August 27


We began the day by walking over to the Saturday morning farmer’s market, quite similar to San Diego’s. After a brunch, we took a walk on the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River. Half way across is the border between Nebraska and Iowa. From there we headed over to the fabulous Joslyn Art Museum. It was opened in the 30s by George and Sarah Joslyn and was considered at the time to be among the country’s 100 greatest buildings. The art was great, but it’s the marble building itself which truly is magnificent. Also, there’s an extraordinary sculpture garden.  
Being in Omaha brings back distant memories of a road trip our folks took us on in 1955, when I was 11 and Doug was 7. Our dad was a serious coin collector, and I remember him buying us what are called “mint sets” from both of our our birth years: 1943 and 1947. These are specially sealed transparent cases containing uncirculated coins from each of the country’s 3 mints: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. They included pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars. We still have them.
I also remember stopping at nearby Boy’s Town, founded by Father Flanagan and made famous in film by Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. Our dad had us pose for a picture in the classic posture which became the logo of Boy’s Town: a picture of a boy carrying a smaller boy on his back and saying: “He ain’t heavy Father; he’s my brother”. Brings tears to my eyes just remembering it.
At dinner time, we walked down to the Old Market area which was loaded with people. It’s their version of a gaslamp area. We ate dinner in an Indian restaurant.
Tomorrow, we hit the road again after a very pleasant stay in Omaha.


August 28


Mostly a driving day. Left Omaha at about 10 AM. We decided not to stop in Des Moines so as to make the next day’s drive to Madison a good bit shorter. Typical of the midwest, we drove through a thunderstorm which lasted not more than 5 minutes.
We arrived at Cedar Rapids around 3 PM. Managed to find our way to the very pleasant Belmont Hill Victorian Bed and Breakfast.
Enjoyed a very nice dinner in the downtown area, then returned home for bed.