Our next stopover was at Omaha - the main city of the state of Nebraska. What do you know about the place. If like me - not very much ! Our Uber driver taking us from the Amtrak station to our hotel said " nothing happens in Nebraska !
I did a bit of research. In area Nebraska is 50% bigger than England. The population of England now stands at 56 million. The population of Nebraska is 2 million of which 25% live in sprawling low rise Omaha. I find these stats amazing. There is just so much space - so few people - you just feel different - the opposite of claustrophobic.
A bit about Omaha. Is is set on the banks of the Missouri River. If you look at a map it is more or less in the centre of the USA and in the pioneering days was called the gateway to the west. It's developent has been raucous - thousands of immigrants chasing the American dream. Apparently it is now a low cost city to live in but state taxes are high. Unemployment is low.
Downtown is smart - and good number of bars, restaurants and shops. Many are large although low rise. It is a mystery to us how they survive because there seem to be so few people. However the answer is weekends come alive apparently and Omaha has an absolutely massive conference centre. Tourism is also a pull. There is also a suprising list of big companies based in Omaha including Warren Buffets companies - because he is from Omaha. There is a long list of famous people from Omaha - I picked out a few - Fred Astaire - President Gerald Ford - Malcolm X and Marlon Brando.
The Three Tenners got out to do some trail walking - see the mob photos below. I also did a 3 mile run around the central lake.
It was only a short stopover but we enjoyed this quirky place - only never to return again I would imagine. On to Denver next and the Rocky Mountains.
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| Not bad from a mob camera |
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| On the Californian Zephyr |
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| Omaha trail walking overlooking the Missouri. |
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| Missouri River |
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