The couple that set us up on our first date lives outside of Omaha, Nebraska. Ever since they moved there, I knew we had to go visit because I love seeing our friends and I love open spaces. Every time we have something frustrating happen or are stuck in Atlanta traffic, we have been joking that we are moving to Omaha. Omaha was just as beautiful as we hoped, and I really loved how we could feel like we were in the country while we were still in the suburbs! We decided quickly that there are amazing places to visit in Omaha.
Here are a few things we did on our short trip to Omaha- there are definitely a lot more places for us to see next time!
Largest ball of stamps & Boy’s Town
Because I’m a dork, I like visiting kitschy road side attractions like the largest ball of stamps (… and the largest ball of twine). The largest ball of stamps exhibit itself is inside of a museum introducing Boy’s Town– a town created by a Catholic priest as a way to create a home for young men who were orphaned or didn’t have homes. The stamp ball was originally started around a golf ball to give the children within Boy’s Town a hobby.
As someone who is adopted, I found myself a little weepy going through the museum because Boy’s Town is really such an amazing service and support network for children needing help. It was very inspiring to read the alumni pages and see what the young men who grew up there are doing now!
The Omaha Zoo
The Omaha zoo is listed as one of the world’s best zoos. IT WAS GINORMOUS. We spent a few hours there, but were shocked to find out that we actually only went through one or two sections of it. The exhibits were amazing and our friends’ kiddos were very cute and had a lot of fun! This is one of those places that you could buy season passes to and still not be able to see all of it. If you go, definitely check out the desert dome because it is the world’s largest!
Winter Quarters
Winter’s Quarters, Nebraska was the last stop the Mormon pioneers made before going to Utah. As religious refugees, this was the only place that they chose to leave before going to Mexico to practice their religion (at the time, Utah was not part of the US). We visited the visitor’s center and did a free tour with missionaries from our church. It was really interesting to see some of the innovations that occurred because of the trek and very touching to see the historical cemetery for the pioneers that passed there.
Gird up your loins, fresh courage take/ Our God will never us forsake
Foods we tried
While in Omaha, we tried Stella’s and I can attest to some amazing sweet potato fries and burgers! The restaurant has a burger challenge for people to try called the “Stellanator.” You have to call ahead to reserve one of these burgers, but it has six burger patties, six fried eggs, 12 pieces of bacon…and the list keeps going. If you don’t finish the burger you have to pay for it and we were kind of shocked that the reigning champion who had beat the challenge in under 4 minutes was this super skinny girl.
We also ate at Runza– which is a local fast food chain. The runza burger isacombination of ground meat, cabbage, and onions in a kind of pocket of bread. It was kind of my favorite and I’m craving it again just talking about it, honestly!
We absolutely loved Nebraska…even if it was 100 degrees the whole time we were there; we had no idea a place could get so cold and so hot?! Everything was so family friendly and people were definitely Midwest friendly. We loved our visit and definitely want to go back!