Day 6: Omaha, Nebraska

Happy Sunday from America's Heartland!

My second full day in Omaha was generally low-key and quite nice actually. I am enjoying Jenny as a host - she just kind of goes with the flow (despite her "J" tendencies).

We went out to lunch today with Linda and Jacob, two of Jenny's friends. Linda works as the Residence Life Director at the College of St. Mary's, and Jacob is her husband. They are quite funny, as Linda is a typical housing nerd (very energetic and loud) and Jacob has a dry sense of humor. I enjoyed them both! Especially when Linda and I got to swap some Housing stories. We were supposed to go to Petrow's, a local malt shop type place that is famous around these parts. Too bad we forgot that Petrow's is closed on Sundays! Still wanting me to get the local Omaha experience, Jenny, Linda, and Jacob took me to the Rice Bowl, the local "hole-in-the-wall" Chinese food place. Delicious of course!

After that, Laurie and Jacob took us on a mini-driving tour of Omaha to see the things that Jenny couldn't find yesterday. We went and saw Rosenblatt Field, home of the College World Series (for one more year at least until the new stadium opens), and we also saw the Omaha Zoo, which is the 2nd highest rated zoo in the country apparently (behind San Diego). Very cool to see both! Did I mention that the weather was absolutely perfect today? In the 80's, sunny, low humidity - if everyday in the Midwest was like this I would never want to leave.

After Linda and Jacob dropped us off, Jenny and I did some errands around town. Jenny got some tomato plants and planted them in her yard. We found the one Bank of American ATM in Omaha (or what we thought was - thanks a lot US Bank imposter!). We also went to a half-priced book store where I restrained myself and only bought three books. Who knows when I will read them when I already have 6 books with me on the trip? I am already on book number 2 for the trip as is, so we shall see if I get to them.

We then met up with Boyd, a family friend of mine, for dinner at BrewBurgers, a local Omaha establishment. It has been featured on "Drivers, Dine-in's, and Dives" for its famous beef brisket, so we were excited to try it (side note: the brisket was ok - good but we decided not "Food Network worthy"). Boyd regailed us with some hysterical stories from his life - he is a funny guy! I have kept in touch better with his sisters than him, so it was good to see him again and see what he is up to.

And that's pretty much it! Having a quiet night here and then getting up in the morning and heading to Milwaukee!

Joey