Iowa III--Day to Blow

Jonny worked Sunday night at the John Deere factory.  On Monday morning, Jenny and Sam were off to work and preschool.  After a French pastry breakfast with Dave and me at La Mie,  Jonny went to bed and Dave and I drove to Omaha.  Our plane didn't leave until 5:15 p.m., so we had a whole day to blow.

Jonny made good suggestions when we toured Omaha with him last Friday.  "Visit the botanical garden," he said, "and the Durham Museum."  We did.  The Lauritzen Botanical Gardens overlooked the Missouri River.  The gardens were spread over many acres, and we took a 50-minute tram ride to get an overview.  There was a Victorian garden, a model railroad garden, a rose garden, a forest glade, and an Oriental garden.  We also walked through the conservatory, with its lush tropical flowers.

Hibiscus always make me think of Burma.  I grew up with red and yellow hibiscus plants blooming around our home.

Petunias make me think of my dad.  He planted them all around our home in Holladay, sprayed them every day all summer, and they were gorgeous.

The Lauritzen Gardens had a special exhibit of animal sculptures, spread throughout the grounds.  We especially liked this bear.

The Durham Museum tells the history of Omaha.  It is housed in an old train station, built during the 1930s in striking Art Deco style.  Dave and I took an Art Deco architectural tour in Chicago one time, and there's a lot of Art Deco throughout Midwestern cities.

 We loved the statues of servicemen sitting on the benches in the museum lobby, as they must have lounged around the train station during World War II.

Omaha is the headquarters for Union Pacific Railroad, and a large section of the museum houses trains and train signage.  We wandered through an old-time caboose, and also through the media car which was used on Truman's whistle stop tour across America during the national campaign of 1948.  There was even a boardroom table in the car.

 We spent a few minutes checking out the "Old Market" section of Omaha.  Huge brick warehouses now include stylish shops and restaurants, with fern-covered alleyways between the buildings.  After the French pastries at La Mie, we had room for neither gelato, fresh pasta, nor the Persian food at Ahib's.

 Our last stop was St. Cecilia's, one of the ten largest Catholic cathedrals in the U.S.  I loved the wood carvings and stained glass windows.  I was the only person in the cool, dark cathedral on this Monday afternoon--I had all that richness and beauty to myself.