WOW! The Law Library looks straight out of a fairytale. I swear it looks like the inspiration for…read moreBelle's library in Beauty and the Beast. The gorgeous murals and senate chambers were also impressive. We stopped here on a whim during a recent road trip and were pleasantly surprised by its grandeur and beauty. They offered a free tour, but we opted for a self guided tour instead so we could go on our own pace. We came on a Friday afternoon and someone who worked there told us it's the best day to visit since the place is so busy Mon-Thurs when legislators are in session, that it's often difficult to find a parking spot. But on this quiet Friday morning, we parked in the front row and had no line in front of us as we went through the security metal detector.

My visits to state capitols are few and far between, but after visiting the Iowa State Capitol, I…read morewant to make a point of visiting more whenever I travel to other states. My son started attending law school in Des Moines and so I was trying to see what the city has to offer. Visiting the capitol building was one of the things that kept popping up on things to do. We decided to check it out on a Saturday and luckily they do guided tours which I highly recommend. Completed in 1886, they have done a remarkable job preserving this place and showcasing it's beauty. It sits on top of a hill and offers great views of the city from every side. One of the first things you notice from the outside is the gold dome. The ornate outside facade carries inside where it is just as beautiful. You'll notice intricate wood decor as well as marble, gold and other beautiful materials. You can visit the historic supreme court chambers and see all the offices of state officials. The law library is by far my favorite part of the building. I felt like I was in some movie like Harry Potter or something. You have to see it in person to really comprehend the beauty. The wood and gold along with the spiraling staircases and law books stacked to the high ceiling was cool to see. If you aren't afraid of heights, you can take a long winding staircase at the top of the dome. We were one of the last tours so we didn't really get to really take our time and soak in all this place has to offer. I will most definitely come back next time I am in town visiting the kiddo. It was absolutely something I did not expect to see deep in the Midwest.

This place is extremely beautiful. The biggest downside to here is the hours on their website are…read morenot accurate. I came here to visit the inside and the arrive to a locked door. On the door was a note saying they are only open 1 day a week. I was able to peak in the window and see all the beautiful architecture. I was also able to explore the outside grounds too. However it can be slightly frustrating if your website says it will be open but you're not actually open. Overall this place is not huge and is a walkable distance to several other things. So I recommend walk past it to see if it's open. If it's closed, visit somewhere else.

This place is absolutely stunning inside. So clean, well kept. It was our first time & we attended…read moreCandlelight The Beatles. The staff were so pleasant, & helpful. I got a small sprite for $1. They had cocktails available. The bathroom immaculate. I would definitely recommend checking this beautiful building out given the chance! The symphony played for an hour & did an amazing job. I heard there is a beautiful garden outside however we rushed to our cars because of the cold temps.

Absolutely gorgeous from basement to attic. Beautifully restored and furnished with marvelous…read moreantiques. Great place for an event.

We had a truly outstanding experience at Witmer House this weekend when we rented the venue for a…read morefamily memorial. Every detail was exceptional from the food to the decor of the house to the service provided by the hosts. The venue itself is a wonderful place to hold an event as there are several rooms for guests to visit with each other, ample parking and beautiful details throughout. The brunch that was prepared for us was fresh, unique and the perfect fare for our guests. The chocolate chip cookies were sublime. I highly recommend this venue to anyone looking for a unique, intimate yet expansive place to host a special event.

I love that we have a venue that provides opportunity to see some of the excellent work being…read morecreated by Iowa artists. Outside of galleries, such places are relatively scarce. If you enjoy such things, it is well worth planning a visit. Things to know: * The Gallery is largely volunteer-run. Kudos to the staff for giving up their time to make this happen * The gallery space is not large. If you are not there for a reception/opening, you can probably complete a visit in 30 minutes or less depending on how interesting the current work is * All parking in the area is paid. The easiest is metered street parking, but there are no coin-fed meters in this part of downtown so you will need to feed a parking kiosk (consider the ParkDSM app to make it easy), park in a city lot (one not quite a block away, or in the Polk County administrative offices lot (usually pretty full). * Nearest food and/or drink is within a one block walk * If you are traveling in to visit, it may be worth you effort to call the day before to verify gallery and./or exhibit hours. For a recent exhibit, I planned to visit on the last day of the show (per all social media, etc.), scheduled a business trip around it, took time off, etc. I arrived shortly after noon to find that the exhibit had been pulled down and the new one being installed. I have attempted other (less involved) stops over the years to find their doors closed at unexpected times. Again, consider checking in before visiting. Enjoy your visit!

This gallery gives local Iowans and other artists a place to show their work. This gallery is all…read morevolunteer-run and they are doing a damn good job with displaying art work and putting on receptions.

An unexpected find on the property of the Iowa State Capitol was the Iowa Holocaust Memorial. But I…read moreguess I shouldn't really be surprised - many of the concentration camp liberators were Iowa citizens and many of the concentration camp survivors moved here after the war. Lists of the camps and the dates of their liberation are here as are many quotes from survivors and other notables. How do we bring about "Never again!"? By educating people and reminding them of the horrors that came before us. Kudos to Iowa on building this great memorial.

This Holocaust memorial is right in front of the Iowa State Capitol, just down the steps. We were…read morewondering around downtown and came across this somewhat small but mighty memorial. It was an excellent time to talk to our son about history and reflection. It was especially interesting to me as a German citizen and I recognized some of the cities in the pictures; the regions where I grew up. This sparked some great conversations among us and a good time to learn more about each other and our past as a while world. It is beautifully made to last forever surrounded by the front lawn of the Capitol and flower gardens. Make sure you stop by when in the area. Lots to be learned and reflected on here...

We went to Iowa to get married. I did the application through the mail, as there is a three day…read morewaiting period. I called the recorders office several times before I left Austin to make sure I had everything together. The big day arrives. We show up, and, are greeted by a very friendly clerk who goes over the license with us, then sends us on our way to get married. After the Judge did his thing, we went back and got the official copy of the license on the spot. No waiting! The lady who took care of us was super friendly and knowledgeable. Thanks guys. BTW the fee for the license is only $35.

Well the only times I came here was for vehicle registration changes, property tax information, or…read moremarriage license application. I had no idea they had a section of the building known as the Heritage Gallery! This Gallery showcases art works for different occasions from different artists. They update the works every couple months I believe. When we visited, they had local high school art work showcased and it was cool checking them out! The Gallery is not that big, all you need is 15 minutes max to take a look at everything closely and read their descriptions. Of course, this is free admission! There is a staff member at the desk to the Gallery for you to ask any questions about regarding the artwork!

Whenever I travel I make it a habit to visit sculpture parks and public art installations…read morethroughout the area I'm in. Overall I really enjoy our local parks here in the Des Moines metro including the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. I think it ranks right up there with parks in some of the major metropolitan areas throughout the United States. That being said... I have to take issue with one piece... Gymnast III. Can we stop pretending that it doesn't look like what it really looks like? Lol It's described as it "captures the basic strength of a bending and stretching athlete..." I was on a school trip with my young daughter when the guide steered our kids away from a nearby nude female bust that used to stand near the Gymnast III statue. We passed by that statue...and headed right over to this one. I whispered to one of the other chaperones... "Really? Away from that one to this one...?" She quietly asked me what I meant. I told her "Just wait... As we walk around it... Let me know when you see it." A few seconds later she grabbed my arm tightly... "Oh my God!" she said in a hushed voice. But with enough emphasis I knew she was seeing it too... We both had a good laugh as the tour guide went on with her explanation of the piece to the children in the group. Both hoping none of the kids would see "it"... I didn't need those questions that day. I'm all about art. And I'm a big fan of the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. It's a bright spot in the middle of downtown! But I can't help but feel like this piece is part of a HUGE inside joke... I wonder if the sculptor (William Tucker) said... I'm going to create this huge bronze phallic piece! I'm not going to call it what it is though. I'm going to call it Gymnast III and attach a PC interpretation explaining it... And sell it for A LOT of money! Then after the money is in the account...I'm going to sit back and laugh my butt off... Because I know what it really is!" And maybe it's not. Could just be my imagination or my inner 13 year old... BUT from the side it sure looks like one... Tucker also described some of his works as a "prolonged anatomy lesson." Again...really? I think he knew what it looked like too. Lol A popular spot for tourists and photographers. A showpiece many festivals are centered around. Opened in 2009 the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park sits on 4.4 acres. It contains around 30 installations. The parking around it is metered. You will find the Gymnast III statue on the North side of the park. About halfway down right along Grand Ave. Circle around it... Look at it from every angle. Take it all in... And then you tell me what you think...!

Excellent space to park and walk after a long flight ... was a short drive from the rental car…read morefacility and there was a lot of parking and a peaceful environment. There is quite a bit of car traffic surrounding the park, and some life happening within the park, and I enjoyed an afternoon stroll while admiring art. Each sculpture had a placard with some information about it. Not all resonated with me so I kept it moving until someone did ... it's free! Parking was $1.25 per hour and you can use a card or quarters.

Want to learn more about this amazing state? Then plan your trip to take a tour of the exhibits at…read morethe Historical Building. Conveniently located near a free parking ramp and the State Capitol building (while you're at it, take a tour there too!). This building also hosts events. I have attended a roof top wedding reception and a day long symposium is the auditorium.

There are an excellent array of exhibits here! Ranging from early Iowa settler history, to civil…read morerights war, and everything in between until present day! It's free, and there's a good amount of info in short blurbs so it's all easy to read. There's interactive exhibits and it's all very clean. Definitely check this out to learn a lot about Iowa and US history in the context of Iowa. It's very kid friendly as well.

Review Visit: September 15th, 2015…read more This blog contains a random story about how we stumbled upon this place and the strange tour we received. On a whim and after convincing someone to go on a 4 hour car ride to get burgers at Zombie Burger, we stumbled in to Des Moines with no idea what else we were going to do. Little did we know that it would entail burgers, bagels, and an tour of a governor's mansion. But no, this wasn't any ol' tour. It was by the maintenance worker. Before we got our fill at Zombie Burger, we were driving around Des Moines and seeing if anything caught our eyes. At some point, I see a brown sign that pointed to Terrace Hill. I asked the people I were with if they wanted to check it out and they all agreed. So, we ended up following the brown signs and we ended up at a place that was not a hill, but a mansion. As we parked the car and got out, we noticed some groundskeepers working on some bricks. They gave us an odd look, which I didn't find too comforting, but we progressed forward. As we approached the front door, we ran in to some other people who happened to stumble upon the place. We exchanged stories and it turns out, they also had no idea what the place was but were intrigued. At this point, a guy approaches us and asks what we are doing. We said that we stumbled upon the place and had no idea what it was. The gentleman introduces himself as the head of maintenance and that the tour guide is not there. Whether by luck or friendliness, he decided to give us a tour himself. He warned us that we will be getting a personalized tour as he normally doesn't do that. With that in mind, he took us in and started showing us around. I can't remember the minute details of the place, but he told us a lot of behind-the-scenes stories that we wouldn't have gotten during a normal tour. Stuff about how they transported a very expensive lamp as though it were any normal lamp but found out later it was worth a hefty sum of money. Stories on how they keep up maintenance around the place and all the little fixes they've done over the years. This continued as he gave us a in-depth guide of the first two floors. The 3rd floor was inaccessible as this is where the Governor sleeps. As for the 2 floors we were shown, I have to say it was excellent. There was a beautiful stained glass window between the two floors that I fell in love with. After the tour of the mansion, we were guided out the back and got a quick overview of the grounds. The yard was beautifully kept and made me wish we could walk around more to get a full view of it. As we rounded the house, the impromptu tour guide told us a hilarious story about how they had a bunch of squirrels and other small animals on the property that were acting weird. He said they were extremely lethargic and had trouble keeping balance. It turns out that these small animals were getting drunk off of some fruits that fell off a few trees and started fermenting. That mental image will never leave my head. Ha! As he wrapped up that story, he noticed the Governor's police protection people had shown up and were parked in the driveway. Upon seeing this, he told us that the time has come for us to go as the Governor was about to show up and the Security Officers might tackle us to the ground/questioned as we weren't supposed to be there. With that in mind, all of us thanked the guy profusely and went on our way. It was the best tour I have ever gotten, bar none. And that is how my friends, some strangers, and myself almost ended up tackled/questioned by the Governor's security and also how we ended up getting the best tour ever.

After living in Des Moines for 3 years, I realized I should start taking some tours of the local…read morehistorical buildings in the area to gain a better understanding of the town I live in. This happened to be on of the landmarks we decided to tour! If you drive on the interstate in town often, you'll see a sign that says "Terrace Hill Historical Building, Exit here". I never thought too much about that, but after visiting it's cool to know what they building is and it's history. For those who really don't know what it is, Terrace Hill is the Governor's house. Yes, the Governor of Iowa actually lives here with his family! The Governor lives on the 3rd floor of the house, which is off-limits to the public, the rest of the house is open for a tour. Parking...parking is terrible here, either I didn't find it or there really isn't a private lot for visitors. You need to find street parking in the residential neighborhood surrounding the building, at least parking is free. After parking, you walk up towards the Carriage house of the building, not the actual house (there are signs to tell you not to enter and guide you to the Carriage house). This is where the meet with the tour guides to begin to the tour (check the website for tour times, they are set). The tour is $5 per person, it is a guided tour, self-tours are not authorized. The tour takes about an hour and the history of the house is explained, it is a great story and learning about everything in the house was very interesting! Although the house does not appear to be as big as it is from the outside, there is still much to learn about it's history. I definitely recommend coming here for a tour! You will be educated and marveled by the beauty of the architecture!