25. Nebraska

Month: October 2016

Location: Omaha

Downtown Omaha

I had been to Nebraska before, having spent a weekend in Lincoln a couple of years ago.  What had struck me about the place had been the friendliness of the people and the charm that a small town possesses.  So I was looking forward to now visiting another city in that state, and it would be a quick one.  I took a flight out there on Saturday morning and arrived to find a beautiful day.  I had requested a shuttle service to my hotel and my driver was a friendly chap who insisted on driving me through the downtown so that I could evaluate my choices for the evening.  As I checked in to my hotel, I was excited for the rest of the day.

Welcome to 'WheatFields'

First order of business was brunch and in this instance it was to be at a place called ‘WheatFields’ in downtown.  As I have observed in other small towns, the main street was paved by bricks, which immediately makes any place look better.  The restaurant was playful and had already started on their "Halloween” decorations.  There was a big crowd, though I was lucky to get a table and then I waited…for a long time.  Apparently there was some confusion on who was my server and while I am all for “soaking in” the surroundings of a new town, I was also very hungry, especially with the great food being served around me.  After what seemed like an eternity someone did come and I was able to try the thing they are most known for, “Brule Potatoes”, which tasted just as good as their dessert counterpart.

The fountain area which turned into a reception hall

My first destination for the afternoon was ‘Joslyn Art Museum’ and I decided to walk the mile or so to get there.  The museum looks quite modern from outside and the first pleasant surprise was the fact that the entry was free.  I walked through the various galleries and around some students who were on a tour; and was pleased to see an indoor courtyard with a water fountain.  Very soon a lot of people descended on the courtyard and started setting it up for what looked like a wedding reception.  I seem to be encountering a lot of these, though this was a better location than an aircraft hangar.  A bigger courtyard connected this wing to the modern one and it consisted of the museum café which displayed one of the larger “Chihuly” glass pieces that I have seen.  I walked around for a bit and after a brief stop at the outdoor “Sculptor Garden”, headed to my next stop, which took me back through the town, to the other side.

The magnificent hall of 'Durham Museum'

I was going to ‘Durham Museum’, which has been established inside the now defunct ‘Union Train Station’ building.  I entered the building and into the grand hall which is typical of the great railway stations.  A very enthusiastic lady at the ticket window told me about the place and the path that I should take.  As expected, most of the exhibits dealt with trains, including full sized carriages from different eras.  I walked through the models, including trams and some magnificent “Pullman Coaches”.  As I passed through them, opulence and luxury of a long forgotten era was all around me and I for one would love to take a journey through them some day.

People traveled in style in the old days

Besides the trains, they had a temporary exhibit on the “Prohibition Era”, which was similar to the one I had seen in Louisville.  While not as comprehensive as that one, it was quite good and had some interesting interactive activities like a “Charleston dance” based on a video – with the feet positions mapped out – and a video game where you had to maneuver a boat and capture “bootleggers” on a river.  I walked through some of the other exhibits before emerging back in the grand hall.  One of the main attractions of this place is an old fashioned “soda fountain shop” from back in the day when this was a working train station.  My phone was dying and so I sat on one of the benches to charge it, which was quite ironic since I appeared like someone waiting for a train.  The only difference was that they would have been reading a newspaper on actual paper rather than digitally.  Soon, I had to leave since they needed this space for…you guessed it, a wedding.  Whatever happened to parties in hotels and resorts?

No, that does not count as 2 states

It had turned into a nice evening as I walked towards the riverfront, stopping at a local souvenir shop.  Like most “Midwestern States”, Omaha has a nice riverfront walk and many people were out to take advantage of the weather.  As I walked through the park, I saw several wedding parties and there surely must be some discount being offered to for weddings in Omaha today or else these groups were headed to one of 2 locations where I had seen preparations!  I was headed to the ‘Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge’ which connects Nebraska to Iowa.  It looked as if the bridge was deceptively close, though with some path closures it took me some time to get on it.  As I climbed up to the apex, I saw another group which looked like a wedding party and I navigated through their photo session to reach the state line and then I just had to take a picture with one foot in each state, because I am “cheesy” like that!

Dusk was settling in and I headed back and after a few dead ends on the path, found myself in downtown.  I was going to a bar called ‘Wicked Rabbit’, which is a “speakeasy” if I ever saw one.  You enter what looks like a cigar and liquor store and only when you tell the hostess behind the counter that you are interested in going there, does she press something on a shelf and a door opens to let you inside a bar.  The bar itself was fantastic and so were the drinks.  I heard the "mixologist" tell people to “enjoy the show” and upon inquiry learned that they were all going to a comedy show.  Nothing like a few cocktails to get you in the mood I suppose.  I certainly enjoyed my stay here and this was one of the best bars that I have come across during my travels.

A "nightcap" before bed

I left ‘Wicked Rabbit’ from a side door, which was less flamboyant than the entrance, and went for dinner to a nearby place named ‘Block 16’. It is a charming “bistro” style restaurant and quite popular with the locals.  After some of the most wonderful fries that I have had, I called an ‘Uber’ and headed to “Midtown”, where my hotel was located.  Based on the crowd and all the activities going on, it was certainly the place to be on a Saturday night…or any night for that matter.  But before going back to my room, there was something that I had to do.  Nearby was a restaurant called ‘The Grey Plume’ and they served a cocktail named “Strawberry Fields Forever”, which happens to be the title of one of my favorite songs.  I sat at the bar and chatted with the staff who said that I was lucky to get one of the last servings of the cocktail, since some of the ingredients are seasonal and would not be available till next summer.  It was a perfect end to the day and as I walked back to my hotel, I wished that I had more energy to enjoy some of the other places that were just getting started with their parties.

A coffee shop with comic books

The next morning I was going a bit away from midtown to a place called ‘Legend Comics & Coffee’.  As the name would suggest, it was a coffee shop and a comic book store.  I arrived to find that the place was almost empty and the only people there looked like they were regulars.  The comic book store, which is connected to the coffee shop, wasn’t open yet, but there were shelves of comic books that one could read while in the café.  I sat a table with my laptop for a bit and then walked through the comic store when it opened.  After that I navigated the residential neighborhood to find my destination for lunch, a vegan place called ‘Modern Love’.  What they are known for is their interpretations of classic dishes such as “biscuits and gravy” and “scrambled eggs”, but with vegan ingredients.  There was a bit of argument on getting seated – they refused to do so before my reservation time even though seats were available, but eventually I did get a seat and the food was good.

A visit to the Zoo

I called a ride to a place I would typically not visit, a zoo.  However, ‘Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium’ is considered to be one of the world’s premiere zoos.  The entry reminded me of a “theme park” from Orlando, and for good reason.  The zoo is big and looking at the map I realized that it was unlikely that I would be able to cover everything this afternoon.  I started by visiting the various halls and even though they were indoors, they did not lack in scope or ambition.  There were settings of desserts and jungles as well as caverns for nocturnal species.  I tried to visit as many places as possible, though the zoo was spread out on a hill and I was going up and down the inclined path, trying to track the map.  I walked for miles that afternoon, though there were other transportation means such as a “ski lift” which gave visitors a tour of the entire zoo.  Now there were 2 problems with that – first, plenty of people were already in a line and secondly, sitting on a lift with my arms and legs hanging out as we passed over predators cages wasn’t exactly a comforting visual!

No better place to end than 'Lauritzen Gardens'

Although I could have spent the rest of my time over here, I wanted to hit one more spot in Omaha before departing – ‘Lauritzen Gardens’.  They have a tram tour which takes the visitors through different parts of this sprawling property and I wanted to ensure I caught the last one of the day.  I arrived with a few minutes to spare and while I waited for the tour to commence, walked through the “Arboretum”.  I sat at the front of the tram and our driver drove us around the property while commentating through a microphone.  We made a few stops, at a “Rose garden”, as well as an exhibit which had a “model railroad set” that was incorporated into the nature scenery.  After driving through the gardens he took us up a hill where 2 full-sized locomotives are housed and told us about the trials and tribulations of getting the heavy machinery up there.  Why anyone would want locomotives displayed over there was beyond me; however it was a nice sight.  The whole tour had been great and I was glad to have rushed here. 

I wanted to walk through some of the smaller gardens that our guide had pointed out, but they were about to close.  They also had some sort of “Japanese Festival” going on and as a part of that there were activities going about such as “calligraphy” as well as a board game that looked like “checkers”.  I talked to the gentleman who was running that booth and he told me the rules and how there are TV channels in Japan dedicated to showing this.  That seemed like an extremely nerdy thing, but then we have “poker” on “ESPN”!  I took an ‘Uber’ to the airport and it had been a fantastic visit.  I had loved my short time here, especially last evening.  When I had mentioned to people that I was going to Nebraska, their response had been, “why”?  I for one knew that I wanted to come back.