We closed on our house in Long Island on a Thursday. On Saturday, Kevin and I flew to Omaha to shop for a house while Grandma watched the kids. Houses are selling quickly in Omaha, and by the time our plane touched down 3 hours late on Saturday, 3 of the 11 houses we were interested in looking at had sold. Nonetheless, by the end of Saturday, we were reasonably sure about which house we wanted, and we put in an offer on Sunday morning. Our offer was accepted and our inspection was on Tuesday, and then all our contract paperwork was finalized on Friday before we returned to the East Coast. We're closing on August 2. We'll be living in the Bent Creek neighborhood of the Millard area of Omaha!
In between all the house viewing, negotiating, inspecting, paperwork, and setting up other details of our move, we went site-seeing in Omaha.
Driving through the Downtown
Sunday we checked out the Old Market area, which has an Old West vibe. We had a really nice celebratory lunch at La Buvette. We were staying at an Air BnB in the neighborhood we were buying in, Millard, so we also went to Omaha Tap House in Millard in the evening.
Old Market
Old Market
Old Market outside La Buvette
La Buvette
La Buvette
Monday we visited the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) to see the campus and fill out some paperwork. In the evening we went to two local breweries, Infusion Brewery and the Liquid Sunshine Taproom (which is attached to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema- I want to go back for a movie!).
UNO
UNO's Weber Fine Arts Building
Leaving the Fine Arts Building
Infusion Brewery
Infusion Brewery
After the Liquid Sunshine Taproom because when you go to too many breweries...
Tuesday, we went to the Jocelyn Art Museum. I was excited to see they have a whole floor of activities and classes for kids. After that, we went to the Lewis and Clark Landing to check out the Missouri River and the labor monument. We also walked over the Bob Bridge. Then we took a nice long walk around the Heartland of America Park. I got a lot of walking in!
Jocelyn Art Museum
Jocelyn Art Museum
Jocelyn Art Museum
Lewis and Clark Landing and labor monument
Walking over the Bob Bridge
Iowa-Nebraska line on the bridge
Heartland of America Park
Wednesday, we took a day trip to Lincoln. We had lunch, walked around, visited the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and went to the art museum at UNL. Unbelievably, there were two photo exhibits about Cuba. One exhibit was "Pictures from the Revolution" by Roberto Salas, black-and-white pictures from Castro's coup in the 1950s. The other one, which I liked better, was "Havana" by Michael Eastman, and it had huge photographs of the exteriors and interiors of once luxurious homes in Havana, that had degenerated post-communist revolution. They were both beautiful and extremely sad.
Downtown Lincoln
The University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL)
UNL Stadium
UNL Sheldon Museum of Art

Eastman exhibit

Eastman exhibit
Upon our return to Omaha that night, we had sushi at the Blue Sushi Sake Grill, and oh man, sushi is going to be a little tough here. I'm going to figure it out though. After dinner, we took a walk around Zorinsky Lake in Millard.
Kevin in front of Zorinsky Lake
Blowing on a "Salsify" which looks like a giant dandelion.
Kevin will be working on the Omaha campus, but twice a year his program hosts a 10-day residency at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City. So Thursday we went to the residency to meet faculty and students from the program. Everyone was awesome and the location is beautiful.
The Lied Lodge in Nebraska City, Nebraska
Three students doing a reading.
In the afternoon we returned to Omaha, did some more moving errands, and visited the Benson neighborhood in North Omaha for ice cream.
Benson
Ted & Wally's in Benson
In the evening, we had our first (and probably last) Runzas for dinner. Then we went to Turner Park for Jazz on the Green. The performance this week was a Cuban band, "Tiempo Libre." So yeah, I saw a Cuban art exhibit in Lincoln this week and saw live Cuban music in Omaha. Nebraska loves me.
At Jazz on the Green in Turner Park
Tiempo Libre onstage
Friday was our flight out, but it was later in the day, so we snuck in the Lauritzen Gardens - Omaha Botanical Center. It's so lovely and has a big train display year-round. I can't wait to take the kids.
Botanical Garden
Inside the Marjorie K. Daugherty Conservatory
Inside the Marjorie K. Daugherty Conservatory
The English Garden
Walking around
Huge tropical flowers
Prairie grass
Year-round train display (it's much bigger than this but you get the idea)
When the week was up, we flew back to Boston to get the kids at Grandma's. Really looking forward to returning to Omaha and our new home!