1 Week In Lincoln, NE & 1 Week In Des Moines, IA – Here’s What We Did

After an awesome week staying in Broken Bow, NE at Kinkaider Brewing Co, Shae, Truffles and I moved on to Lincoln, NE for a week. After that we headed on to Des Moines, IA for another week.

We were both busy doing non-road trip related stuff for that fortnight. Shae flew back to Portsmouth, VA for almost a week to help her mom out with some things, while I was focused on my international plans as part of Frequent Miler’s 3 Cards, 3 Continents challenge.

As a result, we didn’t end up exploring either city all that much. I wanted to publish a quick roundup post though as there were a few things we did that are worth highlighting, but not really worth a post of their own.

Where We Stayed

Lincon, NE

We’d booked an Airbnb in Lincoln for a week, but it turned out to be a bust. The internet didn’t work and nor did the fridge-freezer. Although having our chilled food go to waste was annoying, the internet not working was the bigger problem seeing as we both work online and had some important Zoom meetings and classes that week.

We decided to leave early and booked a few days at the Hyatt Place Lincoln/Downtown-Haymarket using points instead (the Airbnb host gave us a pro-rated refund for our stay). In hindsight, I wish I’d just booked our stay at the Hyatt Place in the first place as it was a decent hotel in a fantastic location, but I thought the Airbnb would’ve been the better option as it meant we had a separate bedroom and living area as well as a kitchen. Oh well.

Des Moines, IA

Our stay in Des Moines was problem-free. We booked a stay at the Residence Inn Des Moines Downtown as it was good value when using points, we were able to book straight into a one bedroom suite and it was in an excellent location downtown with our suite overlooking the Des Moines River.

What We Did

Lincoln, NE

Nebraska State Capitol Building

Lincoln is the state capital of Nebraska, so we headed over there one afternoon to take a quick look around. As you can see, their state capitol building has a different design to a lot of state houses.

Despite its different design, there was still a dome atop the building, albeit smaller than domes in some state capitols.

Farmers Market

When taking Truffles out for a walk on the Saturday morning, we came across a Farmers Market that was almost right outside the Hyatt Place we were staying at. The rain and humidity meant Truffles and I didn’t stick around for too long though.

Nacho Ride

Lincoln has a route that’s popular with cyclists where they go on what’s known as the Nacho Ride. Shae was told about it by someone in her RAGBRAI training group; it’s where cyclist ride out over the course of an evening from Lincoln to Eagle and stop in Eagle at a place called Bailey’s Local for drinks and nachos before returning.

Shae made a new friend in Lincoln (hi Jessi!) who was also interested in checking out the nacho ride, so they both rode together. They got to enjoy a beautiful sunset, but mistimed their ride and had to ride back in the dark. Unfortunately both their lights decided that was a great time to run out of battery power, so they had to use the flashlights on their phones to find their way back.

Des Moines, IA

Iowa State Capitol Building

We’d moved from Nebraska’s state capital to Iowa’s state capital which meant visiting another state capitol building.

Des Moines’ Downtown Farmers’ Market

Des Moines has a massive – and impressive – farmers market on Saturday mornings from May to October. It’s huge, with all kinds of vendors selling their wares.

Des Moines River

As mentioned earlier, our hotel was in a great location downtown. It was right next to the Des Moines River, so it was nice being able to walk along there in the evening once it had cooled off a little (we were there in late June when it was 90°F or more on some days.)

High Trestle Trail Bridge

Shae went for a bike ride along the High Trestle Trail one afternoon. People had mentioned checking out its bridge at night time due to the way it’s lit up, so one evening we drove up to Madrid, IA and walked along the trail up to the bridge. It was indeed a cool place to visit at night time due to the neon blue lights.

Where We Ate & Drank

Lincoln, NE

Kinkaider Brewing Co

We not only loved our stay at Kinkaider’s Bed & Beer in Broken Bow, but we loved their drinks too. Shae and I were therefore more than happy to visit their taproom in Lincoln which, luckily enough, was pretty much opposite the Hyatt Place we stayed at for our last few nights in Lincoln.

Sideshow Spirits

Kinkaider also owns Sideshow Spirits, so we went for a drink there one night too. I got a tasting flight of their different spirits, while Shae went for their Spanish Harlem cocktail.

Hurts Donut Co

We first discovered Hurts Donut Co in Tulsa, OK and loooooooved their donuts. Shae and I were therefore both excited when we realized they had a store in Lincoln, so we stopped there one day to pick up a couple of donuts each.

Runza

While driving along one afternoon, I spotted a fast food restaurant called Runza. I’d never heard of it before, so I checked out its website and decided I needed to eat there as they had some tasty-looking meat sandwiches that looked a little bit like Cornish pasties from back home in the UK, albeit in more of a bread roll than a pastry.

Shae thought it was OK but nothing special, whereas I really enjoyed it. It looks like Runza is primarily a Nebraska-based chain, with dozens of locations all over the state. They have a handful of other restaurants in nearby Colorado, Kansas and Missouri too.

Lazlo’s Brewery & Grill

After having drinks at Kinkaider Brewing Co one evening, we headed over to Lazlo’s Brewery & Grill. Shae got their French Dip sandwich, while I ordered their chicken skewer with a baked potato and coleslaw; both meals were very good, especially having had one too many Hiram’s Bones Porters from Kinkaider 😉

Des Moines, IA

Zombie Burger & Drink Lab

We’d had Zombie Burger & Drink Lab recommended to us and it looked like a fun place to eat, so we went there for dinner one night. It’s a zombie-themed fast-casual restaurant that’s great whether you’re into zombie stuff or not. There’s enough stuff there for zombie-aficionados to get a kick from it, without non-zombie lovers getting grossed out seeing as it’s a restaurant.

Their menu items have fun names with several unique options on the menu. I got a regular kind of burger, but Shae ordered their They’re Coming To Get You Barbara burger which is a burger with buns consisting of grilled cheese sandwiches with a burger patty, American cheese, caramelized onions, bacon and Zombie sauce inside.

Zombie Burger & Drink Lab has a bunch of fun shakes you can order too, with the option to make them spiked. Shae therefore ordered their Chocolate Cake shake which has chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake mix and Tippy Cow Chocolate Rum Cream.

The Poké Company

Shae isn’t a big fan of poké, so while she was back in Virginia I took advantage of that by ordering dinner from The Poké Company. I ordered a large bowl as I was feeling hungry and it ended up being a much bigger portion than I was anticipating. I still managed to finish it off though 😉

Final Thoughts

Although Shae and I didn’t do a huge amount of stuff in Lincoln, NE or Des Moines, IA, I was impressed by both of these Midwest state capitals. We got to stay downtown in both cities and there was much more to them than I was expecting. While I wouldn’t necessarily regard them as places worth making a destination in their own right, I’m glad we had a chance to visit both of them and I certainly wouldn’t be unhappy if for some reason we needed to spend a few nights at one or both of them in the future.