Top Things To Do in Omaha

 

One of the best things to do while visiting Nebraska is to leave it. Walk out and go to Iowa. 

The gorgeous Bob Kerry pedestrian bridge lures you up its stairs and around its curve. We encountered a young woman all decked out in graduation gear as she graduated from nursing school.

I

Along the way, we saw a little message from “Bob the Bridge” who told us that what we did —standing in two states at once — is called Bobbing. Okay, Bob, whatever.

We visited the Durham Museum. It’s a museum of the history of Omaha and the region. But for me, the best part about it was that it’s housed in the former train station for the Union Pacific Railroad. The grand art deco structure is restored to its 1940s origin. My favorite part was the sculptures of soldiers and their gals positioned around the waiting room. It propelled me to WWII on the home front.

.

I guess you could also say it propelled me from Omaha. But that’s not fair. Definitely worth it to visit Omaha. I’m glad I went. 

Kansas City Esthetic

I sought out the vibe in Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas side, not the bigger, seemingly more upscale Missouri side. 

We ate lunch at Joe’s Kansas City, a barbecue joint that’s in the actual gas station it first started in. The original pulled pork is featured, but I chose from the Z-man sandwich series with smoked melted cheese and fried onion rings on top. Popularity has driven their success — with framed reviews from Forbes and the Wall Street Journal hanging next to the bathroom door. 

I loved the noisy bustling place. You wait in line to order and then grab a table. And then, the people watching begins. It’s almost as delicious as the food. 

In South Dakota, I fell in love with a State Park

 

We planned two days in the southwest corner of South Dakota. Major attractions are located there — Mount Rushmore National Memorial and the Badlands National Park for starters. It seemed logical to stay overnight in Custer State Park. The park contains a whopping 71,000 acres in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. 

With State Game Lodge as our base, we traversed the narrow rock passages on the Needles Highway. It’s a 14 mile wispy road through spiky granite formations and an evergreen forest. 

We also drove the 18 mile winding Iron Mountain Road between Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore. Two of the narrow stone tunnels provide keyhole vistas framing the four presidents’ faces on Mount Rushmore. 

We booked a room in the State Game Lodge. Not a gun-rack-toting type affair, it’s a stone and timber inn with an upscale dining room, complete with its own cocktail designer. There are eight guest rooms in the original lodge above the dining room. We declined the opportunity to sleep in the room Calvin Coolidge occupied when he came to inspect Mount Rushmore but extended his visit for the entire three month summer of 1927. 

Creative Cocktails

Bighorn Sheep Lolling About

Catching Air in South Dakota

Huh? Driving along Route 90 in South Dakota, the scenery is flat and monotonous. Until giant motorcycles pop up in the air. The whimsical metal motos are displayed in the parking lot of a joint named Full Throttle Saloon. 

It’s a public service.

Not sure whether the skid marks are supposed to look like part of the sculpture.

Chowing Down on Chislic

We kept seeing this thing called “Chislic” on menus in South Dakota. At lunch in Custer, I asked the waitress about it. “It’s an appetizer made of steak tips marinated in steak sauce. Ours is the best because we don’t deep fry it.”  Sounded good to me. The taste? As far as I could tell, it was steak cut into bite-size pieces, drowned in A-1 steak sauce.

You could wash it down with local “wine” Red Ass Rhubarb. No thanks.

As to COVID protocols, the sign on the wall says it all. “Unless you’re here to rob us, no masks required.”

Another beverage option is local “wine” Rosy Ass. No thank you for that either. 

 

Badlands are Good-Looking-Lands

 

Interstate highway 90 across South Dakota propelled us across softly rolling green hills as far as the eye can see. Signs along the way announce“Buffalo Gap National Grassland.”  

Deceptive lead-up

We turned into the Pinnacles entrance of the Badlands National Park road (love the Senior National Park Pass for free entry) and drove along the 25 mile road. Just as we were lulled into a feeling of “same old/same old,” we encountered a gash. It sliced open the earth, revealing a world of severe striated rock formations. It looked like the Grand Canyon. 

Photo taken on the Yellow Mounds Outlook 

Eye Candy for Photographers

On the road out of Badlands, we came upon this scene: an Amish-looking guy with a full-on beard is staring down a Bighorn Sheep. 

Stare-Down

Buffalo Safari

 

Most of the acreage in South Dakota’s Custer State Park is devoted to the bison that roam the wide-open plains. Fields roll in every direction as far as you can see. Bison graze or lay about in groups of fifty or so. 

Most include newly-born calves, often nursing or snoozing next to their mothers. 

Fun fact I needed to learn: the animal’s name is bison or buffalo, interchangeably. To learn about the bison and other wildlife, Larry and I rode the Buffalo Safari. Over the course of the two hour ride, we learned how the park partners with both academics and hunters to manage the bison population. For what it’s worth, it’s ranked in the top 5 best safaris in the United States by MSN.com.

Guide Allen, a retired cowman explained the park’s annual one-day Buffalo Roundup to sell animals to control herd size. This year, it will be September 30, 2022, open to the public to witness cowboys and cowgirls on horseback, driving the buffalo across the plains and into the corrals where they are tested by veterinarians, branded and sorted. 

Branding Iron Numbers most discernible from bottom of photo to top of photo: 8, 3, 9 

The safari ride along the Wildlife Loop Road and some off-road detours in the open jeep was FREEZING! Even though it took a few hours for the feeling to return my fingers and toes, I still would say “yes” if asked whether I would do it again.