Things to do in Great Plains
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Des Moines Art Center
The Des Moines Art Center is worth a look both for its interesting architecture and for its collection of modern art including American greats such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe. A highlight is IM Pei's sculpture garden, featuring Red Grooms' Germanic 'butter cow'. The museum stays open until 21:00 on Thursdays.
There is also a downtown branch at 800 Walnut Street (at the corner of 9th & Walnut Streets).
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A
Cherokee Antique Row
Six blocks of antique-filled stores in the appropriately historic Cherokee-Lemp neighborhood.
reviewed
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B
Galileo
This funky Paseo Arts District gathering spot has a menu spanning sea bass baked with lemon and cinnamon to meatloaf sandwiches to some tasty pizzas and it attracts just as diverse a crowd. There's art on the walls and the bar itself is a thing of beauty. Music or poetry most nights.
reviewed
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Mount Rushmore
Looking like they're either emerging from or being absorbed by the mountain, the stony faces of past presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt - carved 60ft tall in the granite of a Black Hills outcrop - are one of the most famous images in the USA and the top attraction in the state; the monument gets nearly three million visitors each year. You can't help but be impressed by its sheer scale and the massive physical effort of the team (led by sculptor Gutzon Borglum) that created it between 1927 and 1941.
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C
Cattlemen's Steakhouse
OKC's most storied restaurant, this Stockyards City institution has been feeding cowpokes and city slickers slabs of beef and lamb's fries (that's a polite way of saying gonads) since 1910. Deals are still cut at the counter (where you can jump the wait for tables) and back in the luxe booths.
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