Know anything about Nebraska?

[sqwook]

My awesome sister is moving there for a job, and she doesn't know anyone there, nor much about the area. Any ideas/suggestions?

Comments

[sqwook.livejournal.com]

Spring Creek Prairie - www.springcreekprairie.org

Parks: parks.lincoln.ne.gov - especially Wilderness Park, Pioneers Park Nature Center

Info about hiking/biking/commuting trails: The Great Plains Trail Network, http://www.gptn.org/

Hyde Observatory -- ***wonder if they need volunteers? - http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

There are 3 wineries: http://www.lincoln.org/visiting/thingstodo/wineries

Aquarius Bead Store: - and they say their classes are free. http://www.aquariusbeads.org/

Omaha Zoo: http://omahazoo.org/

[sqwook.livejournal.com]

Yoga:
Haymarket Pilates & Yoga Center‎ www.pilatesyogalincoln.com
Yoga Body & Balance, LLC‎ www.yogabodyandbalance.com
.. and I imagine many more...

City Rec Centers:
Don't seem to have a wide range of adult fitness classes, actually.
But the Calvert Rec Center has an inexpensive ceramics class series: http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/parks/programsheets/Calvert_RecCenter05-08-09.pdf
And Irving has Zumba aerobics: http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/parks/programsheets/Irving_RecCenter05-08-09.pdf

[kittenpants.livejournal.com]

Omaha is way cool. Lincoln can be lots of fun, too. The rest of Nebraska pretty much sucks. (Except for my house, but that's not enough to redeem Kearney, Buffalo County, or central/western NE in general.)

What part of Nebraska?

[sqwook.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thx for piping up.

(As you may be able to tell by the other comments, I'm doing web research & dumping the results here.) (Also, the dark blue background of my lj is hard to read, I should one day fix that.)

She'll be in Lincoln, and since Omaha looks like it's an hour away, I imagine she'll go there too. When she lived in Flagstaff, she'd go to Phoenix (3 hours away) if she needed to buy a fancy dress, for example. ;)

She'll be at the university teaching astronomy & physics.

[kittenpants.livejournal.com]

Oh, most excellent. Omaha's nearby, and Kansas City (my hometown) is 3 hours away from Lincoln.

UNL has lots of fabulous stuff, but no doubt she'll have easy access to all that info. ;)

And OMG Yo Yo Ma is playing in Lincoln in March. ::wibble::

The Benu bellydance troupe is fabulous, and they're good people. They host the Tribal Dreams bellydance festival in November.

s00j plays in Lincoln periodically. Yay!

I seem to recall that the state capitol building has some really good art.

That's what's at the forefront of my brain. *I* might check out some of the things you've bookmarked here -- Lincoln's a 2-hour drive for us, but it is the closest Real City. =D

[sqwook.livejournal.com]

Ooo, thank you.
Do you know any good restaurants (of any type) or any good coffeehouses?

[sqwook.livejournal.com]

Salt Creek:

Salt Creek *is* in fact salty - possibly the saline remains of an inland sea. More info:
http://lancaster.ne.gov/CITY/parks/parksfacilities/wetlands/wetlandsinfo.htm

To visit the saline wetlands:
http://lancaster.ne.gov/CITY/parks/parksfacilities/wetlands/visitwetlands.htm

The Nature Conservancy's Nebraska page:
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/nebraska/
They have preserves in NE but I haven't checked to see where they are in the state, and I can't find a locator map that shows where they are in relationship to Lincoln.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/nebraska/preserves/

Other geology stuff:
Fossils! But it seems like a lot of the stuff is on the west side of the state. Which is 8 hours away. Plus at the federal park, no collecting is allowed. But it might still be worth checking into. Maybe ask these folks: http://www.lincolngemmineralclub.org/
Or get a book out of the library: http://www.rockhounds.com/rockshop/books/collecting.shtml

From a fellow bpal forum-ite:

[sqwook.livejournal.com]

OMAHA:
- Old Market - Downtown shopping area with old buildings, brick streets, great shops and food
- Zoo - if you are into zoos second best in the country only next to Sandiego and only because they have better weather
- Botanical Gardens - Really coming along, still young but nice.
- Great Restaurants - Taste of Thailand, Mai Thai, El Basha, Sushi Japan, Wave Bistro (the dessert), Golden Mountain (ask for chinese menu, dim sum available sunday morning), McFosters (added for uniqueness in omaha), Vivace, Jaipur, Ahmad's, Vietnamese Asian, Marks Cafe,.
- Summer Farmers Markets and Whole Foods
- Next Millennium - New Age shop with soaps and perfumes & more

LINCOLN:
- Haymarket - similar to Omaha's old market http://lincolnhaymarket.org/
- licorice speciality store. Dad will totally have to check this out! https://www.licoriceinternational.com
- For Interest groups check out meetup.com for Lincoln
- Blue Orchid Thai Restaurant (I've heard good things)
- Lincoln has a great bike trail system close to downtown with trails that go for miles outside of the city.