Last Sunday I went on a road trip to Des Moines, Iowa for a friend’s daughter’s wedding (that makes me feel old!) The wedding was at 3:00 in Ames (even farther), so we got an early start. Our first rest stop was the World’s Largest Truckstop. It was quite large; no false advertising here. Besides the gas pumps and convenience store, there was a food court, buffet and a Caribou Coffee. The Caribou Coffee does offer soy milk, but it’s 70 cents! I guess its hard to find soy milk in the middle of nowhere Iowa and you have to pay a premium. However, there is a 50 cent sustainability discount for bringing your own cup, which is way more generous than Starbucks 10 cents.
After we checked in to the hotel, we went looking for a place to eat. We stumbled upon the Royal Mile, a Scottish pub. They have a curry vegetable wrap on the menu, which sounded good and a little different than your typical veggie wrap. It is usually prepared with butter, but they can make it without butter if you ask. It was so dark inside that I did not even attempt to take a picture.
The wedding ceremony was lovely and the reception was a lot of fun. We danced and danced and danced. I got two compliments on my Beyond Skin shoes and one girl even asked me where I got them, so I was able to introduce her to the awesomeness that is vegan shoes.
The reception was at the Marriott and I ordered the vegetarian dish, which was a portabella mushroom. The description did not mention cheese, but it came out covered in it. It was a creamy cheese, so it wasn’t even something I could peel off. I was going to let it go. I’m not going to request a special meal at someone’s wedding. But my table flagged a server down and I explained that I don’t eat dairy. The kitchen put together a pasta dish for me, which was very nice of them. It was pretty good, too. There was a spicy tomato sauce and lots of vegetables, including delicious roasted artichoke hearts.
My view of Des Moines at night from the 23rd floor.
Because I was at the wedding with running friends, the first thing we did on Monday was go out for a run. We ran by the river and a park. It was nice that early in the morning, but you could tell it was going to be a hot day.
After cleaning up and packing up, we went out to breakfast at Java Joe’s. It’s a cute little place with pretty good coffee and a vegetarian menu. Even though it was only 9:30 in the morning, I got the vegetable hummus wrap. They have several other options, which can be made vegan upon request.
My soy latte. They also offer rice milk.
The hummus wrap with chips and a pickle.
Not exactly a beautiful dish, but tasty enough. Breakfast is hard for vegans, so I was just glad we weren’t at a diner that only served eggs and bacon.
Good-bye, Des Moines. Probably won’t be back again. (Although if I am, I will make sure to come on a non-holiday weekend so I can go to Ritual Cafe).
The state capital building. Keep Right!
