With holiday trips as they are, and my visits back to Omaha being more infrequent than I'd like them to be, I had to think of priorities, must-sees, must-dos, and must eats.
Here's the quick run-down of some of my faves:
*Pear's Coffee -- locally-owned and available at every Omaha grocery store. (Cozy Caramel...hint, hint.)
*The Greek Islands -- Go! Drop everything and go! I'm not kidding...I have dreams of The Greek Island's dinners with fresh Feta and kalamata olives. My family's been going there since I was a kid, so a meal there is an ultimate priority, any and every time I'm in Omaha!
The Greek Islands Restaurant- 3821 Center Street, Omaha NE 68105 - 402-346-1528
*The Old Market -- The best place to traipse around with no particular purpose, buy awesome postcards depicting the undiscovered beauties of I-80 (??) and expose your inner geek for awesome architecture. I took way too many photos of cool buildings than I'd like to admit. Had it not been frigid, I would've indulged my love of ice cream at the nearby Ted & Wally's or Maggie Moo's, but that's for another time.
*The Keystone Walking Trail -- My trip wouldn't be complete without a walk down this trail where you can see Canadian geese congregating and the occasional deer searching for the remainders of undeveloped South Omaha land (thanks to a new Wal-mart and its nationally-recognized, strip mall followers...) Keystone Trail - Bellevue Loop.
*Ice-Skating At the Old Hitchcock Park -- (now called Motto McLean Ice Arena.) I spent 2 hours indulging my inner Olympian on the very ice where I originally learned to ice-skate. The entire rink, the virgin ice, was all mine and I mean all mine since I was the only one who showed up for that morning's public-skate session.
*Dollar General Store -- Now, I wouldn't necessarily call this a highlight especially considering how spoiled I am with So. Cal's 99 Cents Stores but for my grandmother, it was a definite highlight. Her excitement for plastic products never ceases to amaze me. Rubbermaid or Glade? If only my daily life choices were that easy...Even after 2 sleep-inducing hours amongst the Dollar's aisles and a nearly constant need to bang my head against the wall, I suppose I'd have to agree that it was indeed a highlight of sorts-- if for no other reason than I got to spend the time with my grandmother.
Photo by Kendra Liedle "Bridge To Bellevue" -- taken along the Keystone Trail in Southern Omaha.
Copyright © 2007 Kendra Liedle
