There’s a very cool new protruding ramp known as “the EMC overlook” at MacRae Park on Des Moines’s south side offering dazzling views of downtown. We also took in some new views from the new Chris Coleman bridge in Gray’s Lake Park. Looking good Des Moines.
Category Archives: Des Moines
Views from on high – at Des Moines’ MacRae Park
Filed under Des Moines, Iowa
Good news in DSM: Kathmandu restaurant moves to Windsor Heights
Good news – our favorite Nepalese/Indian restaurant in Des Moines has moved a little closer to where we live — from the south side to Windsor Heights. My only concern is that one of my favorite things about Kathmandu (beyond the food) is the waiter’s shirt which said across the front: “More Parking in the Back.” (Now there’s plenty of parking in the front at the new location.)
Filed under Des Moines, DINING, Iowa
Welcome improvements on the Raccoon River Valley Trail – west of Des Moines
Two years ago, when I wrote a cover story about the Raccoon River Valley Trail for Rails to Trails magazine, the trail was looking good. Now it’s even better, as promised two years ago. Where the trail intersects with gravel roads, the section you ride over is now paved – rather than gravel, which is a huge improvement. There is also new landscaping here and there – some with new amenities such as picnic tables — which is also greatly appreciated.
It was hot and humid on the trail yesterday, which may explain why we had the 12-mile stretch from Redfield to Panora almost to ourselves. Lovely autumn landscape (despite the summary weather) with wide expanses of yellowing corn and still-green soy beans and old barns and bright blue silos in the distance. In the tiny town of Linden (a midway point), we had a lovely picnic at a table under an overhang in a small park. No one around other than the occasional piece of farm machinery rumbling by. In Panora, we stopped trailside at the Kick Stop for some ice cream and met some fellow riders from….the Czech Republic (they’ve lived in Ames, home of Iowa State U., for years). Great day and welcome reminder of what I love about living in Iowa.
Filed under bike trails, biking, Des Moines
Good meal at our new neighborhood joint – MST in DSM
We finally got around to trying out our new neighborhood joint, the restaurant MST ( Motley School Tavern) in Des Moines’ Beaverdale neighborhood. It was good! I had a delicious hamburger – rare as requested, with cheddar instead of American cheese as requested. The meat appeared to be freshly ground so there were a few non-edible bits but that was OK. Dirck, the Kansan among us, enjoyed his Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potatoes. The service was pleasant and professional and quick. The ambiance is low-key, hipster Beaverdale (if there is such a thing.) Seems to be a big draw for 30-something bald men with long thick beards. (We saw three of them.)
Filed under Des Moines, DINING
Kudos to Aposto – DSM
not only served up excellent Italian food on Saturday night but hefty portions of it — something not always done during Des Moines’ Restaurant Week. Too often, we’ve become hungry soon after a restaurant week meal — with tiny portions of this and that for the $28 fixed price menu. (Didn’t it used to be $25? Now there are also optional add-ons to the menu, for an additional price.)
At Aposto — which we’ve somehow never been to until now, although it’s been around for years — they chose differently. The food was very good — gazpacho or Cesar Salad for the first course; glazed chunks of pork with brocollini or cavatelli with sausage for the main; panna cotta with balsamic and strawberries or a wicked remake of a Reese’s peanut butter cup for dessert. So was the service, the price and yes, the portions. We were not remotely hungry, hours later.
Aposto is in a shabby chic old house in the historic Sherman Hill neighborhood, with a graceful wraparound porch (where we ate outside with friends in perfect eating out weather — cool, no bugs). It’s the former home of a restaurant we loved decades ago — Chat Noir — and still retains some of its funkiness.
Filed under Des Moines, DINING, Uncategorized
Elizabeth Warren, Slipknot,Pork Belly on a stick at 2019 Iowa State Fair – Des Moines
I wouldn’t normally go to the Iowa State Fair on a Saturday — too busy. But I wanted to catch Elizabeth Warren’s brief stint on the Des Moines Register’s famous political soapbox, so we went. It was hot, although not as hot as it could have been, and very very crowded but we did get to see Liz, who performed well and apparently had the largest crowd of all the 2019 Democratic political candidates, to date. (I couldn’t tell – -we were in the thick of the crowd, standing next to a young documentary filmmaker from L.A. who was shooting footage for a film about the Iowa State Fair’s role in presidential politics, or some such.)
We also happened to hear former Colorado Governor Hickenlooper, who seems like a good guy — and although we skipped the Cory Booker soapbox appearance, we passed him and a large entourage, reportedly in search of vegen-worthy fair food. Speaking of non-vegan-worthy food, I fell hard for the maple syrup cured-pork belly on a stick sold at the Iowa Pork Producers tent.
While Dirck had a proper pork chop, I went full stick — with what looked like a thick piece of well-cooked bacon, with a brown chewy gooey sweet glaze, twisted around a stick. Delicious. We double dipped in the ice cream department — getting a cone from the Iowa Dairy Producers early on and as we were leaving, a Bauder’s peppermint-hot fudge bar that we split.
The fair always makes for exceptional people watching but even more so this year because of the political campaign workers/reporters (telltale signs: a Princeton T-shirt, the DC regulation gear – blue button down shirt and khaki combo, etc), the unnerving folks wearing NRA T-shirts, camouflage gear and/or Trump 2020 shirts (Dirck had to restrain me from shooting them dirty looks. Probably best to ignore them.) Also, the hard metal band Slipknot (internationally-known, Iowa-born) was playing its first ever state fair concert to a sell-out crowd so there were some 20,000 maggots (slipknot speak for “fans”) — many wearing menacing black Slipknot t-shirts or other weirdo Slipknot gear (bright orange jumpsuits, creepy face masks like the band members). Many waited in a long line outside a trailer dubbed the “Slipknot Museum” that was parked in the middle of the Grand Concourse (fair speak for the fair’s main drag). It all added a little je ne sais quoi to the fair…
Filed under Agritourism, Des Moines, Iowa City
Brandi Carlisle, Maggie Rogers, Dawes, the War and the Treaty – fabulous Hinterland Festival near Des Moines
Yes, it was hot midday at the Hinterland Festival, a bucolic venue carved into a cornfield south of Des Moines. But not as hot as it could be in August and the music yesterday was worth the sweat and sunburn. We finally, finally, got to see and hear Brandi Carlisle live and she was great! Full of energy and what a voice. She belted out one song after another with a crackerjack band and chatted warmly and confessionally with the crowd, making us feel special. (And maybe we were…) After singing her poignant song about motherhood, her young daughter Evangeline (the song’s namesake) ran onto the stage to give her a hug. That was a moment, especially for a rocker like Brandi. I always managed to be away during her previous visits to Des Moines so I was very happy to see her at last and hope to do so again soon.
Young and gorgeous Maggie Rogers also put on a high-spirited show, dancing exuberantly across the stage during almost every well-sung song. The folk rock group Dawes (a favorite of our son’s) and The War and The Treaty — a wife/husband soul group and one of the few Hinterland non-white groups — also threw everything they had into their show. Well done!
Filed under Des Moines, Iowa, music, music festival, Uncategorized
Here’s my story on Caucus Bistro in the Minneapolis Star Tribune
Just in time for the Iowa State Fair — and the cavalcade of Democratic presidential hopefuls — comes my story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Caucus Bistro, in the small Iowa town of Ladora.
Midwest Traveler: Caucus-themed Iowa restaurant serves up political fare in classic surroundings
Small-town Caucus Bistro salutes Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential contest.
By Betsy Rubiner Special to the Star Tribune
AUGUST 1, 2019 — 6:52PM
CAUCUS BISTRO
The Caucus Bistro building, formerly the 1920 Ladora Savings Bank in Ladora, Iowa, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
We needed strength. We needed sustenance. We were steeling ourselves to see 19 Democratic presidential candidates (including Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar) on a Sunday afternoon in June at a political event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that promised little food and lots of speeches.
What better time for a Bleeding Heart Flatbread or the Inaugural Balls at Caucus Bistro, a new restaurant paying homage to the nation’s first-in-the-nation presidential contest? (The 2020 Iowa caucuses are scheduled for Feb. 3.)
The bistro is located in the farm community of Ladora, about 39 miles southwest of Cedar Rapids — and an easy stop along our two-hour drive from Des Moines. We also were in luck that it serves Sunday lunch.
Although my husband and I enjoyed Caucus Bistro’s low-key but sophisticated fare, the biggest draws were the caucus-themed decor and the faded grandeur of the restaurant’s digs — a restored former jewel box-style bank that opened in 1920 and closed 11 years later during the Great Depression.
Ladora (pop. 274) is what my husband calls a “blink town” — as in “blink and you’ll miss it.” (He grew up in one in Kansas.) After driving 90 miles east from Des Moines, we landed in Ladora via Hwy. 6, a two-lane road that runs through rolling hills dotted with cattle grazing in green fields, pretty old farmhouses and the occasional McMansion.
Filed under Des Moines, DINING, Iowa
New Waterworks Park amphitheater for outdoor concerts – Des Moines
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I have such fond memories of warm summer nights on the lawn of Meadowbrook Hall in suburban Detroit, listening to live music performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Flash forward to Des Moines , which has a new outdoor stage in Waterworks Park for concerts by, among others, the Des Moines Symphony. Last night’s weather was not ideal – light intermittent rain – but what a treat to sit on a lawn chair on the green grass, watching clouds drift by in the sky, eating ice cream served from The Outer Scoop’s truck and listening to John Williams’ movie scores played by the Des Moines symphony. Oh, and did I mention that the concert was free? there were two free symphony concerts this year. Next up, performances by Ben Folds and Maren Morris …neither free.
Filed under Des Moines, Detroit, Iowa, music
One glorious day of Ragbrai riding…
…was enough for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the 39.9 mile (i.e. 40 mile) ride on Day 3 of RAGBRAI from Winterset to Indianola in central Iowa. Glorious weather, fun biking companions (my docent friend Judy and her friend Carole, from Fort Dodge, and Carole’s daughter.).
The ride wasn’t as hilly as I feared – but hilly enough, which was a challenge for me psychologically (not to mention physically) because after breaking my arm twice, I’ve become even more cautious. I braked a lot on the downhills, which were further complicated by the often rough condition of the roads (a big crack down the middle at times, bumpy patches and other cracks). Sadly, the danger I perceived was real — three riders landed in the hospital, some with what sounds like serious injuries. Part of the issue too is that there were so many riders and I’m partly to blame for that. Like many Des Moines residents, I jumped on the ride for a day because it was coming so close to home.
As we arrived in Indianola, after some hills that felt gratuitous to include on the route. I was surprised to see a big hole in the center of the square where apparently the old courthouse is being replaced with a new “justice center.” Apparently the festivities were actually nearby — on the Simpson U. campus. (News to me.) I did find Outer Scoop on Jefferson, for some great and much-deserved ice cream.
Filed under biking, Des Moines, Uncategorized
TakeBetsywithyou 