Day Trip: Omaha

We took a day trip to Omaha and visited the Strategic Air and Space Museum in nearby Ashland.

The museum features most of the great airplanes of World War 2 and the Cold War- B1 bomber, B52, the SR71 Blackbird, the Corvair Hustler, the F86 Sabre, and the U2 spy plane.







The weekend we went was the Nebraska Robotics Expo (which gets a lot of funding and help from Lego.  What can't Lego do?).  It wasn't really that exciting of a spectator sport unless you or or your child was competing, although it was certainly cool to see.

There was plenty of history which prominently featured Air Command's most famous resident Curtis LeMay.  LeMay was one of those bigger-than-life cold war figures, most known for the quote "bombing them to the stone age"..

Additionally, there was a very cool travelling exhibit called "Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow" which documented the years of 1945-1965 and the atomic threat.




That exhibit also featured art by Doug Waterfield with an atomic/nuclear theme.  I thought it was very cool.









Check out his site here. 

Omaha- Miscellaneous Debris

I have been to Omaha four times by my count, but have hardly seen the city.  So here's an abridged version of what you need to know about the city if you find yourself there.

Omaha is well-known for having one of the Midwest's best zoos and Aquariums.  Henry Doorly Zoo features the largest cat complex in North America,the largest nocturnal exhibit and indoor swamp, one of the world's largest indoor rainforest, and the world's largest indoor desert.

Haven't been.

However, it is Omaha's biggest attraction.

I have been to Horseshoe Casino in nearby Council Bluffs, Iowa twice and both times came home with more money than I went in with.

Nebraska Furniture Mart is the largest home furnishing store in the country (Both the Omaha and Kansas City locations house over 85,000 furniture items, 185,000 appliance and electronics items and over 1 million square yards of carpet.)  The store is amazing- a tribute to it's owner- Omaha's Warren Buffet- and capitalism at its finest.  It's worth a visit.

I haven't made it to the Holy Family Shrine, but drove by the impressive structure.



You can't get married there, can't have a mass there, can't get baptized there, and can't plan a retreat there; but otherwise, stop right in.

Lastly, I should make some mention of the Omaha Citizen Patrol.  I saw one at a gas station and was interested in finding more.  It is a volunteer troupe of around 500 people.  they don't carry guns, and like Uatu, they just observe and don't interfere.

I want to make some snarky comments but it seems like a force for good.

The College World Series also deserves a mention (as it's a big deal) and there's the Saddle Creek connection (though i haven't seen or heard much evidence of the indie scene, it surely has to be there)

Okay, that's my primer.  Consider yourself primed.