This is a non profit, not a business, owned by the city. There are tours of the historic house, a…read morecommunity garden, occasional concerts, and running events.

Cool spot, I only wish I could have been here during office hours to get permission to see the…read moreinsides of these buildings. I love the sign that specifically states the property is open 24/7. It's rare to find historical structures like this that I can show up in the middle of the night (legally) to light paint them. :)

I like to squeeze in a museum when I can in a city that is unfamiliar to me. This stop was truly on…read morea whim. My main reason for dropping by Des Moines was to see an Iowa Wild game. The following day, I had to leave the city and head back to Bloomington. I wanted to do a quick touristy visit somewhere. I did a search and found Jordan House Museum. Driving over here was enjoyable. The leaves were a gorgeous deep red in the area. I had no problem finding the museum. When you are pulling into the parking lot, you do not want to come in at full force. I didn't because I was checking the house out. The lot where you park your car is all gravel. When you walk up to the museum, it is thankfully cement. If you want a tour of the museum, you do need to book online. Even if you book online, it's based on demand. If there aren't enough folks who want to do the tour, it gets cancelled. I saw the cancellation sign on the door. Since I visited because I felt like it, I still learned a lot with the signs and information presented to me. I was not disappointed. I also like self-exploration, which may not be for everyone. Jordan House was built by James Cuttingham Jordan, who was an abolitionist. This house was a station on the Underground Railroad in Iowa. It ended up being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. James Jordan was a cattle farmer from Virginia. He settled in central Iowa in 1846. He was a businessman, organizing the State Bank of Des Moines. He helped bring the railroad to Des Moines. He ultimately ended up being a civic leader, and was elected to both the Iowa Senate and the Iowa House of Representatives. He helped move the state capital from Iowa City to Des Moines. I had no idea that Iowa City was once the state capital. Cool! There is a pathway to history in front of the main entrance of this house, where you can reserve a brick and have it dedicated to a special loved one. I spent a lot of time reading the messages on this pathway. It was highly enjoyable and moving on a Fall day. My favourite saying came from the Caruthers family: Be so awesome today that tomorrow is jealous!!! Three exclamation points. Love it! There was one other woman who had pulled into the lot next to my rental car. She did not do any self-exploration. She went to the main door, saw that the tour was cancelled, headed back to her vehicle, and left. The house is well-maintained on the outside. It has a veranda with a bunch of green chairs. The lawn was recently mowed. The small shrubs around the flags at the front were perfectly trimmed. I had a nice, off-the-cuff visit to this museum. I learned a lot and hope to do a tour inside the museum whenever I'm back in Des Moines for hopefully a longer visit. (458)

Great tour. Guide was very knowledgeable. Home has several of the original articles. We took our 3…read moreteenagers, 2 girls(12&14) and a boy (15), and they all enjoyed it. Not once did they get on their phone due to boredom.

I went to the Gold Star Military Museum and had a wonderful experience with my group. They start…read morewith a short introduction presentation on the history of Camp Dodge and the significance in Iowa. They then let you roam through the exhibits, giving tidbits of information and are around to answer questions as they come up. I was impressed with the quantity and quality of items they had on display for each war Iowa has been involved in. They also have many of the large vehicles, tanks, and aircrafts outside to drive past or walk around. Highly recommend to all Iowans!

This is a beautiful base to live near. There is a museum on base that you can visit. There used to…read morebe a gigantic Olympic pool years ago. Now over the top of the pool is a beautiful outdoor gala and set up for different activities. One in particular is during the summer they host free concert nights. Open to the public, free, and perfect way to enjoy the nice summer evenings and get to mingle with people who live or visit the base. There is a small chapel and the other area that is open to rent for weddings, parties or what have you.

Probably the most ridiculous experience I have ever had! I rented this venue for a small wedding on…read more10/6/18 but the venue owner was so intrusive and on edge it was uncomfortable. He paced back and forth and would go around the room telling each of my guests that this is his home, he inserted himself in every aspect of my event and I received numerous complaints from my guests. Parking was a problem; the owner has a car under a tarp under the only carport blocking valuable parking, they said anyone who couldn't get in the driveway could use street parking but what they don't tell you is the street parking is full from the neighbors on the weekend. In my opinion this person clearly does not want to rent this place as a venue and should not in the future. If you want a truly awkward experience this is your place.

We had a truly outstanding experience at Witmer House this weekend when we rented the venue for a…read morefamily memorial. Every detail was exceptional from the food to the decor of the house to the service provided by the hosts. The venue itself is a wonderful place to hold an event as there are several rooms for guests to visit with each other, ample parking and beautiful details throughout. The brunch that was prepared for us was fresh, unique and the perfect fare for our guests. The chocolate chip cookies were sublime. I highly recommend this venue to anyone looking for a unique, intimate yet expansive place to host a special event.

This place is extremely beautiful. The biggest downside to here is the hours on their website are…read morenot accurate. I came here to visit the inside and the arrive to a locked door. On the door was a note saying they are only open 1 day a week. I was able to peak in the window and see all the beautiful architecture. I was also able to explore the outside grounds too. However it can be slightly frustrating if your website says it will be open but you're not actually open. Overall this place is not huge and is a walkable distance to several other things. So I recommend walk past it to see if it's open. If it's closed, visit somewhere else.

This place is absolutely stunning inside. So clean, well kept. It was our first time & we attended…read moreCandlelight The Beatles. The staff were so pleasant, & helpful. I got a small sprite for $1. They had cocktails available. The bathroom immaculate. I would definitely recommend checking this beautiful building out given the chance! The symphony played for an hour & did an amazing job. I heard there is a beautiful garden outside however we rushed to our cars because of the cold temps.

An unexpected find on the property of the Iowa State Capitol was the Iowa Holocaust Memorial. But I…read moreguess I shouldn't really be surprised - many of the concentration camp liberators were Iowa citizens and many of the concentration camp survivors moved here after the war. Lists of the camps and the dates of their liberation are here as are many quotes from survivors and other notables. How do we bring about "Never again!"? By educating people and reminding them of the horrors that came before us. Kudos to Iowa on building this great memorial.

This Holocaust memorial is right in front of the Iowa State Capitol, just down the steps. We were…read morewondering around downtown and came across this somewhat small but mighty memorial. It was an excellent time to talk to our son about history and reflection. It was especially interesting to me as a German citizen and I recognized some of the cities in the pictures; the regions where I grew up. This sparked some great conversations among us and a good time to learn more about each other and our past as a while world. It is beautifully made to last forever surrounded by the front lawn of the Capitol and flower gardens. Make sure you stop by when in the area. Lots to be learned and reflected on here...

Gayle and I recently took my Dad out on a road trip from Ames to Winterset. He'd been here before,…read morebut we took him along anyway as he enjoys the ride. Our 2nd stop along the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway was the Cedar Covered Bridge, which you can drive through. The Cedar Bridge (previously known as the Casper or Storrs Bridge) was built in 1883, with a span length of 78 feet. Cedar Bridge originally crossed Cedar Creek 2.7 miles northeast of Winterset, on what is now Highway 169, before being moved in 1920 to its present location. The original cost of the bridge was $2,964.73. The Cedar Bridge carried traffic until 1920, when it was moved to its current site over Cedar Creek. Here it functioned in place until it too was bypassed in 1964 by another bridge. It now acts as the centerpiece of a small park. An illustration of Cedar Bridge graces the cover of the novel, The Bridges of Madison County, by Robert James Waller. Oprah Winfrey came to Winterset in the spring of 1993 and filmed an episode of her show from the lawn around Cedar Bridge. A set of stairs descending the bank near the bridge was built for Oprah to make her entrance and these are now known as "Oprah's Steps." The 2 Covered Bridges featured in the Bridges of Madison County movie were Roseman and Holliwell.

This is the only covered bridge you can still drive across. There is a small park with it and it…read morehas a grill and tables if you want to picnic.

This is the Polk County Freedom Rock. Completing the Freedom Rock tour of all 99 Iowa counties is…read moresomething my girlfriend and I have been working on for the past few years. We are four rocks away from the end of our journey at this time. Not only do we learn about the military involvement and the contributions of veterans in each county, but a lot of times we stumble on other hidden gems, that we had no idea even existed, as we venture further into our own backyard. As happy as I am going to be when hit 99 and finish our Freedom Rock Tour...a little part of me is going to really miss these trips. We'll just have to find another "tour" to pick up. When you are checking out each Freedom Rock make sure you explore the surrounding area for other points of interest. And please remember to support local businesses...! Visit https://www.thefreedomrock.com/ for more information on Iowa's Freedom Rocks and the tour!

Review Visit: September 15th, 2015…read more This blog contains a random story about how we stumbled upon this place and the strange tour we received. On a whim and after convincing someone to go on a 4 hour car ride to get burgers at Zombie Burger, we stumbled in to Des Moines with no idea what else we were going to do. Little did we know that it would entail burgers, bagels, and an tour of a governor's mansion. But no, this wasn't any ol' tour. It was by the maintenance worker. Before we got our fill at Zombie Burger, we were driving around Des Moines and seeing if anything caught our eyes. At some point, I see a brown sign that pointed to Terrace Hill. I asked the people I were with if they wanted to check it out and they all agreed. So, we ended up following the brown signs and we ended up at a place that was not a hill, but a mansion. As we parked the car and got out, we noticed some groundskeepers working on some bricks. They gave us an odd look, which I didn't find too comforting, but we progressed forward. As we approached the front door, we ran in to some other people who happened to stumble upon the place. We exchanged stories and it turns out, they also had no idea what the place was but were intrigued. At this point, a guy approaches us and asks what we are doing. We said that we stumbled upon the place and had no idea what it was. The gentleman introduces himself as the head of maintenance and that the tour guide is not there. Whether by luck or friendliness, he decided to give us a tour himself. He warned us that we will be getting a personalized tour as he normally doesn't do that. With that in mind, he took us in and started showing us around. I can't remember the minute details of the place, but he told us a lot of behind-the-scenes stories that we wouldn't have gotten during a normal tour. Stuff about how they transported a very expensive lamp as though it were any normal lamp but found out later it was worth a hefty sum of money. Stories on how they keep up maintenance around the place and all the little fixes they've done over the years. This continued as he gave us a in-depth guide of the first two floors. The 3rd floor was inaccessible as this is where the Governor sleeps. As for the 2 floors we were shown, I have to say it was excellent. There was a beautiful stained glass window between the two floors that I fell in love with. After the tour of the mansion, we were guided out the back and got a quick overview of the grounds. The yard was beautifully kept and made me wish we could walk around more to get a full view of it. As we rounded the house, the impromptu tour guide told us a hilarious story about how they had a bunch of squirrels and other small animals on the property that were acting weird. He said they were extremely lethargic and had trouble keeping balance. It turns out that these small animals were getting drunk off of some fruits that fell off a few trees and started fermenting. That mental image will never leave my head. Ha! As he wrapped up that story, he noticed the Governor's police protection people had shown up and were parked in the driveway. Upon seeing this, he told us that the time has come for us to go as the Governor was about to show up and the Security Officers might tackle us to the ground/questioned as we weren't supposed to be there. With that in mind, all of us thanked the guy profusely and went on our way. It was the best tour I have ever gotten, bar none. And that is how my friends, some strangers, and myself almost ended up tackled/questioned by the Governor's security and also how we ended up getting the best tour ever.

I visited Terrace Hill while it was gorgeously decorated for Christmas. I would recommend doing the…read moretour here if you are looking for something unique to do in the Des Moines area. There's an interesting intro video in the visitor center and guided tour of the actual mansion and governor's residence. The experience was just the right length at about 1 hour total and even though the rooms were small there was some good history behind each and the architecture and furnishings were beautiful!