omaha road trip

[sadiejane]

a friend is having an art opening at bemis center in downtown omaha.
will be there briefly for the wkend.
any "must sees" that you folks would recommend to do on saturday?
thanks

[Bevan R.]

The Henry Doorly Zoo

[Pat B]

...and don't forget your bow! 

[sadiejane]

...and don't forget your bow! 

do i need an out of state license? 

[gstoneberg]

Nope, just the appropriate tags.

I lived 50 miles north, but worked in Omaha for 13 years up to 2007.  I only came to Omaha to go to work, visit the zoo, shop at Cabelas, go to a college world series game, or go to 3d shoots.  I thought for a while and couldn't come up with something you should go see.  I'm not going to help their tourist industry.   I loved living in Nebraska, but it's not a huge tourist attraction.  Wait, if you want to see bald eagles and old river steamer boat remains, drive up I29 on the Iowa side (assuming it's back open after the big flood) to DeSoto Bend (a few miles west of Blair, NE).  A huge group of eagles winter at DeSoto, especially if the rivers aren't all frozen up.

George

[sadiejane]

thanks george-actually i enjoy omaha as a short road trip. i do prefer canfields to cabales tho.
there is a really good art scene for that size town.
my bud hesse curates at the bemis center.
after many yrs as curator in nyc, he returned to his mid-western roots.
and the underground art/party scene is loads of fun-for a short weekend(too old to keep up longer than that these days)
lots of good classic midwestern architecture(esp so across the river in council bluffs)
and tho the old market is rather 'touristy'
there are some great local eateries in between the chain restaurants
this is one of my favs
http://labuvetteomaha.com/about.html
understated, fine simple foods. they have their own bakery downstairs and make wonderful breads.
and if you are a wino-as i am ...amazing selection(at great prices) to take home or enjoy there.
its really just a very crowded market/deli with a few tables scattered about.
(crowded as in filled to the brim and overflowing onto the floor and every corner
stacked to the ceiling with wine, mustards, preserves, olives, oils, vinegars, odd and rarely seen outside france delicacies etc etc)
the old market also offers some excellent used bookstores and antiquey places
(have found some screaming deals-like i almost felt like i was stealing- on very old/collectible pocket knives
and rarely come home without a stack of books)
used to have contact info for an old guy who has an extensive collection of native north american artifacts,
who would show  by appt. but somehow i can no longer find it...
and of course, wade philips lives in the area. possibly the largest collection of trad archery gear in the country,
also open to view by appt.
(tho my preference runs along the primitive lines more so than "trad").
so those are the things i like to do in whatever city i may find myself in.
the artifacts and phillips collection may have to wait another trip, considering the tribe im rolling with this trip.
as for the used bookstores-sees ya later i got some reading to do

[gstoneberg]

Well crud, wish I'd known about Wade Phillip's collection when I lived up there.  I'm a life member of the Nebraska Traditional Archers so I should've known.  Now that I think of it, I preferred Scheel's to Cabelas, except for the Sydney store.  That one's worth the trip to see it, but it's a very long haul across the state.  I actually tried for a computer geek job at the Sydney corporate headquarters, but they wanted PC and not UNIX types.  Never visited the Bemis Center, bummer.

My favorite eatery was not downtown and was an oriental hole in the wall called "House of Hunan" in Millard.   Hot and Sour soup to die for.... Sadly, it may be closed now.  But, if I were to go back this weekend I would drive up to within 5 miles of my old place and eat at a little Mom and Pop restaurant in Hooper called "The Office".  Fri and Sat evenings are prime rib nights and it's the best I've ever had, excluding perhaps "The Tobacco Company" in Richmand, VA.  Get there early if you don't want to wait a long time in the bar.  If you have to wait, the artichoke dip and fried mushrooms are my favorite hors d'oeuvre's.  You'll be with a lot of "salt of the earth" farmers.  They come from miles around on those 2 nights.  Great memories.

George

[M-P]

Howdy,  The Durham Museum is worth a visit.    It's housed in one of the old train depots near the old market area.   It has displays on several topics, though it centers on Omaha city/ area history.  There is a display on Omaha ( the tribe) culture and artifacts.
If you wander further afield, the Nebraska State Historical Society in Lincoln has a fairly large display of native American artifacts and tribal culture.
I also enjoyed the Steamboat Bertrand museum up at DeSoto Bend.   Whoops, never mind the steamboat I see from their website that they are closed due to road damage.   Oh well nothing there about archery anyway.
Ron