Henry Walker ‘69 described driving in parts of the midwest to me as “miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.” Our drive through Iowa down to Des Moines fit this description rather well, except in addition to miles and miles, we passed miles of corn and wind farms.
Windmills and Corn
And more corn.
Iowa seemed to be as flat as Indiana, but we were told by the locals that glaciers carved troughs north-south into the countryside, and I-35 from Minneapolis to Des Moines runs straight down one of those troughs. Thus, if you were to drive east/west across the state, you’d find it rolling and wavy, but north/south is pretty flat.
Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and lies on the river of the same name. The cityscape rises unexpectedly out of the farmland, the only metropolitan area for 100 miles. We ventured up to the Capitol to admire the stately building and pay our respects to the Civil War Memorial.
Our first stop when we rolled into town was our master destination: the hottest coffee shop between the Missouri River and the mighty Mississippi: Zanzibar’s. Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure is owned and run by Julie McGuire ‘88, a Des Moines native who, after Williams, eventually returned home to found her emporium. Julie has run Zanzibar’s since 1993. The shop is located in a prime location just beyond downtown, a few blocks past the new library and an emerging sculpture garden. She told us that when she first opened she was working 120 hour work weeks, but now, 16 years later, that’s down to a modest 55 or so hours. Julie showcases local artists on her walls and she offers literally dozens of different varieties of coffee. I think it’s fair to say that all of us were captivated by Julie’s beautiful space (she helped design it) and enchanted by her sumptuous beverages.
Julie!
The tastefully decorated and delightfully busy interior of Zanzibar's
Bustling Zanzibar's
Zanzibar’s was the site of our intimate gathering with the Williams Iowa contingent. There are only around 30 Williams alums in all of Iowa, so we were thrilled to find five of them waiting for us inside.
Katie Montgomery ‘07 started an English PhD at University of Iowa
this past year where she’s studying Victorian British literature. She drove down from Iowa city to meet everyone at Zanzibar’s, she and Emily bonded over the fact that they both went to mystic. For me, it was great to see Katie again and chat about the hours we spent studying for the exam in the Medieval Architecture class we took together.
Katie Montgomery '07 and I discovering how little we remember about Chartres Cathedral
Gene Cassidy ‘62 joined us as well. Gene is a retired pathologist and, in the course of discussing our drive from Minneapolis that morning, mentioned that he always used to drive especially warily when he saw police cars, because he knew that if he were ever stopped and asked to open his trunk, the odd brain or other organ stowed there might be challenging to explain.
We also met Rachel Stauffer ‘85 and Henry Walker ‘69. Rachel is a CFA for American Equity and Henry is a former Mathematician turned Computer Science professor at Grinnell. We heard from Henry about the first computer at Williams, a desk-sized model that made copious use of punch cards. Rachel is a Zanzibar’s regular, but Henry made the trek out from Grinnell. It was great of both of them to come out.
Most of the Iowa crew
We returned to Zanzibar’s the following morning for breakfast, but not before walking around the city the previous evening, catching bits of a riverside concert, and glimpsing a few sites that made us feel a little closer to home.
Until next time,
~Jason
David Cook performing at the amphitheatre next to the River in downtown Des Moines
look familiar?
Home sweet home.
