Friday, July 10, 2009

Our Staycation in Nebraska-Old Market, Wineries and a 7 yr. old's BD

We had a marvelous 7 day vacation at home last week! Our brother (DH's brother John) and sister-in-law (Karen) from Ocala, Fl visited us. Little known, there is a lot to do around Omaha, Nebraska. We may have touched on half of what we wanted to do. In the eastern most part of Omaha is the Old Market area. It was built up more than 100 yrs. ago, every thing business and industrial was in this area. Fortunately for us, it has never fallen in to disrepair and has been converted in to shops and restaurants. The first photo is in an antique store there. I love the frosty windows with the vines growing across them. There are vines on so many buildings down there. All of the Streets are still the original brick.

These two guys were priceless! They looked almost like twins. Wish I had gotten my camera out sooner, they even had matching earings and both were eating ice cream cones. We were sitting at an outdoor eating area of a microbrewery....a place called the Upstream. You can not go wrong eating there. A large Farmer's Market is across the street from the Upstream, every Saturday. It was so festive and affordable and had a lot of ethnic vendors with so many special things. I will go back again.

One day we went to Nebraska City to visit the winery at Arbor Day Farms. Karen and I bought a glass of wine (happy hour, $2.50 a glass, have you EVER heard of Happy Hour at a winery?) John is very silly, that's him emptying his glass with his back to us! I'm on the left.
This may surprise some but, my favorite thing in Nebraska City is not wine. Don't judge me! It's a Whispering Bench on the Grounds of Arbor Lodge.
I'm pretty dorky and have the simplest of pleasures so, I don't expect people to appreciate all that I appreciate. But, they were VERY impressed with this. It's on the verge of being spooky, with 60 ft. of this curved bench and a quiet whisper, if your eyes are closed...you would swear your partner is sitting right next to you! Crazy, even during the busy days of falltime, we don't have competition to sit and whisper to each other here. This is a picture of John and Karen trying out the Whispering Bench for the first time.

Here is John standing by the statue of Grover Cleveland in front of the Whispering Bench. John is really funny. I'm rabid about history and Historical Markers. It wasn't too long when he'd see one he'd say, "Hey Cindy, there's your hysterical marker!".

There is a new Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha. It links Omaha, NE and Council Bluffs, Iowa over the Missouri River. There are many nature things around the base of it on the Nebraska side. We bring all of our houseguests there. My husband Jim is walking on the left, John on the right. John and Karen are also the relatives that we go on cruises with. Can't wait for our cruise in November.


Last but not least, it was our little designer Alex's 7 th birthday on July 5th. Here she is with her silly dad (my brother in law) and my mother. She's itching to come back to my house and organize and decorate a bit with me! I'm so glad that we have another generation in our family who loves to junk and paint and decorate. Life is good!


14 comments:

  1. Looks like a wonderful time for all. Glad you had a lot of fun with family. TTFN ~Marydon

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  2. What a lovely day! Love all of your photos. I don't know that I will ever get to that part of the country so I appreciate the tour.

    Have a great weekend!

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  3. We've done this before, too, staying close to home and planning close-by excursions. It's always fun discovering what's right in your own backyard. Hubby and I love going to wineries too!

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  4. You're so funny Cindy! Garbage saling! I think I will have to use that one, because in the winter, when there are no garage sales, I do like to shop the curb!
    Looks like you had alot of fun on your staycation! Sometimes that's more fun, and relaxing, then tearing across the country trying to see everything in a week!
    Have a great day!

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  5. It looks like a great time. I like historical markers too. And the "hysterical" comment is funny--I can remember telling my mother that she belonged to the Hysterical Society because she was a lifelong member of our town's Historical Society. Glad that you enjoyed the vacation. Nothing like one and nothing like coming home from one either.

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  6. It's always fun to see the sights in our own neck of the woods. We sometimes forget about treasures we have all around us. Thanks for sharing the treasures around where you live. And now we know you love historical markers. Who would have ever guessed?

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  7. Stop by my blog...there is an award for you.

    Renee @ Cottage Lifestyle
    http://cottagelifestyle.blogspot.com/2009/07/gifts-from-garage-sale-gal-and-award.html

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  8. This looks like a super place to vist, especially the whispering bench.
    I am a Packer fan, by the way.

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  9. I came here looking for a 55, and got a travel tour of The Cornhusker State... hehehehe
    I've been to all of those place BTW.
    :-)

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  10. Cindy...That was Awesome!!
    Next Friday....I'm expecting you!

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  11. And don't forget to post it here!

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  12. Hey Girl,

    I went out of town overnight and didn't get to return any blog comments. Thanks for the telling me about the grease lighting. I wouldn't have thought to use it. Hope you have a great week.

    Love your staycation photos. Looks like you had a great time.

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  13. Hey Cindy~~looks like ya'll had a great stay-cation!! Loved the photos and I bet it was fun to have a little fellow-crafter around!
    Thanks so much for stopping by today!
    Have a great weekend!
    Hugs,
    Lynn♥

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  14. Hey Cindy, I haven't gotten much sorting done with the ephemera, but I have looked through it and gotten some good laughs over some writing and drawings from when I was like eight years old. I didn't even realize there was stuff that old in there!

    That antique store you went to looks really great... there's actually an aqua lamp there to the left that I might have checked out and maybe taken home if I was there!

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I'm happy to hear anything that you think! Thank you!