I really enjoyed Des Moines, IA. There are some good disc golf courses in the area, excellent food and some fun places to walk around.
Smokey D’s boasts being the winner of over 90 State BBQ championships and over 1000 local, regional, and national awards. I ordered my lunch to go and ate it back at my Des Moines home so I could get more work done. The MaidPro owner had specifically recommended the mac and cheese which I did include in my order and he was right. It’s hard to go wrong with mac and cheese, but this was outstanding. Along with the Texas toast that was included and the burnt ends I ordered, it was an excellent lunch. My AirBnB host said she was jealous and I believe ended up going there for dinner.
After the round I decided to head into Des Moines to see the capitol building and explore that area.
Shattering Silence Monument
“The sculpture is adjacent to the building that houses the Iowa Supreme Court and at the top of the hill overlooking the Des Moines skyline. It is in commemoration of the 170th anniversary of the landmark 1839 Iowa Territorial Supreme Court ruling that prohibited slave Ralph Montgomery from being extradited back to Missouri after he failed to raise the $550 he promised to pay to buy his freedom. The Iowa Art Council’s newsletter describes the art as a commemoration of “those moments when Iowa has been at the forefront of breaking the silence of inequality and commemorates those Iowans who refused to stand by silently when they saw injustice.” – Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation