May 31, 2019 Friday Day 12
We a woke early and had breakfast in our lodging from our store of food. Yogurt, fruit and muffins. The memorial service we had come to Des Moines to attend was scheduled for 10:00 at St. Augustine Church. a large building on the west side close to our Airbnb that we easily found. Dressed in our finery it was hot, but the cathedral offered shelter from the sun. the service was nice, but it was clear that the priest did not know the deceased, who while married in that church, had long ago moved away.n The service ended about 11:30 and we did not go to the graveside service. The reception began about noon. During the reception I spoke with several people who knew the deceased at various stages during her varied life including a stint living in Japan as a trailing spouse for an IBM executive. The very limited sample of people I spoke with had a mixed view of Trump. Many disliked his style, but supported what they perceived to be his policies on improving the economy, lowering taxes (they felt that businesses needed a tax break to create jobs) and eliminating regulations. They believed that he would win the trade war and that American agriculture would ultimately benefit, acknowledging that it was now being hurt by his actions.
We then took off for the Des Moines Art Center, an art museum that has won acclaim for its architecture. It is housed in builds partially designed by I M Pei that form a quadrangle around a reflecting pool. It has a lot of modern art and featured an exhibit of anti-fascist art by Lea Grundig. A Communist and a Jew, she created art in the 1930s in defiance of the Nazi's bans and ultimately ended up in a concentration camp. Surviving that and WWII she ultimately immigrated to Palestine.
We then headed to downtown Des Moines for a tour. It was surprisingly quiet there for Friday afternoon. The city's European history dates to the 17th century when initially French priests, explores and fur trappers ventured into the upper Midwest for French Canada, to be followed by a few colonial settlers. They largely left after the British conquered Canada and ownership of this area (I doubt that the Native Americans were consulted) was successively transferred to Spain, then back to France and finally sold to the US as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The city was originally named Fort Raccoon.for the river that joins the Des Moines River, but the War Department vetoed that and the new name was drawn from the French colonialists who referred to the area as Des Moines, from the Monks. It grew rapidly as a railroad hub in the late 19th century and as a manufacturing center in the 20th century as well as being the capital city of Iowa. It declined in the 1970s and 80s but has rebounded as an insurance center.
We parked downtown and walked down to the river. Like the Missouri, it too was flooded beyond its banks covering the balustrades, walkways and embankments built by the CCC.
The Civic Center Historic District has many government buildings that are over 100 years old and are imposing large stone structures. The sate Capital and City Hall were impressive and we took a quick tour of the State Historical Building. The downtown was getting ready for a Pride celebration and we stopped into a local store and purchased some hot sauce for our two Midwestern sons who enjoy that.
We then visited the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden. Many unusual shapes.
On the way back to our residence we food shopped and cooked dinner and ate on patio. A very pleasant experience.
We a woke early and had breakfast in our lodging from our store of food. Yogurt, fruit and muffins. The memorial service we had come to Des Moines to attend was scheduled for 10:00 at St. Augustine Church. a large building on the west side close to our Airbnb that we easily found. Dressed in our finery it was hot, but the cathedral offered shelter from the sun. the service was nice, but it was clear that the priest did not know the deceased, who while married in that church, had long ago moved away.n The service ended about 11:30 and we did not go to the graveside service. The reception began about noon. During the reception I spoke with several people who knew the deceased at various stages during her varied life including a stint living in Japan as a trailing spouse for an IBM executive. The very limited sample of people I spoke with had a mixed view of Trump. Many disliked his style, but supported what they perceived to be his policies on improving the economy, lowering taxes (they felt that businesses needed a tax break to create jobs) and eliminating regulations. They believed that he would win the trade war and that American agriculture would ultimately benefit, acknowledging that it was now being hurt by his actions.
We then took off for the Des Moines Art Center, an art museum that has won acclaim for its architecture. It is housed in builds partially designed by I M Pei that form a quadrangle around a reflecting pool. It has a lot of modern art and featured an exhibit of anti-fascist art by Lea Grundig. A Communist and a Jew, she created art in the 1930s in defiance of the Nazi's bans and ultimately ended up in a concentration camp. Surviving that and WWII she ultimately immigrated to Palestine.
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| Modern Art at the Center |
We then headed to downtown Des Moines for a tour. It was surprisingly quiet there for Friday afternoon. The city's European history dates to the 17th century when initially French priests, explores and fur trappers ventured into the upper Midwest for French Canada, to be followed by a few colonial settlers. They largely left after the British conquered Canada and ownership of this area (I doubt that the Native Americans were consulted) was successively transferred to Spain, then back to France and finally sold to the US as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The city was originally named Fort Raccoon.for the river that joins the Des Moines River, but the War Department vetoed that and the new name was drawn from the French colonialists who referred to the area as Des Moines, from the Monks. It grew rapidly as a railroad hub in the late 19th century and as a manufacturing center in the 20th century as well as being the capital city of Iowa. It declined in the 1970s and 80s but has rebounded as an insurance center.
We parked downtown and walked down to the river. Like the Missouri, it too was flooded beyond its banks covering the balustrades, walkways and embankments built by the CCC.
The Civic Center Historic District has many government buildings that are over 100 years old and are imposing large stone structures. The sate Capital and City Hall were impressive and we took a quick tour of the State Historical Building. The downtown was getting ready for a Pride celebration and we stopped into a local store and purchased some hot sauce for our two Midwestern sons who enjoy that.
We then visited the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden. Many unusual shapes.
On the way back to our residence we food shopped and cooked dinner and ate on patio. A very pleasant experience.
Is there a riverwalk in Des Moines? Also, were there any visible signs of the past or present presence of the Native Americans? How did Trump come up in conversation?
ReplyDeleteThere is. It goes back to the Depression and was built, along with many of the municipal buildings with the assistance of the CCC. However the Riverwalk was flooded so we could not walk on it. I did not see nay signs of Native Americans, but we did not explore all the city. Trump came up because of a discussion about weak farm prices. Some felt that his trade policy was good and that we had to endure some pain to get to a better solution with China.
ReplyDelete