Epic Status Photoblog

We had a little reminder of the floods no one will ever forget.

 

? What is now white water rapids? usually is only a tiny gentle babbling creek.

 

? There won’t be any concerts tonight at the Simon Estes Ampitheater.

 

? The Des Moines River near 9th Ave has bloated into a lake.

 

? See the high water at the far bridge.? Debris from the shores of the river have been swept up by the high waters.

 

Gray’s Lake flooded.? It became an extension of the river.

 

Beauty extracted from destruction.

 

Parking lot at Gray’s Lake Park.

 

 

I think it’s safe to call the game off.

 

Half of the building is under water, but the light is still on.

 

 

? The water at this point is almost over the stop sign.? I’m sure I didn’t catch it at it’s highest either.

 

? Streets vanish into the water

 

? Fluer Drive closed, water over road.

 

? Fluer Drive flooded.

 

Water closing in on the new MLK bridge.

 

No need to evacuate.? It’s already abandoned.? Possibly from last flood?

 

 

 

 

Buildings, Des Moines, Night, Streets, Unusual

Urban? exploration from a safe distance…? Outside the buildings.? I’d love to go inside but the whole breaking and entering thing is overrated.? Unlike large cities, Des Moines is real quick to board up entries to abandoned buildings.

 

 

Mad skills with bricks.? They just don’t do brick laying like this anymore, it was an art.

 

Above ground? wiring and terminations are sexy

 

? The Crane Co. building’s sole use? is as as a tower for cell phone antennaes.? The wiring rises up the side of the building to the top.? There’s a short mast on top.

 

 

? Dwarfed.? It’s days are limited.

 

 

? Work needed

 

? Unbreakable

 

? Take pride in safety.

 

? Scrap heap overflowing.

 

? The end of a street.? Mounds and mounds of junk.? People actually live next to this disaster.

 

? Parker Oil Company, Conoco.? For lease.

Buildings, Des Moines, Downtown, Graffiti, Streets

Headed towards downtown to? check out some places on Ingersoll Ave.?

 

 

 

? We stopped into this tiny bar called “Cocktail Lounge” on Ingersoll Ave in Des Moines.? It had interesting unkept 50’s/60’s decor but overall it sucked.? The? 7 people in there all knew each other and they made it known that we didn’t belong in their bar.? We were the youngest, everyone else was in their? 40’s or older.? The 1 bartender was polite as he served us, when he wasn’t away from the counter playing pool.? After enjoying the awkwardness of being constantly stared at, we left after each slamming our single beers? less than 10 minutes after we entered.? Do you have to be in a special club to drink here?? Do we need “Members Only” jackets?? Was this a secret hideout of the local cannibalism society?? Was this in fact a gay bar?? There were no women but the men looked like they have probably been in prison lately.? Perhaps we’ll never know.? ? Leave a comment if you know anything about this place or if you’ve been there.

 

3 (out of 3)? thumbs down in our book.

 

 

? Shuey jumps up and down after seeing a Big Tomato Pizza Co. nearby.

 

? He made us try it, and I’m glad.? I would have avoided the place because of the weird name, but this pizza was great.? I can’t explain why it was better, but it really was.? The neon light in the window says “Lousy Service.”? We went in another bar next door and got some beers and a booth to go with the pizza.? I don’t remember the name but the bar next to Big Tomato was fairly nice and had a unique atmosphere.? We started to feel comfortable again.

 

 

“We have so many chairs that our chairs have their own chairs to sit on.? We have chairs up the ying-yang in here.”

 

 

We couldn’t go here because they had a black shirt policy.? We forgot ours at home.

 

I don’t have any pictures of it, but we did go to Star Bar for the first time.? Although crowded, it was really nice.? The fenced in patio was great on this warm spring night.

Bars, Des Moines, Downtown, Night, Streets

Continued from Page 1? of St Patrick’s Day Parade 2007, Des Moines IA

 

We only saw one bagpipe.? I was dissapointed.? We missed the very beginning which we heard had more.

 

 

 

? Seeing shamrocks

 

? Pot O Gold

 

? 95 KGGO and guy giving away shirts

 

Melrose IA, Iowa’s Little Ireland, 1937 basketball champs, no snakes!? They also had a ginormous number of people and vehicles in the parade.

 

? Melrose fighting Irish

 

? Melrose Iowa parade unit 3-17.? Law and order runs afoul? while? the police car is out of town in the parade.

 

 

Conway Pallet family

 

?

Pot O’ Gold in a wheel barrel

 

Dogs

 

 

? St. Pat was a Democrat

 

Northern Warren Fire Dept.

 

Hot chicken.? I don’t see the relevancy, but hey it’s entertaining.

 

? Shaw Clan, Faith and? Courage

 

The? Delaney crew

 

Candy was left all over the ground.? Since we were at the very beginning of the parade, candy was being dispersed towards us at colossal rates.? The street was saturated with dirty sand from the winter, used for traction on snow and ice.? This made the candy much less enticing.? Kids went home with black hands.? Would it have been impossible for them to have a street sweeper do a pass the day before?

 

? It’s not fun unless you get to be wild and crazy

 

The chick in the back of the truck gave me what appears to be a Star Trek hand gesture, then she waved and laughed hysterically.? I didn’t start drinking until after the parade, so I was much more confused than humored by her odd antics.

 

Most of the adults in the parade were drinking, some more than others.

 

2007 Irish fashion trends

 

Greyhounds

 

? O’Reelitz

 

 

 

? There were way too many filler entries (blatant advertising with no entertainment value) in the parade.? It would have been much better if they would have weeded these out.? After an hour of watching the parade we had enough.? Everyone else had enough also, the crowd thinned to 1/3 the size an hour through it.? Repetition is good for the brain, not for the eyes.

? I strongly suggest they use an application process where they can filter out entries with little to no entertainment value.? ? Make them compete in front of? a small? panel of judges who could rate the proposed entries and only a given number of? the best would be allowed to proceed.? We want quality, not quantity.

Animals, Attractions, Cars, Des Moines, Downtown, Holidays, People, Streets

The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade is the second largest parade in the state of Iowa.? A plethora of people come to be in it and watch it.

 

? Plenty of balloons

 

? Ancient Order of the Hibernians in America, Polk County.? Since I was taking pictures instead of watching, I was pelted with candy a few times.? The kid on the left is throwing candy our way at this moment.

 

Saturday night fever pose?? Anything goes on St. Paddys day.

 

The Murphy Clan

 

DMI Dance Force

 

 

 

Friend of Des Moines Girl

 

? Smokey’s

 

This is what they call a “kilt malfunction.”? The front of his kilt stuck to the velcro of his coat.

 

? It’s Bonnie and Josh

 

I wonder what? their lawn looks like at Christmas time?

 

Guys in Kilt’s representing St. Patrick’s day

 

 

? McGinn’s and friends

 

 

? Lepprechaun crossing

 

 

 

? It’s great to be Irish

 

The short bus, 100.3

 

? Georgetown, IA had a huge number of people and vehicles in the parade

 

? Georgetown Iowa, Irish spirit by night… Irish spirit by day

 

? Georgetown church and bar with door between

 

? Throwing beads

 

? Iowa D.O.T. Brotherhood of Islanders

 

Drummer men, 3 generations?

 

Elvis of? Good Vibrations DJ Service.

 

Groovy Girls was the name of this entry.? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

? The Church Ladies?? I’m clueless again.

 

 

See Page 2 for more

Animals, Attractions, Cars, Des Moines, Downtown, Holidays, People, Streets

? A photo tour of some areas on the Southwest end of downtown Des Moines.? After recently purchasing my Nikon D40, I wanted to try it out and see how it does.? There’s always something to take a picture of downtown.

 

? Looking down 10th, crossing Cherry St.

 

? Very old Lumbard Building at 22 ninth.? It’s just a couple feet from the 9th st. viaduct, keeping the property value well below the surrounding area.

 

? Looking underneath the 9th St. viaduct at the South side of downtown Des Moines.

 

? Allied Insurance parking garage

 

? Trains running through downtown.

 

Person in? blue coat has interesting luggage

 

? Lofts or apartments downtown

 

Neat fire escape.? Look at the curve in the handrails at the landings.? ? Instead of a 90 degree elbow they made a large rounded bend in the metal.

 

? Wells Fargo Financial parking lot

 

? Shadows at sunset

 

? 801 Grand Ave, tallest building in Iowa

 

? Bird flying

 

? DART bus (previously MTA)

 

? EMC Insurance building

 

 

? Wells Fargo Financial

 

? Hotel Fort Des Moines.? As you can see they tore down the parking lot and are building something here.? Soon the view of this historic hotel will be obstructed once again.

 

Reflecting on Life

 

? Old Buck and Company building.? I believe it has been just a warehouse for a very long time.

 

 

 

? One of the more interesting skywalks.? Each skywalk is custom made to go with the buildings they are attached to.? The outside and inside decor is made to blend with the connecting buildings.? Sometimes the height of floors in one building is larger than a connecting building.? They have to taper the height on one end to make it seamless.

 

? A dark, gritty alley underneath a building.? It’s much more gritty than this picture shows.

 

 

Ruan Center in downtown Des Moines, IA.? This is the tallest rusticated steel building in America.? The metal is built to continually look rusty.

 

801 Grand? Avenue again

 

? Mulberry Lofts

 

Tin canopy

 

Hotel Fort Des Moines from the back.? Different colored brick from floor to floor.

 

? Allied elevator bank.

 

Stop!? Mulberry street lights shine through parking garage.

 

New downtown DSM library

Buildings, Des Moines, Downtown, Streets

Granted? I realize? that Des Moines is no LA, traffic is still a major headache.? Considering the size of Des Moines, traffic flow is not impressive.? This is compounded by urban sprawl over the last 15 years or so to the West of Des Moines.? Tons of people work downtown but live in the Western suburbs.? Over the last couple years, an effort has been made to revitalize downtown and make it a more attractive place to live, which would reduce the amount of people depending on I- 235 and other main arteries leading toward downtown.? ? Personally my drive time is between 20 and 30 minutes each way to get to work downtown.? It’s not horrible, but it could be much better for a city this size.? This also takes into consideration that many companies start at an offset time so that people are driving in at different times.? For instance, starting work at 8:15am instead of just 8:00am.

 

 

 

 

 

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Cars, Des Moines, Streets