Decorah, Iowa - Sarah's View

I don't even remember how we decided to go to Seed Savers Exchange's Autumn Festival. I think it started with wanting to do some fall camping, and also wanting to go to an event at Seed Savers. As it turns out, the weekend was far too cold (and, well, snowy) for camping, so we all ended up at a hotel in West Union.

Friday night, we had dinner at Tap't Out Stein and Dine on the square in West Union. Um. Hm. We all got fed, and nobody left hungry. Except Wally, I guess. The kids spaghetti was a really small serving. But I don't think anybody was particularly impressed with their food, which took an overlong time to come out.

In the morning, after a stop at a Coffee shop on Water Street whose name completely escapes me (good coffee, and apparently quite a popular spot on Saturday mornings), we made the obligatory stop at the local yarn store, the Blue Heron Knittery. They had a small selection of local yarns (alpaca - I bought some), as well as some yarns that I've never seen in person before. I was excited to find yarn suitable for my upcoming Chronicles of Narnia socks.

Then, of course, the whole reason for the trip - Seed Savers. It was a lot of fun. They had all sorts of activities for kids - Pumpkin carving, storytelling, a fire truck, beanbag toss, and a few other things. There was an apple press demonstration, which wasn't necessarily FOR the kids, but they sure liked it.

And of course, activites for the adults. Apple tasting, soup tasting (and contest), hay rack rides, apple press demonstrations, classes, a band, and of course just wandering around the farm. There was also a woman there carving a giant pumpkin, which was pretty impressive.

mmmm.... soup. The soup contest entries were all from local restaurants, and they were YUMMY. My personal favorite came from the Oneota Co-op - it was a creamy squash soup with bacon in it. I think it was the bacon that won me out.

We had dinner at Mabe's Pizza, of course. Randy went to college at Luther, and apparently, they brainwash you into believing that Mabe's Pizza is pizza handed down from the very hand of God. It's good pizza, but Randy has a serious love affair with it. He ate it for breakfast, too.