At first, the whole Dutch thing seems too self-conscious, like a touristy gimick taken a little too far.

You walk around the downtown and think, "This is just a little too precious."

But eventually you notice how consistent the theme is. They didn't just slap some phoney makeup on the downtown. The front yards and street names, all across town, it all comes togther.

They really mean it.

It took a few days before the concept of "sincerity" occurred to us out-of-towners.

The locals seem pretty earnest about their Christianity, too.

You can buy beer for take-out, but nothing harder.

In the evening, a parade of parents with baby strollers strode down the sidewalk to a pond on the north edge of town. The pond is said to be shaped like a wooden shoe, but I couldn't see it.

(Yes, that's yet another miniature windmill.)

Our first night in town, two of us went into an ice cream shop. The teenager behind the counter watched us for a few minutes and finally asked, "You guys aren't from around here, are you?"

Between the lines, he was screaming, "Take me with you! Please!" Or so I thought...

After a week in town, I wasn't so sure anymore.

If he did fly out to California, it would probably be just for a few days, then he'd be satisfied that he'd seen enough.

I wonder what kind of web essay he'd post when he got back to Pella...