman Kodak in New York, he traveled widely, collecting the fine art prints that now anchor this remarkable local collection, all donated to the library in 1941 after his death.

[KAMRYN KRONSCHNABEL] All of these prints are original.

[KOHLSDORF] Originals from masters like Rembrandt, Dali, Goya, and Picasso, plus highlights from other renowned artists, including Iowa's own Grant Wood.

[KAMRYN KRONSCHNABEL] I would be hard pressed to think of another free museum, frankly anywhere in Iowa, much less a small town like Charles City, where you could come in and at no cost, visit and see a Picasso and see some Rembrandts and see a piece of art that was made 500 years ago. Just the sheer breadth of the collection is really quite impressive.

[KOHLSDORF] The Mooney Art Gallery, reflecting one collector's passion as well as the artistic spirit of Charles City.

[KOHLSDORF] Settled among Iowa's endless slopes of rolling countryside, rests a place of worship that ascended during the days of covered wagons, a place made famous by a sentimental hymn, The Little Brown Church in the Vale.

 ♪♪ There's a church in the valley by the wildwood ♪♪ 

[PASTOR DREW MCHOLM] So there was a gentleman called William Pitts, who was a musician, lived in Wisconsin, came down here in 1857. And of course, there was nothing here other than grass and trees and so on and so forth, and had this vision from God to write this song about a little brown church in the vale.

♪♪  Come to the church in the wildwood ♪♪ 

♪♪  Oh, come to the church in the vale ♪♪ 

[PASTOR DREW MCHOLM] It's one of the, I think, most prominent historical sites in the area. The church is known throughout the world. We get letters and comments and emails from people as far as Indonesia and Thailand, and we've had groups from Korea come and sing for us and sing the song in Korean. And so it's certainly a landmark. And it's a very special place. We have visitors almost every single day and they fill in the guest guestbook so we know where they're from and they're from all over the States and abroad. We do a guided tour. I'm usually the guy that does that, and then we sometimes have lunch for them after that. And the other major thing we do here is weddings, of course, it's a wedding destination place. We've done something like 76,000 plus weddings since 1864. We have a church service every Sunday morning at 10:30. And so if somebody is in the area, we invite them to come by and join the worship service.

 ♪♪ No spot is so dear to my childhood as the little brown church in the vale ♪♪ 

[KOHLSDORF] After marrying an Iowan, Pastor Drew McComb relocated to Chickasaw County with his wife in 2018, where the legend of the Little Brown Church became his reality.

[PASTOR DREW MCHOLM] My wife always used to boast about Midwest people and just the salt of the earth and just regular folks. And that's what we've found. And so we've got wonderful congregation of folks like that farmers, you know, folks that work the soil and, it's just a great bunch of people. So it's a delight to pastor people like that. It's just a very special place.

♪♪  No spot is so dear to my childhood as the little brown church in the vale ♪♪ 

[KOHLSDORF] Next up, it's demolition time. Where does a combine go when it's put out to pasture? The Bremer County Fair.

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Bremer County Fair Combine Demolition Derby.

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] It'll be loud. A lot of smoke. Crashing, crunching, tires popping.

(combines crashing together)

[RON LEISTIKOW] Parts breaking. People like to raise a little hell. I mean, it's crazy. 

(combines crashing together)

[JACOB MUNDT] I don't know, it's just like awesome, just going in there and getting after it. 

[JACOB MUNDT] I probably started when I was 18. Once you get your first combine, trying to basically go from an operating combine to a demo combine, it's pretty hands on, it takes a lot. 

[JACOB MUNDT] That ain't gonna work, it ain't even on there. Get your welder out. Get the pickup over here.

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] We're in the pits for the Combine Demolition Derby. It's basically how it sounds, I guess. It's combines that go after each other and try and take 'em out. As you can see, they're definitely not like the ones in the field today. A lot of these are from the '60s and '70s era. We have them remove the glass, make the separator inoperable, remove the unloading auger, remove the ladder, make the heads a battering ram. 

[JACOB MUNDT] Genius doesn't know how to fix his combine, so we'll just let it leak diesel everywhere. And then after that, we'll fire up the welder. Why not. I mean, I don't got any better idea. How 'bout you? 

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] Some of these got bought for $300 or $400 -- some of them might have cost a couple thousand.

[JACOB MUNDT] No, the combines do not cost $20,000. They are $1,000. It's like, yeah well, we buy it for what we can take it to the scrap yard for. But let's let them think that, then they come and they're like oh my god, look at these dummies. 

(combines crashing together)

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] We'll have two heats of large combines and then we'll have a small feature with six small combines. 

(combines crashing together)

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] A medium feature with six medium combines. And then we'll do the large feature with four.

(combines crashing together)

[JACOB MUNDT] Well, I can't promise it's gonna work, but I can promise it's better than it was. 

[RON LEISTIKOW] There's always a couple that don't make it in there. You have to make it into the ring. If you can't make it in the ring, you aren't going to get any pay because you've got to show up, even if you only drive a little ways, it's still gotta run. 

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] Popped tires, the back axles get taken out so they can't steer and then they're just dragging around. Or if your engine overheats or something like that. 

[JACOB MUNDT] You hardly ever get the front tires popped on these things because they're tube and they're tanked, unless you have a tire like that piece of junk. 

[Man's voice off-screen] Hey! Don't talk about my tires like that!

[JACOB MUNDT] He ain't gonna last. 

[Man's voice off-screen] Hey! 

[RON LEISTIKOW] Anybody will tell you it's the number one crowd pleaser, money maker. Everybody likes to see stuff smashed. 

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Some of you are here for the red, some of you are here for the green, but we're all here for the red, white and blue. Please stand and sing with me our national anthem. 

[DERBY ANNOUNCER]  Oh say can you see 

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] It's a rush when you can put on a good show and seeing the crowd and seeing the way the fans react.

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Who's ready to crash some combines? 

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... go!

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Wow, a big four-way crash?! 

[JACOB MUNDT] For a while you just start smashing them, you just go at it, and then after a few hits you're like, okay I've got to be strategic about this. I mean, if you hit the rear ends out of 'em, they're pretty well done for, so you gotta build them suckers strong. 

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Oh my goodness!

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] Just when you think you've seen it all, something different happens. 

[RON LEISTIKOW] The most fun is smashing and crashing and all that stuff, tipping the combine over and people like to see crazy.

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Oh he might flip! Oh, that was close!

[JACOB MUNDT] It's just, I don't know, it's just a blast. If you have little kids they just love this stuff. They just eat it up and they watch and big stuff, boom!

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Look out from behind! Oh! Big boomer! And he's out!

[RON LEISTIKOW] And everybody knows everybody in that combine demo. 

[JACOB MUNDT] Yeah, with a bunch of my best friends. We're all farm kids and farm people around here, one way or another we're connected to a farm. 

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Down to two are moving on. What a show! How about that, ladies and gentlemen? 

[JACOB MUNDT] Yeah, baby! Going to the finale! That's what I'm talking about!

[DERRECK SOMMERFELT] Well, if you haven't seen it before, it's kind of an experience. And if you have seen it before, it's still an experience. 

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Who had a great time at the Bremer County Fair? 

(crowd cheering)

[DERBY ANNOUNCER] Who wants to come back next year?

(crowd cheering)

[KOHLSDORF] Originally built as a dairy barn a century ago, Barn Happy now celebrates Iowa's agricultural roots near Cedar Falls. Inside, you'll find locally made comfort food alongside a curated collection of Iowa made fine arts and crafts, offering an authentic taste of the state in one stop.

[TIM BOETTGER] We're right here at Barn Happy. It's the residence that we've had for about 28 years, and Barn Happy then is something that my wife had a vision to start, really about 23 years ago.

[KRIS BOETTGER] God gave the idea after we'd actually prayed for over a year for something to do. The idea came to me as I was falling asleep one night. Take the barn that's full of pigs and manure and hay, and turn it into a place where you can sell things made in Iowa and serve homemade treats and goodies.

[KOHLSDORF] Products from over 100 vendors are sold at this cozy commerce corner, but not just treats and goodies.

[KRIS BOETTGER] We have lots of things you can't eat too, like candles, lotions, soaps, crafts. People love when they travel places, love taking things from Iowa.

[KRIS BOETTGER] We appreciate y'all landing here for your little class reunion. What class did you all graduate in?

[GUESTS] 1963.

[KRIS BOETTGER] 1963.

[KRIS BOETTGER] People meet their friends here, and so it's a really cool place for like little reunions to happen.

[MICHELLE KONRARDY] This is just a place where us gals get together, usually twice, three times a year, maybe. Yes, we love it here.

[TIM BOETTGER] We have had a lot of people over the years pull onto the property and say they just relax here and unhook and feel different here, and we sense that that is one, you know, we are a people of faith and we pray for this place. But it's also the beauty of nature that God made and we're designed to be in it. And I do think when you come here, you feel that and it does just kind of relax you.So that's how I would describe it.

[KRIS BOETTGER] Perfectly.

[birds chirping]

[KOHLSDORF] Our next stop starts with a splash at an unexpected oasis right in the heart of the Cedar Valley.

[KOHLSDORF] Welcome to Lost Island, where imagination runs wild, adrenaline is always on high, and where a world class getaway is just an Iowa road trip away.

[ERIC BERTCH] We've been doing this for 25 years and it never gets old watching children and adults walk through the gate for the first time and watch their jaws drop.

[ERIC BERTCH] The water park is very, you know, tropical vacation. Lots of palm trees, thatched huts. We have cabanas overlooking the pools. If you think of Noah's Ark or Typhoon Lagoon or Schlitterbahn, any major water park in the country, we have all of those attractions and more.

[KOHLSDORF] Owned and operated by Waterloo's Bertch family since 2001. This family friendly water park has evolved into an even bigger experience.

[ERIC BERTCH] We started thinking, well, how else could we bring visitors to the area since the water park is kind of reached its saturation point? And it was decided in about 2015, that maybe the direction we needed to go was to try dry attractions.

[KOHLSDORF] So in 2022, the adventure expanded. Just steps away from the water slides, wave pool and palm trees, the Lost Island theme park opened.

[KOHLSDORF] Delivering edge of your seat thrill rides right here in the heart of Iowa.

[ERIC BERTCH] Lost Island Theme Park brings all of the features that you would find at a big budget facility in Orlando or other parts of the world to the Midwest.

[KOHLSDORF] From the rush of the ride to the speed of the slide, Lost Island is the perfect escape for day trippers right here in Waterloo.

[KOHLSDORF] We're here at Hansen's Dairy near Hudson. Spread across over 400 acres of gently rolling farmland, this family run operation has earned a trusted name for its farm fresh dairy products. Let's take a look around.

[KOHLSDORF] Well, we're here with Jordan Hansen at Hansen Dairy. You're giving us a tour of this place? It's great. This is a real working dairy farm.

[JORDAN HANSEN] It is.

[KOHLSDORF] So give us a little history.

[JORDAN HANSEN] Yeah. So the farm has been in our family for over 150 years. Right now, we actually have the sixth and seventh generation of the family that's living here and working here.

[KOHLSDORF] How many cows do you have on your farm right now?

[JORDAN HANSEN] So we have about 300 total. We have Holstein dairy cows. We have mostly black and white Holsteins. We have a few red and white Holsteins as well. And then we have our Wagyu Holstein beef herd that lives alongside the dairy.

[TOUR GUIDE] We're gonna go ahead and head outside and get on the trolley so we can make our way down to the farm for our tour.

[KOHLSDORF] So you have people who come and visit and tour your farm from all over the world, people who have maybe never been on a farm before, those city folk. Right?

[JORDAN HANSEN] Right.

[KOHLSDORF] What are some of the things that they're going to see?

[JORDAN HANSEN] Yeah. So we bring them on a trolley ride down to the farm from our tour center, and then we're going to do the whole tour on foot. And so they really get to see the behind the scenes of everything that we do here. First stop is usually going to be to feed the calves. So they're always hungry. They're always excited to see the tourists. And then we will go over and get to see the kangaroos, which is our farm mascot. And so that is a really unique experience for people. Most people don't get to get that close up and personal with the kangaroos.

[KOHLSDORF] Okay. How did kangaroos end up on a dairy farm?

[JORDAN HANSEN] My husband had visited Australia, really liked the kangaroos that he saw there. He wanted to get them as pets and the tourists really liked to interact with them just because it's not an experience you get everywhere.

[KOHLSDORF] Oh, okay. Okay. We are on the farm and things are happening. What is this?

[JORDAN HANSEN] Yeah. So this is a brand new baby. She was just born probably a couple of hours ago. And you can tell they're able to walk right away. Peeking out around the corner there.

[KOHLSDORF] Yeah.

[JORDAN HANSEN] Well, do you want to take a tour? The calves are hungry. We can go feed one right now.

[KOHLSDORF] Yes, I'd love to!

[KOHLSDORF] Ready to feed the babies. How is this different than feeding a real baby? What do I need to do?

[JORDAN HANSEN] Well, it's a lot the same. It's just a lot bigger bottle. Okay, so we're going to make sure that she is figuring it out here. She was just born yesterday.

[KOHLSDORF] Oh. Whoops. Oh. I'm sorry.

[JORDAN HANSEN] Oh, there you go.

[KOHLSDORF] I got it all over you. 

[JORDAN HANSEN] Yep. And then you just have to tilt it up like a real bottle. This is something that the tours get to help with.

[KOHLSDORF] I bet this is one of the highlights of the tour.

[JORDAN HANSEN] It sure is.

[KOHLSDORF] Well, I think she's full. Okay, so we've seen some baby cows, and now we're going to see a baby kangaroo?

[JORDAN HANSEN] Yep. I'm super excited to show you. Let's go.

[KOHLSDORF] I can't wait.

[JORDAN HANSEN] All right, here she is. This is Ruthie.

[KOHLSDORF] Oh my gosh. I am holding a baby kangaroo. I never thought that was something I would do. The cuteness.

[JORDAN HANSEN] Yes.

[KOHLSDORF] Oh my goodness. And she weighs nothing. 

[JORDAN HANSEN] Yep. 

[KOHLSDORF] I can't take it. Who knew that it would take coming to a dairy farm to hold a baby kangaroo?

[JORDAN HANSEN] Right?

[KOHLSDORF] Look at this. Oh.

[KOHLSDORF] After touring the barns, feeding the cattle and bouncing around with the kangaroos, stop by Hansen's Tour Center to check out their local Iowa foods from milk to steaks and even ice cream.

[KOHLSDORF] Jordan, thanks for showing us around today. It's been a lot of fun.

[JORDAN HANSEN] Yeah, absolutely.

[KOHLSDORF] Now we get to try the products. This is the hard part, but someone's got to do it right. Okay.

[JORDAN HANSEN] Cheers.

[KOHLSDORF] Yes. Cheers.

[KOHLSDORF] It's good.

[KOHLSDORF] Tucked into the lush landscape of Iowa's Cedar Valley, a 40 acre sanctuary unfolds into a living mosaic full of colorful plants, flowers, and trees.

[KOHLSDORF] The Cedar Valley Arboretum and Botanic Gardens invites visitors to wander at their own pace, exploring the paved and natural trails that wind through carefully curated gardens and open woodland.

[KOHLSDORF] Enjoy formal gardens that give way to native prairie grasses and seasonal blooms that ensure that no two visits will feel the same.

[KOHLSDORF] A perfect pause for travelers offering a peaceful and inspiring stop along this stretch of Highway 27 in the Cedar Valley.

[KOHLSDORF] The Avenue of the Saints connects Minnesota to Missouri, but some of its most memorable roadside attractions are found right here in the Hawkeye State.

[KOHLSDORF] We toured a gallery of world famous artwork and prints in Charles City. Watched a one of a kind demolition derby in Waverly. Hung out with kangaroos at Hansen's Dairy near Hudson. And we explored 40 acres of lush landscape at the Cedar Valley Arboretum and Botanic Gardens.

[KOHLSDORF] A drive down Iowa 27 is sure to take you somewhere new, so pull up a map and plan your trip today. For more on the history, culture, and landscapes along Iowa's highways, join us next time on Road Trip Iowa.

[Announcer] Musco Lighting is an Iowa company that travels across the US and to more than 125 countries to light community recreation fields, stadiums, airports, monuments and more. While our reach is global, we're committed to our local communities.

[Announcer] Beverly Thomassen Schultz -- honored to support local programming on Iowa PBS.