University of Nebraska and the State Capitol in Lincoln…

Since we were so close to Lincoln Nebraska we opted for a day trip over to see the town rather than camping there. We drove the one hour drive to town from Papillion mostly on state highway 6 and avoided the interstate highway. Lincoln of course is the Nebraska State Capitol and home to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Both of these sights are the reason we wanted to visit.

Our first stop was to visit the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Once a member of the Big 12 conference like Texas A&M University, they also bolted for a different conference. While A&M headed to the SEC Conference UNL went back to one they once belonged to, the Big 10 Conference. Our first stop was to see the football stadium where so many great players have had the opportunity to play. Like Texas A&M they have a great facility and have no problem spending money on their sports.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is an urban “land-locked” campus and as a result much of its buildings are in different parts of town. We mostly walked around the central campus and took in the sights there, visiting the sports complex which houses the softball and baseball stadiums. New student orientation conferences were ongoing and soon to be freshmen and their parents were everywhere!

The central campus has  a few interesting building architecturally and only a few pieces of public art. They do have a highly renowned Museum of Natural Science as well. We especially enjoyed an interesting sculpture that when looked through creates an illusion that the bell tower is more like the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy. Neat effect…

Also on our agenda was to tour the State Capitol. Lincoln’s Capitol building is one of four (I think that number is right) that have towers that more resemble skyscrapers than the typical dome structures. We have visited one other in Louisiana so this is our second one. Unique to this tower Capitol is that it is the only tower capitol with a dome on top of the tower.

The first striking thing we noticed upon entering was there was no security to enter – NONE!  After walking around a bit we decided the lack of security might be due to two things: 1) most of the offices are in the tower which are off limits to visitors and 2) there is nothing of note to see historically in the parts we were allowed to visit (so very little theft concerns). It is a rather dark building with the exterior being more visually appealing than the interior but happily we were able to take an elevator to the 14th floor observation deck to see the surrounding countryside.

This was definitely one of the least interesting capitols we have visited but still worth the visit. Before leaving we ventured downtown to check out the up and coming Haymarket District where older buildings are being renovated into lofts with businesses below. We found it to be a very trendy spot with upscale eateries and taverns. We stopped in at happy hour to taste the craft beer at Lazlo's Brewery & Grill and although most didn’t seem to have a lot of body (a good feel in the mouth) one was good enough to order so we each enjoyed a Mango IPA and toasted to another successful day trip on the Road of Retirement…

NOTE: We are currently at the COE Bob Shelter campground north of Des Moines, Iowa till Wednesday and are now looking for a spot to stay the next weekend between here and Iowa City, Iowa…