Can four women have fun on a girls weekend in Des Moines?
Last weekend was my 14th annual girls weekend with my cousin – which just made me realize that this whole girls weekend thing has been going on longer than my marriage. Wow.
Some background: The girls weekend has always involved myself and my cousin, but my sister and sister-in-law have also joined us for most of those years. Three of us are from Minnesota and my cousin lives in Iowa. For the past 13 years, my cousin has driven the farthest to participate in this annual tradition. This year, we Minnesota girls decided we should go to her and – cripes, you betcha! – find out what Iowa might have in store for us.
Turns out, quite a lot.
We left Friday afternoon – wine, snacks and a tub of cookies courtesy of my mom (also a tradition) packed for the trip – and made it to my cousin’s home in Reinbeck, Iowa by sundown. Good thing, too as we were starting to get a little giddy from the car ride. (You know it’s time for happy hour when you start making Yoda jokes that no one understands.) Wine awaited us (God bless you, cousin!) along with a fantastic home-cooked meal – lasagna roll-ups (with turkey sausage – again, God bless you, cousin!), caesar salad, garlic bread and – the piece de resistance – peanut butter pie. Could there be a better start to the weekend?
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, heading out for parts unknown – okay, Des Moines – by 8:30 a.m. We were right on schedule to hit the shop openings at 10:00 a.m.!
First stop – Historic East Village in downtown Des Moines, with the beautiful Iowa State Capitol overlooking the area and the sun brightly shining. I can report a fun mix of shops (clothing, art, home decor, antiques) and thanks to a recommendation from a friend of mine, a highly addictive lunch at Zombie Burger + Drink Lab. (Seriously – check out the menu of this place. Crazy yummy, highly caloric and burger combinations often bordering on the bazaar.) And did I tell you that even with a 45 minute wait to get in, the restaurant encouraged us to shop until they texted us when our table was ready. Genius!
Next stop – DSW Shoe Warehouse. Shoes. Enough said.
Then … Jordan Creek Town Center, which appeared like Mecca against the western Des Moines sky, calling us inside as my sister and I quickly reviewed our coupons to see what we could use at Younkers and The Gap. I can safely say we all helped fuel the Des Moines economy, thank goodness.
Back to downtown Des Moines to check into our hotel – the Embassy Suites – which received high marks for, well, pretty much everything. A brief respite (and free cocktails and snacks at the manager’s reception) and we were ready to hit the town for dinner – and our reservations at Centro Restaurant. Centro (pronounced “Chentro”) was pure heaven. Wine, food, ambience, service – it was amazing. And while the energy level was high and the restaurant was busy, the noise level was totally manageable. I never felt like we were screaming across the table to each other. Novel concept, really – and I wish some downtown Minneapolis restaurants could understand how nice that is. (Or does that just mean we’re getting old? Never mind.)
One more late-night stop at a wine bar with more conversation, leading to more plans (dreams?) for our next several girls’ weekends … Arizona, San Antonio, New York City, even London were all tossed out as viable options. I am blessed to have such good friends as my family and I can’t wait to see where our travels take us!
In the meantime, we all returned safe and sound to our homes on Sunday afternoon, with memories of laughter, shopping, shoes, wine and good food. My cousin’s husband asked her, “You have so much fun on this weekend, why don’t you do it more than once a year?”
And to that I say, be careful what you wish for! 🙂
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