We had originally planned on camping out even on this very first stop of our journey but tornado warnings and watches had us changing our plans. We spent night on in Ames staying at a local hotel .. poor Gunner was not a big fan. And the second night we stayed at my friends Jess & Jake’s house about 20 minutes outside Des Moines.
We ate out at several places, all of which I miss dearly. Some were places I wanted to introduce G too, some were places he had been too on our first trip to Ames together last November, but that I just HAVE to eat at every time I am in town. Most of the places we ate, had some friends along which of course is the point of the stop.
- Bali Satay House (now called 20/20) is a MUST eat every time I am in Ames. It is Indonesian food!! I used to work here when I was in college and I became addicted. This was just G an I right after we got into town.
- Old Chicago been there before but it is a great place to meet up with everyone for a few quick drinks and dollar slices of Chicago style pizza (Dinner on Thursday night with a bunch of friends stopping in as they could)
- DG’s Taphouse. Meet up with the rest of the “crew” there after dinner for drinks and a Drag Show (poor G he had no idea what he was in for)
- The Grove. This is the best known secret in Ames. Their pancakes are huge!! I just had to take G here to experience it for himself. We had breakfast with Xavvov before he headed off to work and we headed out of town.
- Hickory Park. This is a must try if you are ever in Ames, its good BBQ. I didn’t eat there a lot when I lived in Ames but the atmosphere is super cool for out of town guests to experience. G and I had lunch here before heading down to Des Monies on Friday afternoon, some friends had planned to meet us there but got called into work
- The Library. A small bar/pub on the Drake campus in Des Moines. Meet one of my college roommates for after work celebratory drinks as she had just gotten a promotion!! Yeah Nicole!!
We spent our last night in town sitting around a bonfire sharing stories and smores with great friends. As we packed up and headed out saying good bye was hard, especially since Jess was so cute with her baby belly, but still leaving Iowa was not heartbreaking like it was the last time.
Our next stop: Mt Rushmore with a few detours to see the Bandlands and Wall Drug South Dakota.
