Des Moines on a Budget

David Sawallisch

3 days ago

12 min read

Some vacations are planned months in advance.

Flights are booked. Restaurants are researched. Every day has an itinerary. Every hour has a purpose.

And then there are vacations like ours.

The kind that start with:

“I don't want to give up my Saturday night Serving shift”

So, that's what I did.

I worked Saturday night, came home, got a few hours of sleep, and then got up early Sunday morning so Winnie and I could head to Des Moines, Iowa.

Some people might call that exhausting.

We call it maximizing vacation time.

And honestly, we're already early risers. We usually get up around 5:30 in the morning to go to the gym, so getting up at 4:30 to start a road trip isn't exactly torture.

Well...

Not much torture.

We loaded up the minivan and headed south.

We could have taken the sedan and probably saved a little on gas, but we really like traveling in the minivan.

It's comfortable. There's room to spread out. We can connect our phones, turn up the music, and settle in.

And here's something I've realized about myself:

I actually enjoy the drive.

A lot of people consider driving the annoying part of a vacation.

I don't.

Give me a comfortable seat, good music, a full tank of gas, and several hours with nowhere else I need to be, and I'm happy.

We sang.

We talked.

We laughed.

There may have been some singing that should never be recorded.

But that's part of the fun.

We left around 7:30 Sunday morning and arrived in Des Moines around 10:30 or 11:00.

The only problem?

Our hotel check in wasn't till 3.

No big deal.

We'd just start the vacation somewhere else.

Our first stop was Easter Lake Park.

And after working Saturday night, I was pretty happy to discover that Iowa had apparently decided to keep this trail nice and flat.

Thank you, Iowa.

We walked around the lake for close to two hours.

There were squirrels, birds, bees, trees, water, and all the usual signs that nature was doing just fine without us.

It was peaceful.

Exactly what we needed.

At one point, we found a swinging bench overlooking the water and sat down for a while.

That's where we met a local couple who were walking around the park carrying those grabber tools and garbage bags.

They were picking up trash.

We hadn't seen much around where we were sitting, although we had noticed some farther down the trail, so we pointed them in that direction.

We started talking, and they told us they regularly come to the park on Saturdays and Sundays to pick up garbage.

They weren't being paid.

They weren't doing it because someone told them to.

They just loved the park and wanted to keep it beautiful.

I thought that was pretty awesome.

They also recommended another park we should check out while we were in town.

Grays Lake.

And since it was close to our hotel, we figured we'd take their advice.

Sometimes the best travel recommendations don't come from Google.

Sometimes they come from somebody carrying a garbage bag.

Grays Lake was smaller than Easter Lake, so it was an easier walk.

The weather had also warmed up quite a bit.

We had started the morning with cool, comfortable temperatures, but by the time we finished walking around Grays Lake, we'd worked up a pretty good sweat.

There was a beach, a bridge, boats, paddleboards, and something Easter Lake didn't have:

the Des Moines skyline.

It was a really nice combination.

You could walk around a lake surrounded by nature and then look over and see the downtown buildings.

Winnie was wearing a beautiful yellow dress that I had bought for her, and she got several compliments on it.

She looked great.

I was proud.

I was also thinking about air conditioning.

After another hour or so, we decided we'd gotten enough exercise for one morning.

Now it was time to see if our hotel room was ready.

Our hotel was the Hotel Fort Des Moines, Curio Collection by Hilton.

And this place was beautiful.

The hotel dates back to 1919, and walking into the lobby felt like stepping into another era.

The architecture.

The marble.

The furniture.

The whole place had an old-school elegance that you just don't get from a modern hotel.

The hotel has also hosted some pretty notable guests over the years, including U.S. presidents.

Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready yet.

So we did what any exhausted couple who had already walked around two lakes would do.

We found some coffee.

We sat in the lobby.

We enjoyed the air conditioning.

And I believe there may have been a little nap involved.

Eventually, we got the notification that our room was ready.

We headed upstairs, dropped our bags, and finally got to see where we'd be spending the next two nights.

And here's the part I really liked.

The normal cost of the room for our two-night stay was about $321.66.

But because of travel rewards and a statement credit from our credit card, our actual out-of-pocket cost was:

$21.66

Two nights.

A beautiful historic hotel.

Downtown Des Moines.

Twenty-one dollars and sixty-six cents.

That's the kind of travel hacking that makes me very happy.

Budget travel doesn't necessarily mean staying somewhere cheap.

Sometimes it means figuring out how to stay somewhere nice without paying the full price.

After a little rest, we headed back out.

We walked toward downtown and the Capitol area, following trails along the Des Moines River.

We crossed the Walnut Street Bridge and saw the Women of Achievement Bridge.

There were beautiful views of the river, downtown buildings, and the bridges.

With all the beauty there.... We had an important decision to make.

Where are we going to eat?

We found Zavy Kitchen near the Capitol.

And apparently we were hungry.

Very hungry.

We ordered curry.

Pad Thai.

Sweet and spicy chicken.

Three meals.

Two people.

Because apparently we were planning to feed an army.

Everything was really good, though, so we weren't complaining.

We ate what we could and packed some up for later.

Then we stepped outside.

And noticed the weather.

Uh-oh.

It started raining.

At first, it wasn't a big deal.

A little rain never hurt anyone.

At one point we ended up at a bar that looked like it had been designed specifically for people who didn't want to go home.

Bean bags.

Pool tables.

Darts.

Beer pong.

Ping-pong.

Foosball.

Pinball.

Giant Jenga.

And even life-size Dominoes.

Naturally, we stopped to play giant Dominoes for a few minutes while the rain came down lighly outside.

Because apparently that's what you do when you're lost in downtown Des Moines.

Eventually, though, we figured we should probably continue trying to get back to the hotel.

Then it rained harder.

Then harder.

Pretty soon, our nice leisurely walk back to the hotel had turned into a race against the weather.

Fortunately, I remembered that Des Moines has a downtown Skywalk system that connects buildings throughout the area.

Perfect!

We'd just use the Skywalk.

Stay dry.

Walk back to the hotel.

Easy.

Except finding our way into the Skywalk wasn't exactly easy.

And that's when I met my new arch-nemesis.

The Red S.

The Skywalk entrances are marked with a little red S.

So every time we saw one, I thought:

There it is!

We'd head toward it.

And then we'd discover that particular entrance wasn't going to help us.

After a while, that little red S stopped looking like a helpful navigation symbol.

It became a personal insult.

The Red S of Doom.

It was everywhere.

It was taunting me.

"You see me, David.

You think you're getting into the skyway.

psych."

We found a convenience store and stopped inside to regroup.

I bought a gallon jug of water, some Powerade, and an ice cream bar.

Because my emergency preparedness strategy apparently consists of:

Hydration. Electrolytes. Dessert.

The cashier pointed us toward another Skywalk entrance and warned us it might not be open.

We went to check it out.

The Red S.

Our old friend.

No luck.

We eventually found another entrance connected to a parking ramp.

Surely this one would work.

Nope.

There was a gate blocking the ramp.

At this point, we were wet, tired, carrying a gallon of water and an ice cream bar, and starting to wonder if we'd ever see our hotel again.

Then we spotted an alley.

And not a nice little downtown alley.

I'm talking dark, creepy, dumpster-filled alley.

Naturally, I said:

“Let's go down there.”

Because apparently my decision-making skills were getting worse as the rain got heavier.

The alley was covered, which sounded great until we realized where all the rainwater was going.

Right into the alley.

We were walking through water up to our ankles.

Our shoes were soaked.

Our socks were soaked.

Everything was soaked.

But eventually, we saw a way out.

I saw an overhang across the street near a Potbelly sandwich shop.

I took off running toward it.

Unfortunately, the sidewalk was incredibly slick.

My feet went one direction.

My body went another.

And I slid into the Potbelly window and fell over.

Yes.

Not just slid.

Fell.

Completely.

I'm now on the ground, soaked from head to toe, holding a gallon jug of water in one hand and an ice cream bar in the other.

I'm pretty sure there was a moment where I just lay there thinking:

Well...this vacation has taken a turn.

Winnie finally caught up with me.

And she was laughing.

Not a little laugh.

She was dying.

And honestly?

So was I.

Because what else were we going to do?

We were already soaked.

Might as well laugh about it.

I'm pretty sure that moment alone made the whole trip memorable.

We Finally Beat the Red S

Eventually, we spotted another Red S.

I approached it cautiously.

We'd been betrayed before.

I pulled the door.

It opened.

Victory.

I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a door open in my life.

The Red S had finally shown us mercy.

We were in the Skywalk.

Dry.

Warm.

Safe.

Except...

Now we had to figure out where we were going.

And apparently, navigating the Skywalk is its own adventure.

There were maps everywhere.

Unfortunately, understanding the maps seemed to be optional.

We wandered through office buildings, financial centers, hallways, stairwells, and parking areas.

At one point, we almost got stuck in a stairwell.

We closed the door behind us and tested it before going any farther.

Good thing we did.

It locked.

So we opened it back up and decided that sleeping in a Des Moines stairwell wasn't going to be part of our vacation itinerary.

Then we ended up in a financial center.

There were these little checkpoint-looking things in the hallway.

They didn't look particularly threatening.

So I walked through.

Immediately:

ALARM.

Apparently, they were more important than they looked.

We started running to the next skyramp.

What should have been about a 30-minute walk back to our hotel had turned into roughly 90 minutes of urban survival training.

And when we finally made it back to the hotel?

We were soaked.

Shirts.

Socks.

Shoes.

Everything.

And I had made one critical mistake.

I hadn't packed an extra pair of shoes.

Never again.

We have a minivan.

We have room.

From now on, there will always be an extra pair of shoes.

Once we finally dried off, we had absolutely no interest in going back outside.

So we did something we rarely do at home.

We watched television.

Animal Planet.

We ended up watching a show about a lion that had been kicked out of his pride while his mother was still trying to help him.

I don't remember every detail of the show.

But I remember thinking:

This is luxury.

Not the historic hotel.

Not the marble lobby.

Not the fancy room.

Animal Planet in bed with nowhere we needed to be.

Now that's vacation.

The next morning, we headed out again.

We walked to the Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

There was some really interesting artwork, including the famous pumpkin sculpture by a Japanese artist.

There were also some sculptures that looked like giant spooky heads.

I wasn't completely sure what they were supposed to represent.

But they were memorable.

From there, we walked downtown, crossed the Women of Achievement Bridge, and made our way toward a beautiful Japanese garden.

It was peaceful and quiet.

And then our stomachs reminded us that peaceful and quiet don't necessarily mean breakfast.

Finding breakfast on Labor Day turned out to be surprisingly difficult.

It seemed like half of Des Moines had decided to sleep in.

We wanted an actual breakfast.

Eventually, Winnie came through.

She found a bakery.

And she may have saved the morning.

The bakery was busy.

It was delicious.

And somehow we ended up spending about $33.

Bread.

Pastries.

Bakery things.

Basically, a bag full of carbohydrates.

Now, $33 isn't exactly what I'd call a cheap breakfast.

But it was really good.

And that's another thing we've learned about being budget-conscious.

We're not trying to say no to everything.

We're trying to make the money we spend count.

Sometimes you spend $33 on a bakery haul because you really want it.

Then you eat some in the car and save the rest for later.

And that's exactly what we did.

Since Winnie had saved breakfast, I decided it was time for a little surprise.

I took her to an outlet mall.

Winnie loves outlet malls (well really malls in general).

Normally, we'll walk around, look at everything, and maybe buy a thing or two.

This time, we actually did some shopping.

Mostly me.

Okay...

A lot mostly me.

I found some shirts that went really well with a pair of pants I'd bought earlier this year for work.

In fact, I was wearing one of those shirts while working on this article.

Winnie picked up some things too.

So technically, we both went shopping.

I'm just not going to pretend the spending was evenly distributed.

After the outlet mall, we found a movie theater offering a really inexpensive matinee.

There was a new scary movie out, and since Winnie loves scary movies, the decision was easy.

Insidious: Out of the Further.

The theater was only about ten minutes away, and the movie was starting in roughly fifteen minutes.

Perfect.

We grabbed popcorn and a soda and headed inside.

And then discovered something kind of amazing.

We were the only two people in the theater.

Our own private screening.

Well...

Private except for the fact that the seats were terrible.

These were old-school movie theater seats.

None of the fancy reclining chairs with footrests and enough legroom to stretch out like you're sitting in your living room.

Winnie tried to sleep.

And she actually did.

Through the commercials.

Which meant she basically got a little pre-movie nap before the scary stuff started.

After the movie, we went out for Vietnamese food.

I wasn't terribly hungry because I was still working my way through our bakery haul.

I ordered beef noodle soup and beef rolls.

The beef rolls came with an oil-based dipping sauce with sesame seeds, and I kept going back for them.

Winnie actually liked her meal even more than I liked mine.

We ate what we could, packed up the leftovers, and headed back to the hotel for our final night.

The next morning, our alarm went off around 4:30.

Vacation was over.

We loaded up the minivan, got our coffee within reach, and headed back to Minnesota.

Because unfortunately, I had to be back at the bank Tuesday morning.

That's the problem with vacations.

Eventually, somebody expects you to go back to work.

So What Did Our Weekend Cost?

For two people, two nights, food, gas, parking, entertainment, shopping, coffee, and everything else, we came in at approximately:

$469

And remember, that included the $21.66 we actually paid for our hotel after using travel rewards and a statement credit.

Parking was about $20 total.

Then there was gas.

Food.

Coffee.

The $33 bakery adventure.

The movie.

And, of course, the shopping.

Could we have spent less?

Absolutely.

We could have skipped the clothes.

We could have eaten cheaper.

We could have skipped the bakery.

We could have packed more food from home.

But that's not really what we're trying to do.

We're budget-conscious.

We're not trying to spend nothing.

We're trying to make the money we do spend actually mean something.

For us, about $469 for a two-person getaway that included a beautiful historic hotel, parks, great food, shopping, a movie, and one absolutely ridiculous rainstorm was money well spent.

And we came home with something you can't put on a spreadsheet.

A story.

Des Moines wasn't at the top of our bucket list.

We didn't leave Minnesota expecting some huge, life-changing vacation.

We just wanted to get away for a couple of days.

And that's exactly why we enjoyed it so much.

We walked around lakes.

We met people who cared about their community.

We discovered beautiful bridges.

We ate way too much food.

We stayed in a gorgeous historic hotel.

We watched Animal Planet.