Category Archives: Des Moines

July 10, 2012 · 9:17 pm

Scary fall en route to the Neal Smith Trail near Johnston, Iowa

Photo by Dayne Magneson, Park Ranger – Saylorville Lake

Word of warning: be careful if you are riding your bike over the bridge in Johnston (Iowa) just east of NW Beaver Drive (i.e. NW 66th Avenue east of the Johnston soccer fields) crossing the Des Moines River  to get onto the Neal Smith Trail at the Sycamore Access. My husband took a nasty spill thanks to some rough pavement at the southwest end of the bridge, which is narrow to begin with. Fortunately he fell towards the guard rail, away from the traffic. I shudder to think what would have happened if he’d fallen the other way – when the first of two very large and long trucks hauling hay bales passed us. I shared this adventure with another biking friend who said she’s sworn off riding across that bridge after she had a scare on it during rush hour traffic awhile back. Our encounter was on a relatively sleepy Sunday. Or so we thought.

It’s a bummer because we were hoping to do a loop – going north on the Trestle to Trestle trail to Johnston, then winding our way through some quiet residential streets – and one busy street – to get onto the Neal Smith trail heading south. Might not try that again.

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July 1, 2012 · 3:08 pm

Looking for a farmers market in Iowa? There’s an app for that….

A visit to the farmers market in 2010

There’s no shortage of farmers markets in Iowa (230 according to the state agriculture department) and now you can find them all via smartphone by using a free Iowa Farmers market app. My favorite Des Moines area markets are, of course, the downtown DM market on Saturday (see photo above), as well as the Drake neighborhood market on Wednesday and the Valley Junction market on Thursdays in West Des Moines. Here’s more details below on the new farmers market smartphone app:

super soynuts at the Des Moines farmers market!

The app is available for both iPhones and Android phones and allows users to find the farmers market closest to them by using GPS location services or to search for specific farmers markets by city or zip code.  Once they have located a market, the user can view the hours of the market, browse a list of vendors and see a phone number and email address of the market manager.  App users can also leave reviews of the market and vendors and upload their photos to share with others.

The app is free to download and is available through Apple’s App store and Google Play by searching “Iowa Farmers Markets.”  The app for android phones can also be found at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.utc.titaniumapns2, and the link for Apple devices is http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ia-farmer-mkts/id501591188?ls=1&mt=8.

Farmers markets continue to grow in popularity as Iowans seek fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables.  An Iowa farmers market survey completed for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship showed that market sales have increased an average of 18 percent per year from 2004 to 2009.  It also showed that Iowa markets had $38.4 million in direct sales in 2009 and a $71 million impact on Iowa’s economy.

Crowd at the Des Moines farmers market 2010

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June 27, 2012 · 5:00 pm

Goodbye Nora/Highlights of DSM Civic Center’s next season


Ephron in New York City, 2010
I am still trying to process the shocking news that Nora Ephron has died – she seemed so young and vibrant, full of life. I sat next to her once at Barney Greengrass, the famous Amsterdam Avenue deli, and it seemed the quintessential Upper West Side experience, eating a bagel with cream cheese and lox with Nora ringside.
Life goes on I guess – but I will miss her essays in particular. I don’t know how many friends I gave “I feel bad about my neck”  but just thinking about it makes me laugh, and now – feel sad.
Now for a complete non sequitor:
I usually try to make it to at least one show at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines each season but next year I may have to go to two shows: (No word yet on when tickets go on sale for non-members.)

– War Horse, which won the 2011 Tony Award for best play, runs from Dec. 11-16, 2012.

– The Book of Mormon, which won nine Tonys in 2011 including best musical, runs from January 24-Feb. 3, 2013

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June 18, 2012 · 2:20 pm

Eeking out 30 miles biking the Chichaqua Trail east of Des Moines

Intriguing sign outside Valeria, Iowa

We just managed to get in 30 miles of biking on the Chichaqua Trail, east of Des Moines – riding from the tiny town of Valeria (pop. 62, which may be an overcount) west through bucolic farmland (including surprisingly high corn for June) through the slightly bigger towns of Mingo, Ira (featuring an uncommonly clean, spacious port-a-potty in the park, which believe me, is good to know), and Baxter. We had to ride a little around the town of Baxter in order to accumulate a few more miles, including riding up the hill on the highway into town to the convenience store for some ice tea.

Part of the problem with clocking 30 miles on this trail is that it’s technically closed for repairs west of Valeria. (I’m not sure how far west. When we were on the trail last, in October, it was closed through to the start of the trail in Bondurant.) But even though there’s a big barrier blocking the trail at Valeria, when we were driving home and crossed the trail a little west of Valeria we spotted two riders we’d seen earlier on the trail who appeared to have ridden it west from Valeria. Hmmmm.

Valeria, by the way, has got to be one of the friendlier little towns we’ve ridden through. As we rode up and down the town’s two very short main streets, we were warmly greeted by everyone we passed – including a large group of people gathered in a circle on lawn chairs, who waved at us, and a guy mowing his lawn who stopped to wave and say “Howdy.” We remain intrigued about why – as the sign on the highway boasts – Valeria is the “Town of A Railroad Romance.”

On the way back to Des Moines, we stopped at a favorite east side ice cream stand, Granny’s on Hubbell Ave. That was dinner before we went to see the last performance of “Billy Elliott” at the Great Des Moines Civic Center, which was – as expected – fantastic.

A post-biking treat on Des Moines’ east side

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May 24, 2012 · 7:22 pm

Trying some new Des Moines restaurants – Host, Tartine, Zombie Burger

Sitting inside Host, a new restaurant in downtown Des Moines near the public library, is a bit like being inside a Meredith magazine shoot – as the friend I was eating with, a former Meredith employee, remarked. Clean, open, space, cute mismatched white shabby chic wooden chairs at metal tables, pretty little mural of birds and the phrase  “Excuse me while I kiss the sky” (a lyric to the Jimi Hendrix song Purple Haze,  that’s been misheard by many a listener as “excuse me while I kiss this guy”).  It’s a nice addition to the downtown dining scene, albeit a bit pricey (even if it offers locally-sourced fresh ingredients) – $10 for sandwich and a side. I had the excellent KPLT  Rye Panini with (Iowa producer)  La Quercia’s Tamworth  prosciutto, leeks, tomatoes & Gruyere on excellent hearty wheat bread toast. My friend had a very tasty curried-chicken salad made with big chunks of real chicken, yellow raisins and nuts served on a brioche which she was pleased to find wasn’t sweet.

 La Quercia Logo

I finally tried Zombie Burger, eating on the carry-out side of the outdoor patio and I thought the place was fun and the food okay. I had the Zombie Burger – just a basic cheeseburger with the American cheese (not my fav) and zombie sauce (spruced-up Russian Dressing from what I could tell.) My husband had a double patty burger with blue cheese and carmelized onion. Even better. It’s basically a fast food burger in a less fast-food setting. (For a great burger – and one that’s prepared to my specifications, i.e. rare – I’ll still go to Star Bar on Ingersoll Ave. in Des Moines.) I had heard some rumblings about the bad fries at Zombie Burger. Not true – in my view. The fries were great – too great, actually.

I also tried Tartine in Clive again – was impressed again but still wish it was in a different location, with less of a suburban strip-mall vibe, and was open past 8 p.m. for dinner (so I could try the burgers and frites, which look really good).  I had a very rich spinach and bacon quiche (which I could eat only half of) and my friend had what looked like a light fluffy “Garden omelet” with arugula, portobello mushrooms and chevre. Both entrees came with a choice of side for $8. A small selection of elegant baked goods for dessert looked delicious.

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May 21, 2012 · 3:07 pm

Trying a new (new to us) trail in Des Moines

One effect of the new signs posted along the many miles of trails in Des Moines, for us, is that it has tempted us to go in new directions. So yesterday, we rode  along the Waveland Trail  from the Franklin Library south toward the Walnut Creek Trail  (Am I the only one who can’t keep track of the names of theses trails?)  to a point just south of 63rd Street and Grand, where we decided to go west instead of our usual east and see if we could connect to the Jordan Creek Trail we’ve tried off and on in the past.

We were able to go further than we remembered on a trail, crossing busy 63rd Street just north of the river and riding on a levee. But not too scenic. Very industrial with a gravel pit. After awhile we ended up coasting along E.P. True Parkway – a little too suburban and close to traffic for our tastes. We ended up in a pleasant pocket park near Fairmeadows School where we had a picnic, then wound our way back east through Valley Junction (stopping briefly at an art fair there) then got back on the trail at 63rd and Grand and headed our usual direction – East.  Which we enjoyed even more after our ride west. We also stopped for the first time at Mullet’s – just south of Principal Park where we had a drink on the top deck with a superb view to the north of the big city.

I did find a map today of Jordan Creek Trail http://www.wdm-ia.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=297 and next time, it looks like we should head west from Fairmeadows School. And we should check out the new trail extension circles the 230-acre lake in Raccoon River Park.

 

 

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May 17, 2012 · 11:47 pm

Can-u Canoe? A free canoe float down the Des Moines River

Free 30-minute canoe floats are being offered to Des Moines residents (don’t know if non-Des Moines residents can join the fun) on June 17, July 15 and August 19 from 12-4 p.m., starting at Prospect Park and ending in Birdland Marina. I don’t get exactly how this works but sounds promising, especially for novices and families with little kids.  For more info: call 515-248-6314 or email tasmith@dmgov.org

Also available are basic canoeing classes (maybe I should sign my husband up….ha!) at Gray’s Lake that cost $25 as well as River Canoeing classes at “an undetermined river area.” hmmm….for more info, see www. dmced.org

 

 

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January 20, 2012 · 10:44 pm

southwest airlines comes to Des Moines!!

We interrupt this blog for an exciting long-awaited announcement: Southwest Airlines is coming to Des Moines. So reports Iowa Public Radio. Not many details yet – but Southwest recently purchased Air Tran, which flies from Des Moines to a few places. Now the trick will be getting Southwest to fly here, there and everywhere from Des Moines! And to fly relatively cheaply – in recent years we’ve found that it’s no longer the cheapest option when we’ve tried to fly Southwest from places like Chicago, Kansas City or Omaha.

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December 30, 2011 · 3:47 pm

Singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff in Des Moines in March

Remember the songs “Isn’t always love…” (“that makes you hang your head”…); “Tell me why?;”Someone to Lay Down Beside Me” Sure you do, if you listened to singers like Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt thirty years ago.

Remember Karla Bonoff? Maybe not – but she wrote those songs – and performed them well. I think I last saw  Bonoff in the late 197os in Ithaca, N.Y. when I was a college student.  Many moons later I have a chance to see her again, here in Des Moines where she’ll be performing on March 30 at the Temple for performing arts downtown. I’ll be there if I’m here.

This is my favorite line from a Wikipedia blurb on her: She is backed by her touring band, which includes the now deceased Kenny Edwards (guitar, bass, mandolin, cello, vocals).

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December 15, 2011 · 4:56 pm

Stellar defense of Iowa – check out Jane Burns’ retort to Stephen Bloom

As someone who grew up in suburban Detroit, I’m used to watching the place where I live be maligned. Not to mention as someone who later lived in Wichita, Kansas and,  most recently, in Des Moines, Iowa. I have also lived in Boston and New York so I am very familiar with the coastal view of the Midwest, as immortalized in the famous 1976 Saul Steinberg map of the world for The New Yorker.

So Stephen Bloom’s obnoxious stereotyping pf Iowa and Iowans, especially small town rural Iowa, in a recent Atlantic online piece didn’t strike me as anything new – especially since he wrote something similar (for the LA TIMES?) soon after he first arrived in Iowa City some twenty years ago.  But his latest attack has raised a stink here, especially as the Iowa presidential caucuses approach.  One of the best defenses of  Iowa/Des Moines comes from my old friend Jane Burns. see: http://sneezingthrough.blogspot.com/

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