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 | Des Moines Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 42 |  |
Popular Things To Do | Other Things To Do Tips | All Tips (42) Salisbury House is a museum in the middle of Des Moines that is a replica of the Salisbury House in England. It is chock full of intersting artifacts from across the globe that are showcased through daily tours and special events. Leave a Comment Address: 4025 Tonawanda DrivePhone: 515.274.1777Directions: South of Grand Avenue, near the Des Moines Art Center. Take Grand to 42nd Street, go south and watch for the brown sign. Turn left on Tonawanda.Website: http://www.salisburyhouse.org/ Other Contact: contactus@salisburyhouse.org |
The Des Moines Art Center is well worth a stop if you're traveling through Iowa. Centralized in Des Moines, just East of downtown, the museum holds Iowa's largest collection of "art of our times."
The museum has a 5 star restaurant and a really wonderful gift shop with tons of stuff for kids as well as adults.
The museum has a beautiful rose garden just to the north of the main buildings that is in full bloom all summer long.
The building itself is a creation found no where else on earth. Three world famous architects designed the structure that graces the city scape. Leave a Comment Address: 4700 Grand AvenuePhone: 4700 Grand AvenueDirections: Just East of downtown Des Moines on Grand Avenue.Website: http://www.desmoinesartcenter.org/ Other Contact: informationdesk@desmoinesartcent |
Des Moines' Water Works park is a wonderful place to relax during a busy afternoon. Make sure to drive all the way to the back of the grounds, as the river bends and twists through the grassy fields.
Water Works Park is open to the public every day between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. except for Thanksgiving and December 24-25.
Biking, jogging, picnicking, fishing and hiking are a few of the activities that park patrons enjoy. Picnic areas, complete with tables and grills, are located in several areas of the park. Leave a Comment Address: Fleur Drive directly across from Gray's lakeDirections: The park stretches from Fleur Drive west of 63rd Street, bounded by the Raccoon River on the north edge and Valley Drive to the south.Website: http://www.dmww.com/park_main.asp |
The East Village, Des Moines' edgiest neighborhood, boasts an eclectic mix of businesses, including a high-end cookware shop, a record store, an upscale cafe and artisanal cheese shop and an Asian antique/vintage metal furniture store. Leave a Comment Address: East of downtownDirections: Des Moines' East Village is the wonderful area of town located to the East of main downtown. |
Richard Meier's is the most recently built section of the Art Center. It's also the most thoroughly successful in my view. The design echoes that found in Meier's High Museum of Art in Atlanta. It also suggests some of the building forms that Meier would employ in his grandest museum commission, that for the Getty in Lost Angeles (see my Los Angeles page).
In front of the Meier building is a Henry Moore bronze, "Three Way Piece No. 1". Leave a Comment |
The internationally-acclaimed Iowa State Fair is the single largest event in the state of Iowa and one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in the country. Annually attracting hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, it is a "celebration of excellence," the real heartbeat of the Midwest, unequaled and unduplicated.
Although it seems that we're more "world known" for our butter cow and variety of fried foods, let me just say that if you're in the area during the fair, then by all means - GO!!
In 1881 historian James Wilson noted that, "One of the most valuable effects of the State Fair is the fraternizing, humanizing consequences of bringing our people together. . . .No one meets and mingles with 20,000 Iowa men, women and children on the Fairgrounds - the only place they can be brought together - without growth of sympathy." Certainly this is even more relevant today, when the pace of modern life tends to isolate individuals even more from their neighbors. The Fair continues to draw nearly one million Iowans together each year. Leave a Comment Address: East 30th Street and East University AvenuePhone: 800.545.FAIRDirections: East area of town. Follow signs from I-235.Website: http://www.iowastatefair.com/ Other Contact: 515.262.3111 |
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Living History Farm is 600 acres of land. There are different farms in operation there showing the different farming styles of the past. There is also a typical town of a hundred years ago and a neat old mansion.
The hiking trails through the woods seperate the farms. It is like travelling through time and is quite interesting. People in period clothes demonstrate how they did things. Leave a Comment Address: 2600 N.W. 111th Street in Urbandale.Other Contact: I've added some photos to a trav |
It is free and a great way to spend an afternoon. There are alot of great statues located around the Capitol grounds that you should check out while there. Leave a Comment Directions: Just east of downtown, there will be plenty of signs ont the interstate(235) telling you were to turn. |
They play in one of the best stadiums in the Minor leagues, you get a great veiw of the Des Moines skyline from the right feild stands. The ticket prices are pretty low, from $5 and up. Check out Iowacubs.com for more info. Leave a Comment Directions: South of the downtown, There are also signs on the Interstate(235) |
Des Moines Botanical Center has out door gardens and a spectacular indoor domed tropical garden to enjoy.
Free flying birds inside the dome. Leave a Comment Address: 909 E. River DriveOther Contact: Small admission fee of only $1.5 |
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on August 20, 2005
Des Moines
on July 7, 2004
on August 25, 2002
on August 25, 2002
