Since the weather has been so marvelous these last few weeks and promised to be the same for a while, everyone was there. But, then, that’s what makes it so good. It was a great time: the vegetables were ripe, the food was cooking and smelled yummy the music was hopping, and the people were relishing a beautiful day in a beautiful city. The guy sitting next to me was relaxing and listening to the nearby musicians too.
And, lest you think that Des Moines is all Wonder Bread and corn, let me tell you that you can enjoy Salvadorean Pupusas, Russian perogies served by a babuska (who wears this scarf only on Saturdays for the Farmer’s Market. Otherwise she wears capris and listens to her IPod.) all things Mexican and, would you believe? even American hot dogs. We are an equal oportunity world of food. We even had cinnamon rolls and smoothies.
I always find it amazing how many different types of greens one can buy. We have a large Hmong population here and their tables are covered by foot-long green beans, purple tomatoes, and more leafy greens than in a forest.
As my mother always said, my eyes were bigger than my stomach (didn’t your mother say the same thing?) and I wanted to try everything and take a sample of everything home for our meals. Of course, I keep forgetting that we are only 2 and can’t eat that much. But, I certainly can try.
We walked along the river afterwards. 6 years ago, the river was languishing but several corporations in Des Moines donated quite a bit of money and the time of their employees and the riverfront is coming alive: trails, 2 signature bridges, flower gardens, a Japanese pagoda, sculptures, an ice skating rink and the latest is a planned skate park. Several building are being refurbished and there already were some marvelous venues along the river including a stage which looks out over the river with the city int he background. However, it is still in the growing stage and more is coming.
On the way home, we took the city route rather than the faster interstate and heard the unmistakable sounds of the Isiserettes, a dance and drum corp with a sky-hig energy level. The guys play their drums and the women strut their stuff and they don’t stop until the show is over 45 minutes later. They are in constant motion.
One of the secondary shopping areas was having a festival and had invited the Isiserettes to be the afternoon entertainment. We stopped just to listen to and watch them. Des Moines at its finest and why we’re glad to live here.
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