Tomorrow is the highly anticipated wedding of my sweet cousin, here in Omaha, which she now hails as home. And to be certain that we wouldn't miss any of the festivities, we headed out of BWI yesterday in the wee hours of the morning, traveling through Charlotte to finally land yesterday afternoon in Omaha.
We were settled into our room by two, with the added plus of gaining an hour in time, so we decided to head out to see some of the sights, traveling by foot to make up for sitting in planes for so many hours.
Just around the back of our hotel, we were offered this great view of the city, behind an amphitheater (which I here will be filled with people tomorrow for a huge free concert. Luckily, we will be celebrating at a different venue.)
We decided to walk into Old Town, as it is called, which was just slightly than two miles one way.
We passed some very interesting structures and buildings along the way.
There was a lovely War memorial
An interesting set of statues entitled "Money Blomes". (no, that is not a typo)
The sculpture is supposed to reflect concepts related to money and the economy. "Money is like a plan. If you care for it wisely, it can grow." It was commissioned by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Omaha branch. So now you can see the connection.
Speaking of the Federal Reserve Bank, that stands along the road as well.
and this sculpture entitled "Angels Wings" is memorial devoted to the victims of September 11.
Walking further along, this historic playhouse captured my eye with all of the interesting outside details.
and I was impressed with this library of old, featuring emblems of the famous Classical writers in history.
There were so many different architectural styles to admire along the way.
Finally, we arrived at the Old Market.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Twisted Fork, eating outside and having the place pretty much to ourselves. Dinner gave us the stamina that we needed to march the two miles back to our hotel. Considering that my day began at 4am, I crashed early, while Marty settled in to watch the Pitt versus West Virginia game on the television.
We awoke bright and early this morning, and decided to venture out to Joslyn castle, which is just a little more than half a mile from our hotel. Walking along the very busy four lane road, it's hard to imagine that just a block from so much business, a tranquil oasis stands.
The castle was built by Canadian emigrants, George and Sarah Joslyn, who came to Omaha with just $9.00 to their name in the late 1800s. George made his fortune in the newspaper business and had this mansion built in 1899 according to Scottish Baronial Style.
As you can see, it is quite magnificent. One can tour the house on certain days, of which today was not. But we were quite content to walk around and enjoy the beauty of the grounds.
A lovely recreated bridge stands on the property, surrounded by lovely flowers.
There was a photo taken in 1909 that shows that the bridge once stood on the spot above a large pool of water.
There was no sign of a pool anywhere in the vicinity.
As you can see, it was a magnificent day, at least at this point, when the temperatures were in the mid 80's.
It didn't take much time to tour the grounds, so we decided that we would head out to Lauritzen Gardens, as it had come highly recommended.
I should mention here that Marty and I decided not to rent a car on this trip. We are just here for a few days, and the hotel offered a shuttle...or said it did. I don't need to elaborate on that.
The gardens are 6.1 miles from our hotel, and you can bet that there was no way we were attempting to walk that distance. Especially since the temperatures are in the low 90s today. So today was the initiation into the world of Uber.
Marty was so excited to finally use the App that he had downloaded on his phone. He scheduled the pick up for Josyln castle, and in no time, a lovely woman named Dora showed up to shuttle us to the gardens. Marty told her that she was his very first Uber driver. She asked why, which was kind of funny.
In any event, she was a real trooper, and even let Marty take a selfie with her in the car.
I do have to admit that she gave me a sideways glance, to which I just shrugged. We probably made her day. Or...she thinks that crazy people live in Pennsylvania.
The gardens are undergoing construction. A LOT of construction, so they must be planning something big. Because of the renovations, all guests are taken by tram to the center of the planned gardens, which was kind of nice, because it cut off a lot of walking in the heat.
There were many unique and different gardens to enjoy.
A Japanese Park:
where I spotted this guy taking a little swim.
A beautiful herb garden
A vast rose garden featuring dozens upon dozens of different varieties.
A model railway garden, that had 6 different sets of train tracks, each with its own train line that ran across various trestles and bridges, all nestled among the trees.
This cute little trolley just transversed back and forth.
Remember that historic playhouse that we saw yesterday? Well, here it is, featured in the train display, along with many other historic building replicas that are unique to Omaha.
We were told that each one is made completely of some sort of plant material.
As you can see, the gardens are filled with countless surprises to enjoy.
and the shade was a lovely respite from the heat.
At the entrance, there is a conservatory, also filled with surprises.
Look carefully and you will see that the elephant's trunk is pouring water into the pool below.
Here is the view from the opposite side.
There were cacti
and various desert like plants inside.
It was a delightful way to spend the early afternoon, but with the temperatures climbing, we decided to head back to our hotel.
Which, of course, required calling an Uber. I guess we are pros now. ......Or, at least Marty is.
Tonight we are invited to party with the family, and we await the arrival of Amy, who will join in the celebration with us tomorrow. It's guaranteed to be a fun filled, fabulous event!
Omaha is truly amazing!
No comments:
Post a Comment