Fall Festival - WDM UMC

While Mandi was having a great time at The Great Pumpkin Party, we were having a great time at The Annual Fall Festival at The West Des Moines United Methodist Church at the corner of 8th and Grand in WDM.

This FREE event features inflatables (weather permitting), trunk-or-treating, a fire truck who throws candy, face painting and free food!  

The community is not only invited to attend, but to include decorated trunks to show off!  My son's favorite was the fortune-telling trunk.  

The fortune-teller told him he would grow up to be a gym teacher, I guess we'll find out if she was right in about 15 years =)

Another highlight was the fire-truck demonstration where the firefighter threw candy from stories above the kids.  Very cool.

Round out the night with hot dogs, chips, cookies and lemonade, all for just a free-will donation and you have a fun party!

What a great event.  Great to know our communities are offering such fun events in a safe environment and at a price that everyone can afford.

Great job WDM UMC!  Follow them on FB to keep updated on dates for next year's Fall Festival and other events that they hold throughout the year.

Capital Pub & Hot Dog/Mad Meatball

Capital Pub & Hot Dog is located just south of the East Village at 400 SE 6th street in Des Moines.  It's easily accessible and an over-all fun place to be.  The atmosphere is casual and friendly and I've yet to walk in and not be welcomed by the super nice owners or a smiling staff member.

Normally, hot dogs aren't my thing.  But, perusing the menu at Capital Pub makes you hungry for a "Heart Attack" which is a bacon-wrapped hot dog served with cream cheese on a fresh bun. Yum!  Or a classic "Chicago Dog" with onions, mustard and relish.  Try a "Chili dog" loaded with cheese and onions.  They even have corn dogs and a fun kids menu.  This is a pub you can feel good bringing the whole family, but also the kind of place you can ride your bike to, have a cold one and relax with friends.

The onion rings are thin are crispy and the waffle fries are always hot and crunchy on the outside.  If you aren't a drinker, the root beer float was really good!

It's so cool that they are just opened a sister restaurant right next door called Mad Meatball, serving up pizza and meatball dishes with the same comfortable atmosphere.  We got to sample the pizza and meatballs at the last Dishcrawl event and at the Grand Opening and boy were they tasty!

I think the two restaurants being so close with such different menu items is just a fabulous combination. Take one trip to SE 6th street and try both!