Back to the Corn

So it was a lot harder to drive away from the Mountains than it was to drive to them. I think it is pretty obvious why that is. Eastern Colorado and Nebraska are flat, just like Kansas, but this time we stayed on I-80, so we didn't get that same feel that we did on the backroads of Kansas. Most of the drive wasn't super interesting. We got to Omaha, and were wondering what the hell were we doing here. Steve was on the phone with this friend Steph from high school who was going to be our hostess for the evening. We were trying to figure out which hotel to stay in, and that was a process, but we finally found a Best Western close to Downtown Omaha. Now I will admit that I had no hope of this being a good time. It was Steve's turn to take the trip somewhere and have it be somewhat of a bust. But he did not pull through. When we got to the Old Market district of Omaha, I liked it. It had a very Old Mid-West feel to it, but was still bustling with cool little shops, restaurants and bars. I know they do this in a bunch of cities, but it really felt Old Cityish here. We ate a Famous Dave's for dinner, I was craving ribs, and Steve got down on some brisket. Later we found out that we should have eaten steak in Omaha, and ribs in St. Louis. I can't keep track of what to eat where, but now I know for next time (if there is a next time in Omaha.) Dinner was good, and we then met up with Steph, her boyfriend, and a few of her friends. I really enjoyed hanging out with this group of people. They were all pretty laid back and nice and seemed genuinely concerned with taking us to the right bars. Now we were there on a Thursday night, but it still wasn't that bad. We started out at the Old Chicago (which I finally figured out was a chain,) then it was onto some microbrewery that I can't remember the name of, but had a bunch of pool tables that were FREE!!! Go figure, I didn't even play, but needless to say I was impressed. Then it was off to an Irish pub that had some acoustic music and was pretty fun. A couple observations in Omaha: 1) a lot of people like to take shots of Rumpelmintze (?) 2): the college world series is apparently prime time to be in Omaha 3): a lot of people are named Joe. Not really a lot, but through the night we were hanging out with two guys, both named Joe. If Joe Gallo had come with us on the trip, I think there would have been way too many Joes for one evening. After a fun night, went back to hotel which we learned wasn't in the greatest part of town. We were very alert and VERY cautious with a trip back to the room, and I think we took all necessary precautions to make sure our safety was never in jeopardy. Last event of the evening was a game of Oregon Trail , where Joe died and Scott got cholera on the first day (see Steve's blog). Tomorrow we make our triumphant return to Chicago, can't wait for that pizza.