Des Moines has lots of stores and lots of shopping malls and we went to the malliest mall of them all, the Jordan Creek Towne Center. Don't let that pseudo-quaint sounding name fool you, it's no strip mall. It's actually a pretty impressive mall- not that I'm much of a mall expert but apparently it's on the top 25 biggest in the country. Right below Pittsburgh Mills mall-
So yay for consumerism. I was pretty impressed though, it's a pretty spiffy mall with every imaginable chain store and a multiplex movie and all that jazz. If you walked in there, you would pretty much forget you were in the midwest and only a scant 45 minutes away from small town Ames. Not to disparage Ames... it has a pretty substandard mall though. So anyway, if anyone happens to find themselves in W. Des Moines sometime and wants the full-on mall experience, I would say, head over to Jordan Creek and you won't feel let down.
At this mall I acquired some new double layer, extra insulated gloves, which I am pretty excited about, for their potential to keep my fingers from freezing and feeling numb. While I am starting to get used to that, warding off hypothermia always seems like a worthwhile goal. They remind me of my extra thick bike gloves but they have actual fingers, instead of weird claw like mittens.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
the broiler and seeing estelle g etty
Apparently, she is still here and living in Ames or nearby. The actress of Golden Girls fame.
Saw a woman who could have been her, having dinner at The Broiler. I wish I could have subtly taken pictures to convey the essence of this restaurant. It's out in the middle of nowhere, I think it is sort of going for upscale family dining but it's menu is more Ponderosa/Sizzler, minus the all you can eat salad bar. It's funny because it was mostly familyish but the bar and accompanying decor of beer advertisements signs for Miller and Bud Lite, sort of ruined that sentiment by making it seem more frat house/dorm room decor. Weird. So first the staff seemed rather frazzled, guess they were busier than anticipated. Everyone must have their fish fry and 6 oz top sirloin. Interestingly they had not only the standard deep fried mozzarella cheese but also accompanied by cheddar. Huh. I've never seen fried cheddar before. Well anyhow... the food was pretty mediocre but the overall experience was entertaining enough to justify going there. First three different people said oh just a minute, we'll help you. The one guy said he would clear a table off but if we wanted to sit down RIGHT then we could sit at the bar. Um, okay, yeh, we can't wait 3 minutes. Maybe they have some demanding customers.
Then the guy who waited on us said he was the waiter, bartender, bus boy. Lol. He apologized profusely for bringing me a glass of water with a bug in it. He assured me the 2nd glass was entirely bug free.
Then while observing the other patrons, I noticed the family group with the woman who was the dead ringer for Estelle. Amusingly at this multi-generational gathering, it was Estelle's cell phone that rang at dinner! And she stopped eating to answer it!
Anyway...I'm not really sure what theme this restaurant is going for.
Saw a woman who could have been her, having dinner at The Broiler. I wish I could have subtly taken pictures to convey the essence of this restaurant. It's out in the middle of nowhere, I think it is sort of going for upscale family dining but it's menu is more Ponderosa/Sizzler, minus the all you can eat salad bar. It's funny because it was mostly familyish but the bar and accompanying decor of beer advertisements signs for Miller and Bud Lite, sort of ruined that sentiment by making it seem more frat house/dorm room decor. Weird. So first the staff seemed rather frazzled, guess they were busier than anticipated. Everyone must have their fish fry and 6 oz top sirloin. Interestingly they had not only the standard deep fried mozzarella cheese but also accompanied by cheddar. Huh. I've never seen fried cheddar before. Well anyhow... the food was pretty mediocre but the overall experience was entertaining enough to justify going there. First three different people said oh just a minute, we'll help you. The one guy said he would clear a table off but if we wanted to sit down RIGHT then we could sit at the bar. Um, okay, yeh, we can't wait 3 minutes. Maybe they have some demanding customers.
Then the guy who waited on us said he was the waiter, bartender, bus boy. Lol. He apologized profusely for bringing me a glass of water with a bug in it. He assured me the 2nd glass was entirely bug free.
Then while observing the other patrons, I noticed the family group with the woman who was the dead ringer for Estelle. Amusingly at this multi-generational gathering, it was Estelle's cell phone that rang at dinner! And she stopped eating to answer it!
Anyway...I'm not really sure what theme this restaurant is going for.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Snow tubing in Boone
What's the thing to do when it's miserably cold outside? Why, go snow tubing and stand around outside for long periods of time, of course!
Keeping that in mind, we went to:
http://www.sevenoaksrec.com/snowtube.html
Seven Oaks Recreation in nearby Boone, IA to try snow tubing... Except for it being mightily cold and near frozen hands, it is sort of fun. You get towed up to the top of a pretty steep hill- seriously, this is also a ski/snowboard run- then a cranky guy pulls your tow thing off the line and kerplunks you down in tube. Then you get to line up and either try sitting down in tube or laying down it, and go flying down the slope! Going down sitting down results in you twirling around and revolving, such that you wind up going down half the slope backward. Sort of fun and yet vaguely terrifying at the same time, since after all, you're basically in some silly plastic tube, with no real way of stopping. Then at the bottom you stop/crash into a hay bale or another tuber. Good times! When you're done, you stand up, brush yourself off, and get back in the line to do it all again!
Keeping that in mind, we went to:
http://www.sevenoaksrec.com/snowtube.html
Seven Oaks Recreation in nearby Boone, IA to try snow tubing... Except for it being mightily cold and near frozen hands, it is sort of fun. You get towed up to the top of a pretty steep hill- seriously, this is also a ski/snowboard run- then a cranky guy pulls your tow thing off the line and kerplunks you down in tube. Then you get to line up and either try sitting down in tube or laying down it, and go flying down the slope! Going down sitting down results in you twirling around and revolving, such that you wind up going down half the slope backward. Sort of fun and yet vaguely terrifying at the same time, since after all, you're basically in some silly plastic tube, with no real way of stopping. Then at the bottom you stop/crash into a hay bale or another tuber. Good times! When you're done, you stand up, brush yourself off, and get back in the line to do it all again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
