Driving? It’s much the same story. Due to low fuel inventories, high demand, the Iran war, and shuttered refineries, gas prices are 45% higher today than on March 1, 2026. Reuters reports prices should average $4.35 to $4.80 a gallon this summer, with spikes to $5 possible.

While it’s not a great year to go to Europe, or drive the family to California, there’s no need to cancel your vacation altogether. Instead, why not consider what you can do in Iowa this summer. Here’s an idea for an entertaining, fun, affordable weekend for late June.

Iowa Barn Foundation Barn Tours: A living catalogue of Iowa barn history

Rediscover your farm roots on Iowa Barn Foundation’s (IBF) Spring Tour, at 23 historic barns in Jefferson County; many just a few miles off four-lane U.S. Highway 34. All barns are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 27, and Sunday, June 28. Tours are self-guided, but barn owners will be on hand to answer questions, and tell great barn stories, too.

-Photo courtesy of Iowa Barn Foundation
This beautiful and rare 1895 carriage house in Fairfield is open during the Iowa Barn Foundation’s Spring Barn Tour. See original horse stalls and feeders on the ground floor, and stained glass windows upstairs in the haymow.

Begin at the Maasdam barns, Exit 212 from U.S. 34, on Fairfield’s south side. From 1906 to 1938, Jacob Maasdam ran the famed Evergreen Stock Farm in these three historic, restored barns — one each for mares and stallions, and a third used as a show barn.

The barns showcase the genius of William Louden and his Louden Machinery Co. You can see Louden’s barn litter/feed carriers, automatic water bowls, and flexible barn door hanger, all patented from 1867-1912, on display and in working order here.

At 1 p.m. on Saturday, Southeast Iowa Draft Horse & Mule Association members will put up some hay at Maasdam Barns using Louden equipment.

When Henry Ford saw Louden’s overhead monorail in operation, he designed it into his Highland Park plant in Detroit, site of the world’s first assembly line. Thus, a device designed to make work easier for farmers in Fairfield revolutionized production of the famed Model T.

While at Maasdam Barns, make a point to visit the small museum telling the story of the barns, and see a Chicago Aermotor windmill at work. The kids will love the large tank of goldfish, and pen of Buff-Orpington hens from McMurray Hatchery in Webster City.

-Photo courtesy of Iowa Barn Foundation
Does this look familiar? It's a Louden merry-go-round, made in the company's Ottawa, Illinois, factory, and found in playgrounds nationwide. This beautifully-restored example is in the Louden playground at Maasdam Farms, Fairfield.

Other barns on the tour include a rare Victorian carriage house; English gable barn with original, hand-hewn timbers; a Prairie style barn; a circa 1950 Martin hay silo; and three-compartment Martin steel grain bin.

According to IBF board member and magazine editor, Dave Austin, “This is our 26th year of barn tours. We have the biggest, longest-running barn tours in the country (and world, as far as we know) with annual June and September tours. Last year’s spring tour, held in Cedar County, drew 800 visitors, including some from as far away as Texas and California.”

A must-see museum

Between 1892 and 1919, steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie donated funds for 101 public libraries in Iowa. In 1892, the grant for a library in Fairfield was historic, as the first ever funded in a city where Carnegie had no personal connection.

Previously, all the grants went to build libraries near Carnegie’s steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. Fairfield’s magnificent Carnegie library set the pattern for his eventual funding of 2,800 libraries worldwide.

-Photo courtesy of Iowa Barn Foundation
The Carnegie Museum in Fairfield has a special exhibit telling the fascinating story of Louden Machinery Co. It’s a must-see attraction on the Iowa Barn Foundation’s Spring Barn Tour.

In reality, Fairfield got more than a library. The original building also housed a museum and 300-seat auditorium, becoming the de facto educational and social center of Fairfield. Altered over the decades, it still has its original Victorian tile floors, a testament to superb design and solid construction.

The collection is as surprising as the stunning building that houses it. Here you’ll find the best collection of Zuni pottery and Pima basketry in the Midwest, Civil War artifacts, including a “funeral ribbon” worn by Fairfield native and U.S. Congressman, James Wilson, allowing him aboard Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train in 1865. Those interested in birds or taxidermy will want to see the large collection here, some donated by The Smithsonian in the 1890s. Never seen a specimen of the extinct Passenger Pigeon? You can, at the Carnegie Museum.

In keeping with the affordable vacation concept, both the barn tours and Carnegie Museum are completely free. A donation to each will further the work of both.

Better still, if you’d like to restore your own barn, contact IBF on their website: iowabarnfoundation.org. They have the knowledge, experts and grant funds to get you started. Or, to support IBF with an annual membership, the cost is $50 and includes the Iowa Ban Foundation Magazine, published twice each year.