Omaha

Max and I went to Omha Nebraska for our first anniversary.
Why?
To see him.
Who is this? This is David Wilcox a favorite musician. He is an amazing folk singer who is amazing with not only lyrics but also with the guitar. Max has been following him for years and introduced his music to me when we started dating. I am very lucky to have been exposed to his music. Since the first anniversary gift is traditionally the gift of paper we wanted to give tickets. We had decided that we wanted to see him on our first anniversary no matter where he was playing, and that is how we ended up in Omaha, NE. We were very lucky because this was a very special concert He was preforming in a very small church with Carrie Newcomer they basically held a conversation through their music and talking, it felt like we were in a living room peeping in. It was a truly unique and special concert for a very special day. *I was very happy with the fact I could being my camera to THIS concert to capture it!

Day one we flew in when we arrived at the airport we both realized we were starving so we asked around for a good good place to eat and several people recommended the Upstream. We headed down town to the Upstream Brewery for an amazing meal everything was made from scratch, it is a good thing I do not live here or I may eat at the Upstream daily. The upstream is in an old fire station and is a beautiful old brick building. Then we headed to our nice hotel.


Day two After a very lazy start and figuring out what we wanted to see we headed out to the Lauritzen Botanical Gardens. I figured it would be a great way to see fall colors and enjoy a relaxed afternoon outdoors. We were surprised at how big the gardens were and how many cool plants and flowers there were, among other attractions. There was a rose garden that was decorated with old architecture from Omaha buildings. It was so cool to see some of those details up close.
The coolest part though was the train display. They had tons of Large trains running though the trees and had build downtown Omaha in natural materials. We should have planned an extra hour or so for this part alone. Max was so cute watching the trains trying to get the perfect pictures. Although he does not like being in the picture he does take a great photo. The colors were amazing and walking through the gardens and paths was very romantic. I am so lucky to married to a wonderful man who will go to a garden with me.

After the gardens we headed to the the Old Market area downtown. There were tons of great shops and galleries in the Old Market. I love seeing the local art. I was really shocked at how hip this area of town was it reminded me of downtown Denver. While we were shopping we asked around for somewhere great to eat our anniversary dinner. We asked about 15 people total and they all listed the Upstream in the top 3 places so we decided to go back and try great steaks there. We were again delighted with yummy treats. Let me tell you they have the best cheese and beer soup EVER! We also enjoyed a sampling of all of their beers, it was a yummy alternative to a bottle of wine.
While shopping I learned the power of an anniversary trip when I looked at a beautiful bracelet when I asked my hubby how it looked he turned to the lady and said "Box it up please." Then we headed back to the hotel to watch a little bit of the world series. When we go back Max wanted me to take a bath I was a little confused and finally relented, next to the tub I found a little corked bottle. Inside the bottle was a wonderful card/message (he is so romantic!)

Day 3 Our Anniversary- We had a lazy morning again and I gave Max his a card a mini scrapbook of favorite memories of the year. We decided to see the Lewis and Clark exhibit and landing. After a hike through the park we could not find it, finally we asked directions and went to the huge National Park building only to find it was open Monday-Friday. Bummed out we grabbed our guide book and I let Max pick something to do and we headed to Iowa to the HUGE Bass pro shops. YES WE SPENT OUR ANNIVERSARY AT BASS! We had lunch at a great fish place attached to Bass. We ate some random food there Alligator appetizer, buffalo burgers, and yummy deserts (I had a chocolate chip cookie in a cast iron pan with ice cream on top.) Then we had fun at the shooting range, buying presents for the girls (our dogs) and laughing at how different this Bass is from ours at home, I bet all the hunting stuff actually gets used here! I know that this is not typical but is was very fun!
After Bass we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert (described above.) It was funny though after the concert people realized we where the "anniversary couple from Vegas" it was nice they gave us many warm wishes. Then back to the hotel for the night.

Day 4 Nothing exciting excapt for the comedy of errors by me. First I realized I forgot to set the TV to record the Steelers game would be missing ooops, then when we got to the airport the ticket agent told us they were about to start boarding "WHAT we were there 2 hours early???" oooops I accidentally read the landing time not hte departing time. Luckily we did make our flight. We had a lay over in Pheonix that was VERY rough on my tummy and I spent the 2 hours trying to make my tummy stop spinning. Finally we were off to Vegas and arrived home safely.

Overall it was a great trip with an opportunity to remember our first year together and to be excited about our next 80 together.