The Ice Cream Capitol of the World
Aloha… from Iowa!
This entry will definitely be on the shorter side but had to update the “lost in transit” chapter of this blog with this weeks adventure to Le Mars, Iowa!
What’s that, why would I take a trip to Le Mars, Iowa, and where even is it? I shared in my previous blog that I took a new job, and I’m excited to share that I’ll be working at Wells Enterprises, the largest privately held ice cream manufacturer in the U.S. Well this week, I tackled onboarding, which just so happened to be held in the world capitol of ice cream. It’s called that because more ice cream is produced there than anywhere else in the world, 200 million gallons per year, to be exact. It’s enough to fill 300 Olympic sized swimming pools per year, which is absolutely insane.
I’m fully aware no one is planning their summer vacation to Le Mars, Iowa, but for anyone who’s in the Midwest and just passing through, I really think it’s a super unique fun place. So I thought I’d share some of the food spots and activities I hit this week (bare in mind it’s a work trip, so a lot of it is justifiably work related) to add to my newest “lost in transit” adventures!
Activities:
Wells Visitor Parlor: This was amazing! Definitely a Le Mars staple, it’s a pretty fantastic ice cream parlor that features all of our retail flavors plus other additional hits and novelty items. The entire upstairs is a tribute to Wells’ history, including a timeline of our biggest product launches, an interactive play area for kids, and a movie theatre that displays how we (okay not me, but I’m part of the namesake now) make our ice cream
South Plant & Freezer Visit: This was a truly once in a lifetime experience, but as part of our onboarding we got to visit the worlds largest ice cream plant, taking a tour of its many production lines in action. We saw the seamless creation of Blue Bunny mini swirls, the molding of the original bomb pop, and the packaging production of various customer and private label brands. I lost track quickly of the many rooms, lines, and varieties of ice cream as we passed through. I even got to try a bomb pop and ice cream sandwich right off the line! PSA: I’ll never eat an ice cream sandwich the same again after learning they are produced to have a crispy cracker chocolate crust.. we were truly divided on whether it tasted better or worse. For my part, I think the sticky sandwich is an essential so the cracker through me way off.
Sioux City: Highly recommend taking a drive to Sioux City, Iowa and hitting up Crave (see below) for some delicious food & great views of the Missouri River!
MBTI: Finally, throwing in the Meyers-Briggs assessment we took as part of our onboarding, because it was definitely a highlight as far as we were concerned. I’ve always known I was an ENFJ, but taking the test again was super interesting. I highly recommend this to work teams (or just people who are really into personality tests, like I am)
Food Spots I recommend:
1.) Crave American Kitchen & Sushi Bar (amazing happy hour & #9 roll)
2.) Blue Tequila (amazing cheese dip)
3.) Archie’s Waeside (amazing steak)
4.) Aggies Barbecue (amazing signature salad)
5.) 4 Brothers (amazing Tex Mex egg rolls)
So there you have it - my week crossing three three state borders, since I flew in through Omaha, Nebraska and flew out through Sioux Falls, South Dakota. For those who don’t know, I have a dream of at least passing through all 50 states, so I can officially cross 28 off to date. I’ll be back for my next adventure, New York City during Christmas, in just a couple weeks. Until then, lots of love your way!
Sincerely,
Sharon <3