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Des Moines, Iowa

Clearly, Iowa isn't just corn and caucuses. It offers a metropolitan ambience as well, in the form of a state capital with walker-friendly downtown streets and enough outdoor sculpture, sleek buildings, storefronts and cafes to delight the most jaded stroller. The Saturday farmers' market downtown covers blocks and breathes life into the central city on what would otherwise be an off day. We're talking more than produce stands. Jazz bands, fiddlers, mimes, dancers and gimcrack vendors also enliven the scene.

• How to get there • How's the weather? • Top attractions • Recommended resources • Stories

Robert Cross' 6 reasons to go

1. The city reborn
The downtown has struggled at times, but it's fun to watch the city core attracting new loft and apartment dwellers along with the unique shops and restaurants that inevitably follow.
2. Baseball
Watch up-and-coming Chicago Cubs play at Principal Park, where the AAA Iowa Cubs develop (one hopes) into major-leaguers.
3. Capital history
Wander through rococo wonders in the state capitol, then visit the nearby State Historical Museum, a state-of-the-art facility with eye-popping architecture and displays.
4. Fun times
A party atmosphere that spills from the sprawling farmers market all the way to the zoo, where evening theme nights feature beer, brats and bands.
5. Rural heritage
Living History Farms realistically depicts agriculture through the ages, lest urbanites forget their Midwestern roots.
6. The art
Street sculpture everywhere, including an amazing giant umbrella and a grossly oversized trowel by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen.

• What did we miss? Share your tips for Des Moines.

Top attractions
• Blank Park Zoo
• Des Moines Art Center
• Iowa Cubs
• Iowa State Capitol
• Iowa State Fairgrounds
• Living History Farms
• Science Center of Iowa
• State Historical Museum

Recommended resources
• City of Des Moines
• Des Moines Cityview
• Des Moines Register
• Downtown Des Moines
• Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Iowa Division of Tourism

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Midwest destinations

Illinois
Galena
Springfield
Starved Rock

Indiana
Brown County
French Lick
Indianapolis
Indiana Dunes

Iowa
Des Moines
Dubuque

Michigan
Harbor Country
Saugatuck
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Traverse City
Upper Peninsula

Minnesota
Twin Cities: Minneapolis & St. Paul

Missouri
Branson
St. Louis

Ohio
Cleveland
Columbus
Toledo

Wisconsin
Cedarburg & Port Washington
Door County
Kettle Moraine
Kohler
Lake Geneva
Lake Michigan ferries
Madison
Milwaukee
North Woods
Southwest Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dells & Baraboo

July 16, 2006

Des Moines

It has a skyline possibly suited for a really big metropolis (squint hard). The statehouse--all domed, gilded and filigreed--would do a small European country proud. Lofts, condos and townhouses sprout throughout the downtown like cornstalks after a good rain.

January 1, 2006

A touch of old England in Iowa

Ladies' makeup crowned Carl Weeks as cosmetics king of the country, but it took a 42-room, bits-and-pieces palace in Des Moines to make him king of the hill.

February 24, 2002

Maytag Blue reigns in the heart of Iowa

Whenever world-famous chef Emeril Lagasse mentions Maytag Blue Cheese on TV, bam!--the phones at Maytag headquarters here start ringing. Not that Maytag needs Emeril. Prestigious chefs such as James Beard and Julia Child, and magazines like Bon Appetit and Gourmet, have sung the Blue's praises in the past.