Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Omaha, Nebraska 2018

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.

Omaha 2018
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 Omaha 2018
Old Market

Old Market Omaha 2018
Old Market

Old Market Omaha 2018
Old Market outside La Buvette

Old Market Omaha 2018 
La Buvette

Old Market Omaha 2018
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 2018
UNO

UNO 2018 
UNO's Weber Fine Arts Building

UNO 2018
Leaving the Fine Arts Building

Infusion Brewery 2018
Infusion Brewery

Infusion Brewery 2018
Infusion Brewery

Omaha 2018
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!

Joslyn Art Museum 2018 
Jocelyn Art Museum

Joslyn Art Museum 2018 
Jocelyn Art Museum

Joslyn Art Museum 2018 
Jocelyn Art Museum

Lewis and Clark Landing 2018
Lewis and Clark Landing and labor monument

Bob the Bridge 2018
Walking over the Bob Bridge

Bob the Bridge 2018
Iowa-Nebraska line on the bridge

Heartland of America Park 2018
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.

Lincoln, NE 2018
Downtown Lincoln

Lincoln, NE 2018
The University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL)

Lincoln, NE 2018
UNL Stadium

Lincoln, NE 2018
UNL Sheldon Museum of Art

Lincoln, NE 2018
Eastman exhibit

Lincoln, NE 2018
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.

Omaha 2018
Kevin in front of Zorinsky Lake

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.

Lied Lodge 2018
The Lied Lodge in Nebraska City, Nebraska

Lied Lodge 2018
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.

Omaha 2018
Benson

Omaha 2018
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.

Omaha 2018
At Jazz on the Green in Turner Park

Omaha 2018
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.

Omaha 2018
Botanical Garden

Omaha 2018
Inside the Marjorie K. Daugherty Conservatory
Omaha 2018
Inside the Marjorie K. Daugherty Conservatory

Omaha 2018
The English Garden

Omaha 2018
Walking around

Omaha 2018
Huge tropical flowers

Omaha 2018
Prairie grass

Omaha 2018
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!

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