Des Moines

We attended the first found of the NCAA men's basketball tournament ("March Madness") in Des Moines, Iowa, this year. Although we enjoyed the games on that first day, it was also interesting to experience Des Moines for the first time and this post provides a quick summary of some of the highlights of Des Moines.

The thing that stood out most to me about Des Moines was that it's a great example of the advantages one can find in a small city and its airport was one manifestation of this. The Des Moines International Airport provided one of the least stressful experiences I've had at an airport. It is small, was not very crowded and had no long lines when we were there, and it was easy to hear announcements. The car rental and return was also easy and the cars were parked next to the airport and its can rental facilities. I couldn't believe how quick and easy it was to go through the security "lines" (the wait was about 2 minutes when we were departing). Getting out of the airport and getting back into it were both extremely easy and quick.

Other than when near the Wells Fargo Arena (Iowa Events Center) where the tournament was being held, it was surprisingly easy to get around Des Moines and surrounding areas. I was particularly pleasantly surprised by how open the interstates and freeways we used were and how easy it was even to get around downtown (although downtown does have several one-way streets like many cities' downtown sections have). The parking at the Wells Fargo Arena was not particularly plentiful, but there were plenty of options nearby in parking garages that were surprisingly low cost compared to the parking prices I'm used to in other cities (particularly for special events).

All of the locals we encountered at the restaurants, hotels, and attractions were friendly and seemed eager to make the visitors to the city feel welcome. For example, when we enjoyed a lunch at Big Al's BBQ, Big Al approached us and introduced himself and checked on us later during lunch as well. We enjoyed two of the Big Al BBQ specialties for lunch.

We spent some time in the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden (GDMBG).

Because it was a bit early in spring for outside plants, we spent most of our times indoors in the conservatory.

Although we spent most of our times indoors in the conservatory, we did take some time to see the small number of gardens available outside already and enjoyed looking at the Water Garden with partially frozen surface and birds as well as the view of downtown Des Moines (DSM) in the background.

We also enjoyed a dessert at the botanical garden's Trellis Café.

One of Des Moines's most impressive visuals is its waterfront setting on the Des Moines River.

We went to Des Moines to see the first round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament and really enjoyed that, but a nice unanticipated consequence of this visit was experiencing the many qualities of Des Moines, Iowa, and its friendly people.