The last stop on our tour of the Villages of Van Buren was the Bentonsport historic district, first developed by Mormon craftsmen as they migrated west along the Mormon trail in the mid-1800s. Steamboats no longer ply the nearby Des Moines River, but the historic district is still bustling. Refurbished buildings are now home to galleries, a candy shop, and a haunted bed and breakfast.
Continuing our tour of southeast Iowa’s Villages of Van Buren, our next stop was an 1800s restored stone building. This is where we would learn about the Villages Folk School and try our hands at a printing press.
I knew we were in for a great lunch at the Bonaparte Retreat based on our morning visits to the Milton Creamery and Dutchman’s Store. I couldn’t have been more right.
In 1985 Clair Zimmerman and his wife, Virginia, opened a small general store in Cantril, Iowa, a town that serves the surrounding Amish community. They expanded…and expanded…and expanded. Today Dutchman’s Store occupies an entire block on Cantril’s main street, and it’s as much a tourist attraction as it is a grocery store…or a fabric shop…or a gift shop.
At only 17-years-old, Galen Musser received his first U.S. Cheese Championship award for his Prairie BreezeTM cheddar. That’s just one year after he started his cheese making career. Milton Creamery cheeses have won many awards since then, including one in England.
