Most of the people I know, when asked, would declare Des Moines to be a pretty crappy city. I completely disagree. As far as cities in Iowa go, it probably has teh most potential. True, it has a no dancing after 2am law, yes, they are spending far too much money on an Events Center that doesn't have any parking (as far as I or my friends can tell), and sure, it's in Iowa- Iowa for chrissake. I argue that it doesn't take a lot of effort to find cool shit in Des Moines, though- very little in fact; but we live in a country full of people spoon fed information from birth, so open wide, y'all... My girfriend, Melanie, lives in Urbandale, a DSM suburb. Her friend Nikki and Nikki's finace Alan flew in from Atlanta this weekend for a wedding, so I drove down for a visit. They came in late Thrusday night and had to attend the wedding on Friday, but we all had a chance to get together for fun on Saturday before they had to catch a flight back Sunday morning. After a hearty breakfast of Frech Toast, we went for coffee at Zanzibar's Coffee Adventure; fan-freakin'-tastic. Alan bought four pounds of beans for his brother. Why? Atlanta has crap for good coffee. That's right, folks, Des Moines has better coffee than Atlanta. After that, Nikki had to get a sandwich from Manhattan Deli just down the street. Aside from offering kick ass sandwiches, the brownies rock, and the egg sald comes highly recommended. And the crew behind the counter? They're the same cats that worked here when Nikki was coming here for lunch- and they looked the same... fountain of youth in deli form? Anyway, after lunch 2, we went downtown for a little window shopping. First up, Projects for some modern furniture coolness. The gear is hella tight, but the prices are definitely not for the faint of heart. However, Alan and I, as designers/craftsmen found a lot of creative inspiration, so it was definitely a worthwhile visit. After recovering from the sticker shock, we went to Gong Fu Tea - 118 teas, tons of tea pots, and slick decor. They have zojirushi electric dispensing pots, too. After oogling the kick-butt decor at Gong Fu, we cruised over to the Botanical Center for a little greenery. The orchids are flowering and the coffee trees are putting on buds. The cacti flowered earlier in the winter so they're looking a little bedraggled, but the tropicals are growing like mad. One of these days I'll have to check out the River Walk Cafe. By this time we were absolutely famished so it was time for sushi at Taki. Fortunately we got there just as they were opening so we missed the supper rush- I guess the place is regularly packed. Mel, Alan, and I ordered a big-ass pile of maki rolls and some nigiri zushi- it totally kicked ass. The unagi was super tasty. Nikki ordered vegetable tempura; the batter was fantastic and the presentation was superb. All in all, a wonderful meal. The next time I go there for supper I will have to try their teppanyaki. Bellies full of vinegared rice and fish, we met up with Nikki's parents at the Embassy Suites downtown. After grabbing some free drinks from the bar (happy hour rocks!), we chatted with the 'rents for bit, and were inevitably invited to dinner at The Latin King. While we waiting for the reservation we donned our swim-clothes and bopped on down to the hot-tub; an all-to-brief visit to the hot tub, but wonderful none the less. The Latin King is pretty cool. We had a drink at the bar while waitng for our table, Boulevard Wheat on tap for me. The food was tasty, the atmosphere was pretty good, and we had a ton of fun. After supper 2, we went back downtown for martinis at The Lift. If you're looking for a stiff drink, try Frank's Dirty; vodka, olive juice, olives. A big glass of olive-flavored vodka. The S&M is super sweet- think liquified Jolly Ranchers. The Cosmo is tasty; sweet, but not overly so, and sour. I want to say we had a Cran Apple, too, but after three and a half martini's in a couple of hours, things get a little fuzzy. The music was some house brought to you by some house DJ's, and the bar was packed to the gills- right up to closing. We abandoned ship when the bartenders started cranking up the lights. Sunday morning came far too early. Atlanta was under the gun of a nasty ice storm and Alan and Nikki had to call the folks to track down another flight. In the meantime, her parents invited us to brunch at Jimmy's American Cafe. The food was good- if you knew what to get. Mel ordered a Belgian waffle that was definitely sub-mediocre; it wasn't even warm enough to melt the butter. I had the steak and eggs, which I thnk was the best value on the breakfast menu. I ordered my steak rare, and the 6oz sirloin arrived tender, juicy and bloody. The eggs over-easy were just right, the potatoes were awesome, and I got 4 pieces of toast for dippig in the yolks- all for $11. The potatoes and toast (or roll) were $2 sides if you ordered a different breakfast.