Around Des Moines: September 29, 2007

As I travel around the city running errands and gathering news, I inevitably encounter items that merit mention but not their own posts. Minor observations by themselves, collectively they help create the daily flow of the urban tide.

Olympic Flame in the 500 block of East Grand now has a glass front. This restaurant serves Greek and American food and its wait staff can make diners feel like family. The old front had an enclosed entryway and small windows
making it hard to tell if the restaurant was open. A recent lunchtime visit found the place quite busy. The Grand Piano Bistro opened earlier this year a couple doors away. It also is glass-fronted…

On Sunday the 23rd, I noticed a family jaywalk across Grand on the west side of the city. As part of a city program, sidewalks a few blocks either side of 56th Street are being repaired. Apparently there was some type of gathering at a house in one of these blocks. Instead of parking in the driveway, guests were using the parking lot of the school across the street. Crosswalks were quite a distance away so two adults and two young children dashed across mid-street.

The feel of fall finally arrived on the 25th. That was the day leaves fell in noticeable quantities for the first time this year. By the 28th, autumn decorations lined Locust Street in the East Village. The scent of hay was quite strong and a bit too reminiscent of the farm. Don’t forget to check out the stores and bars along East Fifth Street between Locust and Grand. The Blazing Saddle honors the men and women who have served in the armed forces with a small flower bed edging the street’s western sidewalk.

Work was being done inside and outside of the Capitol this week. New asphalt was being laid on a parking lot along Walnut. The rotunda was blocked off by scaffolding. A pathway around a statue was being re-shaped.

DART has set October 14 as the date for its Sunday service to begin. I have been told that there was Sunday service a few years ago but that it did not last long. Hopefully this time it will be kept. Sunday service generally will replicate Saturday’s routes and schedules. However, it will start an hour later and end about an hour earlier on Sundays.

Alan Loots signed copies of his first novel at The Book Store downtown on the 29th. The book, “Storm Lake,” is labeled suspense and is partly set in Iowa. (Copies of Leading Voices: Iowa are available at The Book Store,
located at 606 Locust.)

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.