Things to Do in Ankeny

Lloyd Bridges had just discovered a host of sunken treasure on the ocean floor in Sea Hunt, and Randy Molnari had stars in his eyes. It didn't help that just weeks before, his elementary school class had visited Houston's marine-biology museum. If you were to tell this young, imaginative boy that he'd go on to earn certifications in shark feeding and technical diving, or that he'd explore some of the world's most exotic underwater locations, he'd believe you. Today, he and his team of carefully vetted instructors help novice and intermediate divers discover the underwater realm with lessons and trips for beginning or technical divers.

Classes include certifications in open-water diving and nitrox usage, and online lessons prepare computers for their own trips to the bottom of a lake. His staff works with police and fire rescue, and each member undergoes a two-year apprenticeship before they begin teaching. Once familiar with the techniques of scuba, clients can accompany staff on trips across the world, daring feats such as exploring shipwrecks in Lake Huron, cave diving in the Caribbean, or rescuing rubber duckies in the bathtub.

"This is an art party—not an art class," cautions Glazed Expressions on its canvas-class page. The classes' genial atmosphere, upbeat music, and frequent BYOB options aren't the only things that turn these educational courses into rollicking celebrations, either. Rather than teaching the dry topics of theory and composition, instructors at each art-filled get-together simply guide painters through the steps required to re-create the image chosen for the session. Though all of the paintings end up looking essentially the same, each painter's individual creativity still comes through, whether in the shape of a tree branch, the hue of an ocean wave, or the size of Anne Boleyn's neck tattoo.

Roy Michael, who has been a PGA professional for 15 years, conducts golf lessons and intensive group seminars at Echo Valley Country Club, where he is the head of instruction. Roy tweaks the mechanics of students’ full swings on the driving range as they take aim at target greens or listless physicists attempting to discover gravity. On the practice green, the instructor assesses putting strokes and offers advice for correcting each pupil’s physical and mental approach to this notoriously difficult part of the game. As golf is not learned through rote repetition alone, students also receive instruction through on-course play, which is better for seeing the importance of course management, maintaining a positive mindset, and learning to deal with distractions from clouds shaped like turkey legs.

As children and their caretakers enjoy a leisurely day at Union Park, a cluster of animals—storks, giraffes, brown bears, and ostriches among them —suddenly storms past. What sounds like a stampede is really the family-friendly site of The Heritage Carousel of Des Moines, which has been entertaining guests since 1998. For only 50 cents, participants can hop aboard the turn-of-the-century replica carousel, which builders hand carved from basswood and hand painted. As the dulcet tones of an old-fashioned band organ hum in the background, the carousel accommodates children, wedding parties, and bull riders in training. Elsewhere, riders can pause from carousel excursions to sample other Union Park attractions such as multiage play equipment and the Rocket Slide, whose recent repainting replicates its original look from the early 1970s.