Things to Do in West Des Moines

Sticks sprung from humble origins when, in 1992, Sarah Grant began carving ornaments and candlesticks from birch, poplar, and driftwood in a small studio in Des Moines. As her work began to attract national interest and demand for it grew, Sarah enlisted the aid of other local artists and expanded her inventory to include handcrafted heirloom-quality furniture, whimsical sculptures, and intricate keepsakes.

Today, the artists’ work is showcased in more than 100 galleries across the country. Their installation projects have even decorated the walls of Blank Children’s Hospital, the Animal Rescue League of Central Iowa, and the student center at Iowa State University.

Sticks artists can often be spotted by the shores of local rivers, gathering driftwood for their work. They assemble the wood into custom-designed tables, beds, and armoires within their spacious, light-filled studio before painting them with colorful, whimsical designs, from smiling suns and moons to lush landscapes. The versatile artists even take their tools and paintbrushes to homes, businesses, and underground mad-scientist labs to craft custom art installations and interiors.

Pilot and local network meteorologist John McLaughlin has logged more than 7,700 hours of accident-free flight time in both fixed wing planes and rotorcraft. He draws on that experience to lead flights and tours around Iowa such as agricultural and crop condition surveys and holiday lights sightseeing tours. The flights soar over farmland and wilderness, and he also zips over Des Moines for panoramic views of the skyline and river. John also provides flight training and examinations, teaching burgeoning pilots the fundamentals of flight and the best mouth noises to make during takeoff.

Sleepy Hollow Sports Park sprawls over 80 acres of fields and slopes buzzing with a variety of year-round activities, from go-karts and bumper boats to downhill sledding. To pay homage to the homestead’s Native American past, Sleepy Hollow's team puts together four 5K races throughout the warmer months of the year, centering each race's theme around one of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and wind. During these meticulously constructed events, Sleepy Hollow will pit runners against manmade obstacles—such as The Great Wall in the Kosama Warrior Mud Run—and natural obstacles, such as the 4-mile creek in the Kosama Warrior Water Run and the Midwest's indigenous dragons in the Aspen Warrior Fire Run.

Being an Iowa-based company, Sleepy Hollow supports more than 300 groups annually, providing funding for causes ranging from local schools to cancer research. The park also serves as the permanent residence of the annual Des Moines Renaissance Faire and Haunted Scream Park.

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.

Like many other horseback-riding facilities, Louw Stables’ 50 acres of rolling hills, dotted with trees and lined by picket fences, paint a picturesque backdrop for warm-weather riding lessons. But it’s the way owners Louis and Jennifer Louw have prepared for the winter months—when snow generally blankets these pastures—that sets their facility apart from the rest. To accommodate riding year-round, they built an expansive indoor arena that, along with a 30-stall stable, is heated so that lessons and trainings can go on through winter without interruption.

Jennifer draws upon 22 years of experience as she teaches children and adults the art of horsemanship along with equine care. Her eight trained lesson horses are all steady-tempered and work with novice riders and advanced equestrians alike. She also oversees an open barn each Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, during which students can help with chores around the stable, including brushing horses and ironing their saddles.