I started this year’s travels with a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands (if you missed that, it started here). For my next trip, I wanted to do something different, to ensure that my trip reports get some variety in ’em. So, I asked myself, “Which state is the most different from the Virgin Islands? What is the opposite of a tropical island paradise?” And myself instantly responded, “Nebraska.” And I should know…I grew up in Nebraska. I read awhile back that Nebraska is visited by fewer tourists than any other state. I find that hard to believe because…Kansas. Not to mention North Dakota, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t even really exist! In any case, having lived there for well over a decade, I know of some worthwhile things to do and see in Nebraska. I plotted a big loop around this big state, which will keep me in Cornhusker Land for two weeks! As previously mentioned, I got virtually no sleep the night before I headed to the Heartland. I got some decent sleep on the flights, though. I must say, Southwest seems to be suffering the repercussions of their holiday season debacle, as both legs of my flight had at least 75 empty seats.

Once I had arrived in Omaha, my first stop was for lunch at California Tacos. They deep-fry their taco shells, and the tacos are freakin’ huge! Seriously, the thing was so big, I didn’t think I could get my mouth around it. (I know, I know: “That’s what she said.”) But it was delicious, as were the Cali Tots, which I found to be better than (but similar to) the Potato Oles at Taco John’s.

From there, I was off to see Omaha’s art deco train station. Today turned out to be a dreary, drizzly day, but this amazing building was well worth the chill and dampness. Let’s see if these pictures came out decent:

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And that’s just the outside of the place. Right now, the inside appears to be undergoing some serious restoration, as the atrium is mostly filled with a mass of scaffolding. Lucky for me, a small portion of the inside can be seen. Here’s what that looks like:

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If you’re a regular reader (once again: Not referring to bowel movements), you may have noticed that I quite often plan to spend a day checking out one specific building, but then I’ll see another interesting building nearby and before ya know it I’m on photographic walkabout. Despite the weather, this trip is no exception. Here be the stuff what I found in the neighborhood of Omaha Union Station:

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Did I hear you right? You say the partially sculpted dudes on Union Station have left you longing to see a fully sculpted dude? Well, how about a life-size statue of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee? Would that satisfy your cravings? Well, too bad, I didn’t take any pictures of it. Seriously: ConAgra Foods actually has a life-size statue of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee outside their building at 707 ConAgra Drive. I drove by and got a glimpse of it, but I quickly decided the good chef wasn’t worth trying to find a place to park.

So, I made the one-hour drive from Omaha to Lincoln, where I checked into a Holiday Inn Express and promptly took an hour-long nap. After the snoozin’ I met up with family for dinner at Napoli’s. This is a very good Italian restaurant. We had their stuffed mushrooms, which were excellent, as was the sauce they were swimming in. I had a most excellent bowl of minestrone and the pasta sampler platter (lasagna, manicotti, and ravioli). Everything was so fresh and flavorful, it made the Chef Boy-Ar-Dee statue seem even goofier than it did already.