Omaha, Nebraska

I can’t really say that I saw much of Omaha. But what I did see made me want to return. We spent about one and a half days in Omaha. Our first jaunt into the big city was on Saturday afternoon for the Playing with Fire concert to see James Hunter. We spent just over seven hours at the Lewis and Clark Landing watching five cool blues bands. To the left is a picture of a sculpture at the landing. To my other left is the Missouri River.

The next day we returned to Omaha to spend time in the Omaha Old Market. The Old Market, pictured above, consists of several city blocks of giant, brick warehouses. These warehouses are now homes to quirky antique shops, art dealers, used bookstores, and funky restaurants. The picture below is of the Old Market's "Passageway." This beautiful bit is rather hidden. The entrance to the Passageway is much like an entrance to another shop. Yet upon entering, this is what you see. It was delightful. I was just disappointed that the restaurants were closed!

Despite spending nearly a full day in the Old Market, we barely scratched the surface of this interesting section of town.

We did visit Mangelen’s Images of Nature gallery. Mangelsen, a native of Nebraska, has hundreds of gorgeous photographs- available framed, as posters, note cards, and more. Shannon purchased her father a limited edition copy of Winter Sage – Mule Deer for her dad that morning (It was after all Father’s Day!). The picture was too gorgeous to hide in Malcolm’s office and can now be seen by everyone in the lobby of the Bank of Gravett, Centerton Branch. Another favorite place was a used bookstore that was having an 80% off moving sale. While the books had obviously been picked over, there were plenty more to dig through. I only wish I had had more than $5.00 in my pocket! Between the interesting book stores, galleries and antique stores I could have spent hundreds of hours and hundreds of dollars!

There are several more things I want to see when I return to Omaha. Yes, with Omaha being only four hours from here, I will have to return. I would love to see the Henry Doorly Zoo. I might even want to venture out to see the Eugene T. Mahoney State Park!

Anyone want to join me on my next trip to Omaha?