The Mississippi State Bulldogs made it to the Championship Game in the College World Series!
Charles and I decided to be Omaha bound!
We had to wait until Monday, June 24th to leave, but as soon as my client's appointment was over,
I headed home.
We did a final load of the car and started driving...
We drove through parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas...
Missouri...
In Missouri, we entered a bit of Amish Country.
I thought these road signs were the neatest.
I missed the first one but had my camera ready to capture this one...
(and the truck that passed us so that I could capture this picture had a Panola County, Mississippi, tag)
Needless to say, I was super excited when we saw an actual horse drawn buggy
driving down the side of the road. Again, I missed the first one.
But then Charles pointed out another one to me.
I thought I was going to miss yet another photo op,
but Charles turned off onto a side street so that I could get this picture!
It landed us right in the middle of some road construction.
Thankfully, the steamroller operator backed up to let us right back on the road.
That buggy crossed right over both sides of the highway...
We were getting hungry for dinner and Charles saw a sign for Smith's Restaurant.
We decided to check it out and stopped in Bolivar, Missouri...
Charles's decision turned out great!
The fried pork tenderloin sandwich is the #1 seller, and I could see why.
It was really good!
Charles ordered fried catfish, steak fries and slaw with a real cherry Coke,
and said that his dinner was really good too.
We were able to listen to Game 1 of the series on the drive.
We also were able to catch this gorgeous sunset...
We finally made it to Iowa...
and spent the night in a town right over the Iowa border.
The next morning, we were able to see fields...
and farms...
on our drive into Omaha, Nebraska.
Our first stop was The Bob...
the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.
The architecture of the bridge was amazing...
It spans the Missouri River...
and is the longest pedestrian bridge to link two states.
Of course I had to get a picture of us standing in both Iowa and Nebraska!!
We enjoyed a leisurely stroll across the bridge and back.
And caught our first real glimpse of TD Ameritrade Park...
and downtown Omaha...
(the mural - Fertile Ground - was quite amazing).
We, of course, had to have our cowbells in a picture!!
We paused to watch the pigeons...
and made our way past the beautiful daylillies
back to the car...
We then drove...
to the Durham Museum.
We spent the rest of the morning at this museum.
There was so much to see there.
From its art deco exterior and lobby...
to the installations...
and speaking statues
(providing history of the station and experiences of the War)...
in the grand lobby...
to the locomotive...
caboose...
and numerous club cars...
lobby and dinning cars...
and Pullman cars...
on display.
A trolley...
and other antique...
cars were on display as well...
The model train with its drive in movie...
cornfields...
and town...
was fun to watch.
We also enjoyed the exhibit on the Omaha tribe...
and learning about their living conditions...
and way of life...
There was an exhibit on the Lewis and Clark Expedition...
and on the early settlers to the area.
I enjoyed seeing the covered wagon...
and being able to peek inside to see just how it would have been packed...
The exhibits on early Omaha...
and the early education in the area...
were educational.
As was the exhibit on the cattle industry in the area...
Charles and I both enjoyed the mint room...
and seeing the different currencies used...
We also enjoyed the T - Rex Exhibit
from the Field Museum in Chicago...
Sue was one big T-Rex!
and goodness, her face was scary!
There was so much to see in the Durham Museum that we could have easily spent more time there.
However, lunch was calling our name, so we walked to the Old Market area of Omaha.
This area was historic and quaint with its cobblestone streets and flowers everywhere.
We enjoyed lunch at M's Pub.
The escargots was some of the best we have eaten -
buttery, garlicky, cheesy perfection!
I enjoyed the steak sandwich...
(while in Omaha, I had to eat a little steak!!)
while Charles enjoyed the turkey Ruben...
both were really good!
After lunch, we drove to the Joslyn Art Museum...
We meandered...
through...
the statue garden...
before making our way inside...
The museum had collections ranging from Impressionist art to modern art to Western art.
We then drove to eCreamery...
the cutest little ice cream parlor...
I just had to get a scoop of
Bulldog Champion Chow
while Charles stuck with peanut buttercup...
I love that you can name your own flavor there,
so we had to get a container of
Megan's CoWbellS Crunch to take with us...
We stayed in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and traveled the bridge between Iowa...
and Nebraska...
so many times!
It was finally time to pick up our tickets!
We were so excited to get them in our hands!!
After a bit of a rest, we headed back to downtown Omaha...
and TD Ameritrade Park...
to soak up the atmosphere...
and excitement...
of the College World Series!
There was Maroon and White all over downtown and the rest of the city!!
And there was Maroon and White all over the stadium!
We arrived early...
to watch the Dawgs warm up...
We found our seats - which were great!
walked around the park...
and watched b p...
and more warm ups...
We had to have a hot dog because there is nothing better than a
hot dog at a baseball game!
and then saw the picture of Will Clark...
The stadium started...
filling in...
All of the State people around us were so nice!
It was exciting to see our logo on the outfield wall...
and we were excited...
to be experiencing the history that happens here...
live!!
The seats...
were packed!
and after the Bench Mobb's
pre-game ritual...
It was game time!
It was fun watching the Dawgs in action...
although we were definitely rooting for a different outcome!
After the game, we drove to
The Homey Inn...
How could we be so close and not experience champagne on tap?!?
We snagged the Elvis booth...
and enjoyed (what I had hoped to be a celebratory) glass of champagne.
Both the peach and strawberry were great.
The Homey Inn was such a fun, little dive!
We then stopped at the Donut Stop...
on the way back to the hotel.
This little place provided board games...
in addition to really good donuts!
The cream cheese donut was delicious!
And the lady working in the shop was so nice.
She even told us she had been rooting for the Bulldogs too!
The next morning, we drove to the Henry Doorly Zoo.
We were able to visit what is left of Rosenblatt Stadium...
The foul poles are in the zoo's parking lot, and
the original bases and some original seating were on display...
Charles really enjoyed taking a look around!
Of course, I had to take a photo!
After Charles struck a pose, others copied his stance!!
We then made our way to the zoo...
We weren't able to see everything, and I wish that we had have had time
to see the aquarium, but we enjoyed what we did see!
We started in the butterfly house...
and watched as beautiful butterflies...
flew all around us...
There were...
so many...
different...
and beautiful varieties...
We even saw a hummingbird!
We really enjoyed the Skyfari!
It's a chairlift that takes you over...
parts of the zoo...
and allowed us to see the gazelles and giraffes...
as well as a bird's eye view...
of the water garden...
koi pond...
and monkey island...
We ended the Skyfari at the white rhino exhibit.
I just loved him!
The Indian rhino was enjoying a mud bath,
and it was fun watching him twitch his ears...
We enjoyed watching the red lemurs...
and the sea lions, which were so playful...
I really liked the polar bear.
I sat down on the bench in front of the glass, and
Mr. Polar Bear came right up to me...
He then took a swim - and enjoyed a carrot -- just like dat Toula!!
The gorilla was cute holding its feet as it slept...
and the monkeys were putting on a show playing with people...
and pretending to sleep!
I loved watching the orangutans...
The monkey exhibit...
was lots of fun!
We then entered the biodome and saw all sorts of cave dwelling and
bayou dwelling animals...
We passed the Mutual of Omaha
Wild Kingdom Pavilion
on our way out.
We enjoyed our visit to the zoo.
Thankfully, there were misters set up around the zoo.
Walking through them really helped keep the heat at bay.
We then drove back to Old Market for lunch.
As we were walking, Charles spotted Plank...
It was the perfect spot for lunch...
I loved the atmosphere...
The fresh squeezed lemonade hit the spot after a hot morning at the zoo...
My lobster roll was delicious!
As was Charles's shrimp po-boy!
Everything on the menu sounded good!
Before we left, we walked to a store selling Christmas ornaments
and then on to the Heartland of America Park.
We saw the cutest little family of ducks...
along the walking path...
This little duck was a Curious George!
We thought Charles was going to make a new friend, but at the last minute, the duck walked away.
We made our way...
to the fountain...
too bad the gondolas were not operating...
We made our way back through the park...
We ended our trip by stopping at the home of Mizzou
for dinner on the road at Culver's - home of the butter burger...
The fried cheese curds (Wisconsin's finest) and the butter burger hit the spot!
Wish we had such a fast food place in Mississippi!
Driving home, we passed right by the stadiums for the Kansas City teams...
We had a quick but really fun trip to Omaha!!
