Gretna, NE at the KOA West Omaha / Lincoln
(1-8 Aug)
And the adventures continue! Our next stop was in Gretna, NE about halfway between Lincoln and Omaha. We were able to double our sightseeing! Exercising our typical modus operandi, we gathered some local information from the nearby drinking establishments and plotted our adventure! Again, this stop was driven by the opportunity to visit another state capital. We managed that and much, much more!
We did visit the Capitol in Lincoln late in the afternoon and was impressed with the towering central building and some of the stone carvings going up the steps. Another impressive building representing all the state has to offer and it provides some great information on the history of the state and the capital!
The first pleasant surprise was to learn that the “Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium” is a world class destination. I agree and only the fact that we spent three hours in triple digit heat was there any detractor to this outing! Great layout, hundreds of displays, clean and well run! We have visited many zoos and aquariums in our time and this is definitely one of the best! Glad we found it and stayed with the visit despite the heat! The $4 bottles of water never tasted so good!
I have procrastinated long enough . . .time to share our brew pub discoveries since I know that is the only reason some of you read our blog! Off the bat, we found the “Lucky Bucket Brewery and Cut Spike Distillery.” A great find and Abby was a great source of info on both the beers and the spirits. Naturally, we had to sample both sides of the house. Well, I did anyway. Tina stayed with the beer flight! All of it was great and their signature single malt was as smooth as it gets! We also sampled the beers from “Upstream Brewing Company,” the “Brickway Brewery and Distillery” (another two-fer!), and the “Nebraska Brewing Company.” All were great and I could be a regular at any of them if I lived here!
Moving to some of the more outdoor activities, we did a self-drive tour at the “Wildlife Safari Park” in Ashland, NE. There are a ton of wild bird species, rescued American Bald Eagles, and free roaming herds of Bison and Elk! We did not see any wolves, but we did the black bear! It was a great tour, but I am glad I had a 4-wheel drive! We also visited two very interesting museums, the “Durham Museum,” which is an historical account of the founding of Omaha, and the “Strategic Air Command (SAC) and Aerospace Museum” near Ashland, NE. Both were interesting in their own unique ways. Durham was in an old rail station downtown and still has some original rail cars on exhibit with model train display that must be nearly 1,000 square feet in layout! The SAC Museum, in addition to the history of the command, had displays other historically significant events of the 20th century and a nice display of Air Force (and Army Air Corps) aircraft throughout time. Both were well worth the visit!
One of the highlights and hidden gems was our discovery of the “Cellar 426 Winery” also near Ashland. I say hidden, and maybe only because we were not locals, but just when I thought the GPS was wrong, we came up a hill and there was revealed the vineyard, welcome center, tasting area and restaurant. Glad the GPS was correct! We loved this place and made a point to visit it again before we left! We greatly enjoyed meeting Jennifer and Alyssa and learning about the vineyard. Of course, we sampled many of the wines and left with some for later! Their cheese boards and charcuterie plate choices were delicious! The winery also had a great outdoor venue and occasionally has concerts, like when we visited. Great place, great people and go Kyle!
In addition to finding another winery, we also stumbled upon Orsi’s Italian Bakery and Pizzeria. We went looking to have a pizza… and we did – carry out – by necessity, but Tina also hit the jackpot with homemade pasta, some homemade Italian sausage, homemade bread, canned tomatoes and peppers and some oil! Great Italian food coming my way! Yummy!
This find for fresh food was only bested by the Omaha Farmer’s Market. Quite a well done and expansive market, the choices were more than plentiful! I had to talk Tina into leaving because all the produce, cheese, meats and whatever else she bought began to exceed my cargo carrying capacity! I don’t think either of expected to find so much and were ill prepared for the take! All good and some more good eating!
We capped off our visit by walking to Iowa! Yes, we crossed the Missouri River on foot via the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. The bridge was named after the Nebraska Senator and connects the Omaha waterfront to Council Bluffs, IA. A scenic walk, but it was another hot day, so we had to expedite the outing! The bridge did offer some great views and the light breeze was welcomed!
I got a little ahead of myself! I almost forgot to mention our timing worked to catch the Sarpy County Fair! It was a stereotypical county fair with the rides, food (Tina’s corndog), concerts and of course a rodeo! We made it a point to see the rodeo and enjoyed it like we always do! Great demonstration of roping, riding and crazy ass bull riding!! Why . . . WHY? I was curious, so I looked up the history of bull riding. It actually originated as ranching games in Mexico in the 1600s. I think today’s equivalent would be, “Hold my beer . . .watch this!!” Good show, great clowns and a great announcer!
We stayed at the KOA West Omaha / Lincoln campground near Gretna and that will be the last time they ever see us. The site we were assigned was not big enough for the rig and there needs to be some serious money thrown into the infrastructure (roads and lower sites). Check-in staff were nice and any interaction with the workers was fine, but the campground – except for the new expanded section – needs some work! Tree limbs that impede passage should probably be removed also!
Camping up with the Joneses 