Monday, July 7, 2008

AQS Quilt Expo - Des Moines


We have received calls from quilters asking about the water damage in Des Moines and how it will affect our Quilt Expo there, October 8 - 11. The facilities we are using had no damage and were not affected by the flood waters that flowed through much of central Iowa.

The good news is that the Iowa Events Center sits on a hill and had no flood water in the facility. All of the hotels are safe too. They did evacuate one hotel downtown but the water did not get as high as predicted so no damage was done there either.

The major flooding in Des Moines was in the Birdland subdivision on the north side of the city near a reservoir.

Lodging suggestions: We have blocked rooms in the downtown hotels so you can be close to the Iowa Events Center - the location of the quilt exhibits, merchant mall, and all of the workshops, lectures, and special events. The downtown hotels are connected to the Iowa Events Center via skywalks. Des Moines has an extensive, 4-mile skywalk system; the largest skywalk system per capita in the world! The skywalks link downtown meeting facilities, shopping, hotels, restaurants and entertainment, making it easy for you to get to the convention center, find plenty of places of eat, shop, and find a wide array of things to do. You will want to go see the beautiful capitol that sits in the heart of the city.

If you are staying for two or three nights, I suggest the Des Moines Marriott. They still have rooms for Thursday thru Saturday - full on Wednesday already. Other downtown hotels with rooms available include: Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn Downtown, and Hotel Fort Des Moines. A complete listing of the Des Moines hotels is available on the AQS Web site: http://www.americanquilter.com/documents/shows_contests/desmoines/08_desmoines_hotel.pdf . You need to call the hotel - phone numbers are on the list - to make your reservation. Be sure to tell them you are attending the AQS Quilt Expo, October 8 - 11, 2008.

We all look forward to seeing you at the show. And what a show it will be - you will see more than 800 quilts on exhibit at this event!

Bonnie Browning

No comments: