I have just returned from Omaha, Nebraska. A friend from College Station, Barry Jackson, and my oldest son, Caleb, and I attended the first four sessions of the College World Series. We saw all eight teams compete. Put your dollars on Rice.
A run-down of the trip follows.
We began early Thursday after a short morning at work and promptly headed north into Oklahoma. We stopped at a Norman, Ok, joint for BBQ. Great fried okra, fried being the only way to eat that particular veggie. We passed the south campus of the Oklahoma Horseshoeing School which brought a chuckle from Mr. Jackson.
That night we stopped in Manhattan, Kansas, and were very hospitably treated by Mr. and Mrs. Larry Jackson, brother of trip companion. We ate out in the boondocks at a place that advertises itself as providing the best rural food in America or something akin to it. There, Caleb ate his first buffalo burger directly devouring it. While there, we were instrumentally and vocally entertained by the Haymakers, a local collection of farm tractor drivers who plucked their way through the best Hee Haw hits. Topped the evening off with a drive through powercat country/campus, Kansas State University. On the liveability scale, Manhattan, the little apple, ranks very high due to the hills, yes - Kansas hills, the Flint Hills to be specific, the fact it is a college town, the cleanness/neatness of the said city, and the general beauty of the landscape.
From there Friday morning, we drove to Omaha by way of Lincoln. One of our goals was to give Caleb, a sports fan, a personal view of some Big XII campuses. By the way, another trip goal was to eat at only unique, one of a kind joints. No chain restaurants. We, Barry, veered from this in two ways which I will outline in the next paragraph. Back to Lincoln and the campus of the University of Nebraska, the children of the corn. While the stadium is splendid though my last trip there was less than pleasant due to the failure of the Aggies to show up on game day, the campus is striking only in that it is not striking. I expected more. More of what? Landscaping, beauty, eye-catching, university, architecture.
The two deviations from our "not eating at chain restaurants" were Barry Jackson violations though I admit these violations are minor and took place at chains but chains not located in Texas. Lincoln was the sight of the first and the restaurant of temptation was Taco Johns and the overwhelmingly tempting food was the Potato Ole. The Potato Ole is basically a tater tot with nacho cheese. I am not a fan of the tot.
The second violation was Barry's need, for nostalgia, to eat a sandwich from Runza's. A Runza Original is a sandwich that mixes the meet with cabbage. I am not a fan of cabbage. I must admit here that Caleb and I did each partake of one tot each. That was clearly enough. We had not Runza bites.
From Lincoln into Omaha for the first match-up between Clemson and Georgia Tech, a Clemson victory. Rosenblatt stadium is an outstanding facility with many enjoyable game-watching amenities. The atmosphere in and out of the park is fair like. Fans from all over the nation converge for the event regardless of the teams playing. Many we saw had been attending for years and plan their vacations to or around the CWS. We bedded down in Council Bluffs, Iowa, right across the Missouri from Omaha. Though we did not drive around Omaha extensively, it seems somewhat large in area, we got a feel for it and find it inviting in it's own right even without the CWS. Council Bluffs, however, did not impress even though we visited right prior to our leaving a monument to Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery.
We ate at other places, that while good, aren't worth reading nor writing about.
We stayed two nights, attended all four games featuring all eight invitees. On the second game day we sat behind a gentleman from Rockdale whose son is an assitant coach for Rice. He had VIP passes to the next game which he could not use and was kind enough to hand those over. That night, much to Caleb's delight, we sat with unlimited food and drink, in the air-conditioned comfort of the Stadium Club.
After attending church services at a congregation in Council Bluffs, we headed south stopping at Taco Johns for Barry's tater tot fix, but it was closed which I am sure is a sign of things to come for the establishment as a whole because one can't cast one's livelihood totally on the attractiveness of the tater tot.
Heading south we decided to make an attempt at getting to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and scope out the home of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Took sustenance at Eskimo Joe's near the campus with a plate full of Pepperjack Bacon Cheese Fries. We plan on attending the Ag's away game their this fall. Stayed at a Best Western for a discounted rate after signing up for some Best Western Royal Club. This morning arose, ate at a local donut shop, toured what turned out to be a beautiful campus and drove south arriving home this afternoon.
Other thoughts:
I am indifferent, also, to the Dipping Dot or whatever that ice cream is that is purported to be the ice cream of the astronauts that is sold in the middle of mall walkways. We didn't eat that or walk through a mall. It was just an item of discussion.
Kansas is green and gold. Great corn fields rowed up to great wheat fields.
Making memories with your son is beyond words.
I enjoy shopping for the "treats" that those who don't make the trip receive upon my return. Jeb got a Georgia Tech Yellowjacket cap with the insect on the front. Erin, a heart necklace on colorful string/rope (She is not into cheer gear), and Leslie a door knocker from an iron works place in the Old Market area of downtown Omaha. It is classified as decor, and she likes decor, and she, at least, convinced me this afternoon that she liked this decor.
Texas A&M, while I love the school, is not that pretty of a campus. You notice this when visiting other campuses that seemed to have had some plan in regard to building style and architecture.
I am not checking this for grammar or spelling before hitting "Publish Post" so deal gently with me.
A run-down of the trip follows.
We began early Thursday after a short morning at work and promptly headed north into Oklahoma. We stopped at a Norman, Ok, joint for BBQ. Great fried okra, fried being the only way to eat that particular veggie. We passed the south campus of the Oklahoma Horseshoeing School which brought a chuckle from Mr. Jackson.
That night we stopped in Manhattan, Kansas, and were very hospitably treated by Mr. and Mrs. Larry Jackson, brother of trip companion. We ate out in the boondocks at a place that advertises itself as providing the best rural food in America or something akin to it. There, Caleb ate his first buffalo burger directly devouring it. While there, we were instrumentally and vocally entertained by the Haymakers, a local collection of farm tractor drivers who plucked their way through the best Hee Haw hits. Topped the evening off with a drive through powercat country/campus, Kansas State University. On the liveability scale, Manhattan, the little apple, ranks very high due to the hills, yes - Kansas hills, the Flint Hills to be specific, the fact it is a college town, the cleanness/neatness of the said city, and the general beauty of the landscape.
From there Friday morning, we drove to Omaha by way of Lincoln. One of our goals was to give Caleb, a sports fan, a personal view of some Big XII campuses. By the way, another trip goal was to eat at only unique, one of a kind joints. No chain restaurants. We, Barry, veered from this in two ways which I will outline in the next paragraph. Back to Lincoln and the campus of the University of Nebraska, the children of the corn. While the stadium is splendid though my last trip there was less than pleasant due to the failure of the Aggies to show up on game day, the campus is striking only in that it is not striking. I expected more. More of what? Landscaping, beauty, eye-catching, university, architecture.
The two deviations from our "not eating at chain restaurants" were Barry Jackson violations though I admit these violations are minor and took place at chains but chains not located in Texas. Lincoln was the sight of the first and the restaurant of temptation was Taco Johns and the overwhelmingly tempting food was the Potato Ole. The Potato Ole is basically a tater tot with nacho cheese. I am not a fan of the tot.
The second violation was Barry's need, for nostalgia, to eat a sandwich from Runza's. A Runza Original is a sandwich that mixes the meet with cabbage. I am not a fan of cabbage. I must admit here that Caleb and I did each partake of one tot each. That was clearly enough. We had not Runza bites.
From Lincoln into Omaha for the first match-up between Clemson and Georgia Tech, a Clemson victory. Rosenblatt stadium is an outstanding facility with many enjoyable game-watching amenities. The atmosphere in and out of the park is fair like. Fans from all over the nation converge for the event regardless of the teams playing. Many we saw had been attending for years and plan their vacations to or around the CWS. We bedded down in Council Bluffs, Iowa, right across the Missouri from Omaha. Though we did not drive around Omaha extensively, it seems somewhat large in area, we got a feel for it and find it inviting in it's own right even without the CWS. Council Bluffs, however, did not impress even though we visited right prior to our leaving a monument to Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery.
We ate at other places, that while good, aren't worth reading nor writing about.
We stayed two nights, attended all four games featuring all eight invitees. On the second game day we sat behind a gentleman from Rockdale whose son is an assitant coach for Rice. He had VIP passes to the next game which he could not use and was kind enough to hand those over. That night, much to Caleb's delight, we sat with unlimited food and drink, in the air-conditioned comfort of the Stadium Club.
After attending church services at a congregation in Council Bluffs, we headed south stopping at Taco Johns for Barry's tater tot fix, but it was closed which I am sure is a sign of things to come for the establishment as a whole because one can't cast one's livelihood totally on the attractiveness of the tater tot.
Heading south we decided to make an attempt at getting to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and scope out the home of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Took sustenance at Eskimo Joe's near the campus with a plate full of Pepperjack Bacon Cheese Fries. We plan on attending the Ag's away game their this fall. Stayed at a Best Western for a discounted rate after signing up for some Best Western Royal Club. This morning arose, ate at a local donut shop, toured what turned out to be a beautiful campus and drove south arriving home this afternoon.
Other thoughts:
I am indifferent, also, to the Dipping Dot or whatever that ice cream is that is purported to be the ice cream of the astronauts that is sold in the middle of mall walkways. We didn't eat that or walk through a mall. It was just an item of discussion.
Kansas is green and gold. Great corn fields rowed up to great wheat fields.
Making memories with your son is beyond words.
I enjoy shopping for the "treats" that those who don't make the trip receive upon my return. Jeb got a Georgia Tech Yellowjacket cap with the insect on the front. Erin, a heart necklace on colorful string/rope (She is not into cheer gear), and Leslie a door knocker from an iron works place in the Old Market area of downtown Omaha. It is classified as decor, and she likes decor, and she, at least, convinced me this afternoon that she liked this decor.
Texas A&M, while I love the school, is not that pretty of a campus. You notice this when visiting other campuses that seemed to have had some plan in regard to building style and architecture.
I am not checking this for grammar or spelling before hitting "Publish Post" so deal gently with me.
posted by Brian Miller at 2:40 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the recap of the trip and thanks for being committed to the "no chain restaurant" idea. Why eat at a chain when you are on vacation--isn't the point to get away from routine? I agree that A&M isn't a pretty campus--even Baylor is prettier than A&M although Waco is not prettier than College Station.
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