Matchstick Marvels

Iowa does quirky exceptionally well. To which I’m especially thankful because I love quirky. World’s Largest Popcorn Ball? Yup, totally stopping. World’s Crookedest Street? Count me in. Museum filled with matchstick models. Absolutely!

I recently made my third visit to the Matchstick Marvels museum in Gladbrook, Iowa. It houses several models created by local resident Pat Acton. And, as you can gather from the museum’s name, they’re all made out of matchsticks. Thousands and thousands and thousands, really millions, of matchsticks.

Pat started  building the models as a hobby while he was working at a local community college. Since retiring, though, he’s been under contract with Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Each year, his newest model appears at the Matchstick Marvels museum for a few months (generally April – June) before it heads off to a Ripley’s museum somewhere in the world.

It seems that every year he goes a little bigger. His last couple of models have incorporated movement and sound effects. The steampunk train that was on display in 2015 had a glowing red tinderbox and a bell you could ring. His 2016 creation (on display until June 25, 2016), is a two-headed “fire-breathing” dragon of his own imagination that roars when you trigger the motion sensor.

In addition to his latest and greatest, several of the 70 models he’s built over the years are on display. They’re so intricately detailed that it’s easy to forget they’re made out of matchsticks!

Pat’s next project? Building the Millennium Falcon. Guess I’ll be making another trip back next year!

Matchstick Marvels is located 319 2nd Street in Gladbrook, Iowa.

 

Sweetest Things Bakery

To say I have a sweet tooth is an understatement. I love cookies, cake, cupcakes, pie, chocolates, etc. So it should come as no surprise that I also love bakeries. Because, seriously, what’s not to love about a store chock full of baked goods goodness?

If there’s a bakery where I’m visiting and I can fit in to my schedule, I stop. If there’s a bakery on the way to or from where I’m visiting and I can fit it in to my schedule, I stop. And that’s how I came to discover Sweetest Things Bakery in Humboldt, Iowa, for the very first time.

In April 2015, I was traveling to Des Moines from Algona with a friend of mine. We asked “The Google” if there were any bakeries on our route. Turns out there was one in Humboldt. Since it wasn’t far out of our way, we stopped.

The adorable shop is on a corner of the town’s main street (Sumner Ave) in what I think is an old bank building. (A small gift shop area inside is located in a vault. How cute is that?) In addition to the usual line-up of cookies (sugar, chocolate chip, etc.), there were cookies labeled “Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies.” Which leads to the inevitable question, “Stuffed with what?” So I asked. The answer? Peanut butter. Yes, peanut butter cookies stuffed with peanut butter. Who could resist? Not us. We each purchased one and headed out.

The cookies were so delicious that we seriously considered turning around less than two blocks later to go back and get some more. We didn’t, but we’ve been talking about those cookies periodically since then. Seriously, that’s how memorable they were.

As it happens, we were in the area in June 2016 and stopped in again. While they didn’t have stuffed peanut butter cookies that day, we found plenty of other delicious cookies and brownies to treat our taste buds. Sugar cookies are my favorites!

Sweetest Things Bakery is located at 602 Sumner Ave in Humboldt.