Big things in the little town of Clarence, Iowa

Demeter’s Market

Address: 508 Lombard St., Clarence, Iowa
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It’s a local small-town bakery featuring hand-crafted, long-fermented, naturally leavened breads and pastries. It is best known for its sourdough bread, which you need to order quickly, as it sells out fast! The bakery is also known for its wide variety of decadent cheesecakes. But also check out the cinnamon rolls, scotcharoos, and assorted cookies. Torrey Wilhau and Jaya Jones are the main bakers. Torrey has years of experience in the craft of making sourdough bread.

Hound Dog Rock Shop

Address: 115 Lombard Street, Clarence, Iowa
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Don’t let the small building fool you – this house rocks! I bet you’ll spend an hour looking through not just rocks, but minerals, fossils, and jewelry. Once you walk in the door, kids and adults will have that “Wow” factor – as the store is so well organized, it’s eye candy via rocks. The owners are Kirk & Janel Wenndt who have been operating the shop for about 10 years. They are super knowledgeable about everything they have in stock and we loved listening to their stories about the unique items, how they find their products, and stories of those who travel for hours just to visit their shop. Yes, this is a destination in and of itself – people travel hours to get to little ‘ole Clarence, Iowa just to visit Hound Dog Rock Shop. You should too.

Freida’s House of Elvis

Address: 301 Lombard Street, Clarence, Iowa

If you have driven on Highway 30 through Clarence, Iowa even once, you remember the house with all the Elvis stuff in the front yard. Trust me, this is a front yard you wouldn’t forget. However, when you saw it, you assumed someone likes Elvis and you probably kept on driving. Unfortunately, you made two mistakes: 1) you should have stopped and 2) someone LOVES Elvis, not likes Elvis.

Freida Bixler is an uber fan of Elvis – and I’m not sure that uber is even strong enough of a term for this situation. Not only is Freida Bixler’s front yard a shrine to Elvis, but so is the front porch. Oh, and so is the living room. And the dining as well. Heck, even the kitchen (yes, her working kitchen) is a shrine to the King of Rock & Roll.

Everything on the tour has a reason and has its place. Instead of crown molding, the corners of the room are laced with 45’s, alternating between Elvis and Sun Studio labeled records. Underneath are Elvis plates, which have an Elvis Christmas ornament between each plate. Next are the Elvis license plates – all exclusively from Memphis. I told you, everything has its place and so far I’ve only described the top 24 inches that border the ceiling.

So how do you get into Freida’s House of Elvis? Freida doesn’t have established hours, or a website, or a Facebook page. And I’m not listing Freida’s phone number, there’s some real yahoos out there, she doesn’t need those phone calls. If you want to visit, get in your car and drive to Clarence, Iowa. Park on a side street (don’t even try to park on Highway 30, that’s asking for trouble), walk up to the front door, put on your best Iowa nice smile and… knock on the door. As long as Freida is home and you don’t look like trouble, my guess is that the 50s juke box on her front porch will be pumping out Elvis hits within minutes.

Onion Grove Mercantile

Address: 511 Lombard Street, Clarence, Iowa
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This cozy store is located next to Demeter’s Market and houses modern farmhouse home goods. Homemade soaps, candles, granny towels, and other home goods. Onion Grove Mercantile also specializes in high quality vintage reproduction architectural signage.

Freezy Dreams

Address: 601 Lombard Street, Clarence, Iowa
Facebook Page

Coffee and snack shop that features a large selection of freeze dried candies. We heard that freeze-dried Skittles are one of the most popular items, although we also picked up some freeze-dried lemon heads.

Highway Nutrition

Address: 601 Lombard Street, Clarence, Iowa
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Energy drinks, protein shakes, and other drinks! We ordered “Beach Days”, a non-caffeinated drink with hydration (orange), protein (peach mango), pineapple, coconut, and blue blast.