What do do in Des Moines in under 36 hours
as told by the New York Times...
By BETSY RUBINER
New York Times
Published: October 7, 2005
[Check out #11 for you cycling enthusiasts...]
IN a land of small towns and farms, Des Moines is the Big City - Iowa's state capital, its business, civic and cultural hub, where a building boom is under way. A new science center and a $217 million events center (Iowa's most expensive public project) have recently opened, and more is on the way. Along with the new downtown attractions have come more restaurants, coffeehouses, clubs, theaters and galleries. Des Moines is starting to stay up late. Still, the countryside never feels far away, in miles or in mind-set.
Friday
3 p.m.
1) Down on the Farms
Experience the evolution of Iowa farming by touring Living History Farms (2600 111th Street, Urbandale; 515-278-5286), an open-air museum in a suburb west of the city. A .75-mile trail connects three period farms that look, feel and smell like the real McCoy, with authentic crops and livestock as well as interpreters demonstrating chores. The Ioway Indian Farm (circa 1700) has bark lodges and lush gardens of corn, beans and squash. The 30-acre 1850 Pioneer Farm has a plain log house and hard-working oxen, above. The 40-acre 1900 farm has a pretty white frame house and the next stage of animal muscle - draft horses. During Fall Harvest Weekend, tomorrow and Sunday, watch early-1900's harvesting machines and learn all about corn. Admission is $10; $6 for children ages 4 to 12. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. (Closed for the season after Oct. 16.)
6:30 p.m.
2) Serious Steak
"We kill it, you grill it," reads a sign in Rube's Steakhouse (3309 Ute Avenue, Booneville; 515-987-8237), above, a grill-your-own joint just off Interstate 80 via Exit 117, about 12 miles west of downtown Des Moines. Diners choose a cut of beef from a meat case and carry it to a communal grill. Near the meat case are photos of people wearing "I ate it all!" T-shirts - earned by eating a 54-ounce "Belly Buster" steak ($39.95). The décor is rustic kitsch (worn washboards, rusty saws, lanterns); the portions, huge; and the steak, flavorful, from the lean 26-ounce T-bone ($24.95) to the marbled 12-ounce ribeye ($18.95).
9:30 p.m.
3) Old Beer Here
For retro furnishings and retro beer, drop by the High Life Lounge (200 Southwest Second Street, 515-280-1965). Opened this year in a former warehouse and designed to resemble a 60's corner tap, the High Life has small television sets with bulging knobs, a Silver Strike bowling game and lots of old beer signs. It serves only brands available before 1979 - including Miller High Life, Old Milwaukee and Grain Belt Premium. (There's also Tang and Shasta.)
Saturday
9 a.m.
4) Farm Fresh
The Downtown Farmers Market (515-286-4928), below, draws more than 200 vendors and thousands of shoppers to the area around the intersection of Fourth and Court Avenues. There are spring morels, rhubarb and asparagus; summer tomatoes, sweet corn and raspberries; fall apples, squash and pumpkins; plus a mishmash of ethnic foods (Salvadoran, Indian, Laotian, Afghan) and specialty items (Mennonite pies, elk jerky, buffalo bologna and Dutch Letters - S-shaped pastries filled with almond paste). The market runs from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays through Oct. 29.
10:30 a.m.
5) A Different East Village
A once-dying neighborhood east of the Des Moines River, at the foot of the Iowa State Capitol's golden dome, has recently been reborn as the East Village, sprinkled with stylish restaurants, boutiques, galleries and specialty shops. Do not miss Sticks Gallery (521 East Locust Street, 515-282-0844), which sells one-of-a-kind hand-painted wood furniture (made in Des Moines), and Fusion Furniture (500 East Locust Street, 515-244-2303), which offers rehabbed 1950's metal furniture and early 1900's Chinese wooden antiques. Stop at Gong Fu Tea (414 East Sixth Street, 515-288-3388), a tranquil Asian-inspired teahouse.
12:30 p.m.
6) Art and Architecture
In 1948 Eliel Saarinen's flat-roofed stone building appeared; in 1968 I. M. Pei's heavy geometric concrete addition; in 1985 Richard Meier's towering wing, clad in white porcelain-coated metal panels. Combined they make up the Des Moines Art Center (4700 Grand Avenue, 515-277-4405), a showcase for contemporary architecture as well as art, with works by Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent, Louise Bourgeois, Carl Milles, Maya Lin and Andy Goldsworthy. Museum admission is free.
3 p.m.
7) A Prescription for Ice Cream
Hidden inside Bauder Pharmacy (3802 Ingersoll Avenue, 515-255-1124; Saturday closing time: 4 p.m.) is an old-fashioned soda fountain serving its own delicious ice cream. With tinted medicine bottles behind the prescription counter and turtle sundaes served in glass dishes at a counter with upholstered stools high enough for your legs to dangle, Bauder's isn't a self-conscious throwback. It just hasn't changed much during the last 75 years.
7 p.m.
8) Center Stage
Opened in 2002, the "Italian urban" restaurant Centro (1003 Locust Street, 515-248-1780) quickly became the hangout of various celebrities during the run-up to the 2004 Iowa presidential caucuses. A symbol of a re-energized downtown, it's inside a once-faded 1913 Masonic Temple recently transformed into the Temple for Performing Arts, which includes a theater and a grand reception hall. Centro serves thin-crust brick-oven pizza ($10 to $18) and dishes inspired by Little Italy in New York ($12.95 to $32.95) in a bustling dining room overlooking a busy streetscape.
9:30 p.m.
9) Court at Night
For live music, plays, alternative films or performance art, visit the Vaudeville Mews (212 Fourth Street, 515-243-3270). It's a dimly lighted, cavernous space in the Court Avenue entertainment district. The cover charge ranges from $5 to $12. Next door is the popular Java Joes Coffee House (214 Fourth Street, 515-288-5282), which also offers live music.
Sunday
9 a.m.
10) An Iowa Patisserie
La Mie (841 42nd Street, 515-255-1625), in a commercial strip on the edge of an old residential neighborhood, serves a classy brunch. Beyond the pastry counter, about a dozen tables and booths are packed into a long, narrow space. The menu includes breakfast favorites - quiche, omelets, French toast and crepes - prepared with creative flair and fresh ingredients, plus oddball items like fried pâté with fig mustard. Entrees are $7.50 to $10.50.
10:30 a.m.
11) For the Cycle
Work off brunch by cycling on the Neal Smith Trail, one of several recreational trails through the bucolic countryside. Rent a bike about 15 miles north of Des Moines at Saylorville Lake Marina in Polk City (6170 Northwest Polk City Drive, 515-984-6541; $10 a day; $10 an hour in peak season; call ahead to reserve). Open Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. through mid-October. Then hit the often-hilly 26-mile paved trail, which stretches north from Des Moines past Saylorville and Big Creek Lakes, winding through woods, meadows, cornfields and reconstructed prairie. En route you're very likely to encounter cyclists wearing gear from Ragbrai, the famous summer bike ride across Iowa.
The Basics
Des Moines International Airport is served by many major airlines. Downtown is about 10 minutes - a $12 taxi ride - from the airport.
Hotel Fort Des Moines (1000 Walnut Street, 515-243-1161) was built in 1919 and is a full-service hotel with 235 rooms and suites at $89 to $109.
The 86-year-old Renaissance Savery Hotel (401 Locust Street, 515-244-2151) is in a Georgian Revival building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has 224 rooms and suites at $89 to $249.
Butler House on Grand Bed-and-Breakfast (4507 Grand Avenue, 515-255-4096) is a 1923 Tudor mansion perched on a hill across from the Des Moines Art Center. It has seven guest rooms; rates are $95 to $170.
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