Clocks, Churches, Barn Quilts & Strawberry Point

Today was a busy one! We once again began our day at the Country Cottage for Brunch. Not much of an earlier start made for a long day.
I planned a loop to the north, and headed straight up 150 and drove several miles into the country by the town of Fayette. There we found the world's smallest church and park. It was originally built with wood in 1846 and rebuilt into a small chapel. There was a small cemetary behind the chapel and those buried there, had direct ties to the area. No one else was there, and walking by the river and around the park, visiting in the chapel and photograhing the area was very calming and peaceful.
On the road again we came across the town of Spillville, and the home of the Biley (pronounced Beeley)Clock Museum, also the Antonin Dvorak Exhibit.a famous Czech Musican and Composer that spent one year there. He finished one Symphony and wrote one more song while he was there. I thought going in it would be boring, but was pleasantly suprised. Very worth the admittance price of $6.00 per person. This is predominately a Czech village and the two brothers that designed and carved all of the clocks in this building were born and lived here their entire lives. I was amazed of the ornate detail of the carvings on the clocks and the amount of clocks! As per agreement with the city, no pictures were allowed of the inside, so a brochure had to sufice! This little town is also home to the Inwood Pavilian, a reception and dance hall. We stopped for a picnic lunch by that pavilian. I had planned to visit a Norwegian Museum in the town of Decorah, but we spent too much time in Spillville, so we drove around Decorah and looked at the downtown section, took some pictures of the museums, some buildings and had our coffee break at Culvers! That town deserves another visit! The rest of the late afternoon was spent mostly driving and looking at beautiful hillsides by the Mississippi River. Barn Quilts blanket the countryside,a new phenomenon that is sweeping the nation combining the barn and the quilt into an innovative new art form across the area. A large board is painted like a quilt block and hung on the side or the front of a barn. A committee selects which barns to include and which quilt pattern and colors to use. It is a fascinating concept to carry on the area's heritage and to preserve these historic barns. They are fun to watch for. Toward the end of our journey today, we happened across St. Olaf. I had to stop and have pictures taken with the sign to a very small town. In the show "The Golden Girls" Betty White's Character is from "St. Olaf" She acted really backward and like a northern redneck.
Beyond that, the last town we drove through before being back here was the home of the Largest Strawberry in the world...aptly named Strawberry Point. They use the fruit in lots of names throughout the town. I posted that picture on my Facebook page. Tonight I'm tired, tomorrow will be a day off for us to kick back and hang out. DH may play golf and I will lounge on the beach and spend time with my KayCee Brown. We had 2.70" rain last night in our little storm here. At least all the hail and wind missed us and the weather radio never went off so I wasn't scared.
and haven't taken time out to load them on Picasa yet. Will try to figure that out.....Now on to updating our trip log thus far and it's time for a rest! See ya in the funnies.