Omaha, Nebraska

Our first stop on the west side was Omaha to visit Tim’s friend Craig and his family. It was pretty clear the moment we hit Iowa we had crossed the line from civilization to "God’s country” aka country roads, open sky and never ending fields…of corn! The corn huskers mascot is right on point, Iowa has got corn covered, or maybe vise versa. We sincerely enjoyed our 6 hour drive north following the Mississippi River, stopping to see the amber waves of grain and pausing for some corny photos.

Craig called us somewhere between field and sweet corn to let us know he had our one night in Omaha covered and that he had made a stop at Dick’s Meat Shop (ok it’s really Rick’s but come on) so we had a stash of meat for the road trip. Just another note, their gas stations are also cleverly named Kum and Go. We strolled passed fields of soy beans and right into Craig’s driveway where we were happily greeted by his wife Lindsay, 2 year old Ellis and dog Jose. The babysitter arrived and we strapped into their truck for our night out.

It started with a stunning sunset drive through the corn and soybean fields on our way to dinner. They took us to one of the few remaining old time steak houses called The Drover. We dined on steaks soaked in their famous whiskey sauce complete with loaded baked potatoes and our first taste of greens in days. Now, we know Omaha is known for their steaks but holy cow, our filets were insane! We headed off to the Homy Inn for our night cap, a local divey joint with a great name and an illuminated sign touting their champagne on tap. Erica got the peach champagne, the boys grabbed local beers and Lindsay 8.5 months pregnant opted out. We spent the next half hour and $10 on a claw machine trying desperately trying to win a penis water bottle, $50 or 2 packs of cigs. We left with zero winnings but definitely a great taste of Omaha.