The Rest of Des Moines

After our day visiting the Capitol, we went to see the Living History Farms in Urbandale. You start out in the 1875 town of Walnut Hill, where there are lots of buildings (many more than show here) which contain old time businesses.

In each of the buildings, there are "old pioneers" dressed in authentic costumes, who talk about and demonstrate their jobs in the olden days.

The whole place seems to be geared towards school children, but we were invited to listen too.

After touring the town, we hopped on a tractor-pulled cart for the trip over to the farms.

There are 3 different farms. The first is a 1700 Ioway Indian Farm.

Next is an 1850 Pioneer Farm.

There were authentically-dressed pioneers here, along with some "cute" animals.

The last farm is a 1900 Horse-Powered Farm. I got distracted by this guy and didn't get any good pictures of this one.

We also went to see Terrace Hill, the Iowa Governor's residence.

The governor and his family live on the third floor, but the first and second floors are open for tours.

The mansion was built in 1869 by Iowa's first millionaire. It became the governor's residence in 1971.

We then stopped by the Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines, IA. The sculptures were donated by John and Mary Pappajohn. No connection at all to Papa John's Pizza. It is just a coincidence that Papa John's has an office in a building nearby.