The Amana Colonies spread from the intersection of Hwy-151 and Hwy-220, midway between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. They were founded in 1855 by the Community of True Inspiration , pacifist German refugees (not linked to the Amish or Mennonites) who believed that God spoke through prophets - themselves, for example - rather than ordained ministers. Members led a simple, collective lifestyle: each family lived in its own home, but they all ate together and shared profits from the farms. During the Depression, communal ownership became increasingly difficult to maintain, and in 1932 stock was redistributed among all the adults. However, they did keep up their commitment to close family ties, a sense of community and religious principles. On Sunday mornings, you can still see women church members wearing the traditional black cap, shawl and apron, with men dressed in equally sombre attire. Church services for visitors take place at 10am every Sunday in Middle Amana.

The Amana Colonies today, consisting of seven separate villages set in an immaculate, serene valley, feel like a cross between a ski resort with no mountains and a reservation for Midwestern pioneers. Their prosperity is very evident, though as well as tasteful clapboard houses standing on well-groomed lawns, and neat plank fences dividing rolling meadows, you'll also come across factories, pizza parlors and even a golf course. It's geared less for families and more toward Iowan couples on a weekend getaway. The twee streets of the largest village, AMANA , are lined with restaurants and craft shops, a brewery, several wineries and a woolen mill - plus a small and somewhat self-congratulatory Museum of History (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, April-Nov also Sun noon-5pm; $5). Picturesque and less commercialized HOMESTEAD , three miles south of Amana, is enhanced by a 3.5-mile walking trail around a dam on a scenic bend of the Iowa River, built centuries ago by Indians to concentrate fish into one area and thus allow them to be caught more easily.