Hi. We take our kids to two new states every year and this year is Nebraska and Kansas. My kids will be 6, 3, and 6 months in June.
We visit each state for their unique history, etc. We live near Philadelphia so big city things have already been done.
I know we should go to Chimney Rock and we plan on going to the zoo in Omaha and the children%26#39;s museum in lincoln. They are pretty much on the list just ot break up the trip because we have similar things in Philadelphia already.
We aren%26#39;t really into sports to the disappointment of my grandmother who lives near Omaha. We are focused on history...we try to get to National Historic landmarks, parks, etc.
If you have a great restaurant that%26#39;s kid-friendly near any of the landmark suggestions, I%26#39;d appreciate it!
unique nebraska for kids
If you%26#39;ll be in the western part of the state check out Fort Robinson, Toadstool Park, Hudson-Meng Bison kill site, or Agate Fossil Beds. If it works out, you really should see the Sand Hills (could pick a route to drive through them on your way to Omaha). Some ranches also offer accomodations and it might be neat to see a working ranch (if you haven%26#39;t seen that type of thing before).
unique nebraska for kids
If you are really into history, a nice stop in the middle of Nebraska (if you are doing Hwy 30 or Hwy 34 or I-80) is Stuhr Museum in Grand Island. It%26#39;s a fabulous living history museum. The main building was designed by Edward Durrell Stone and is a fabulous museum in and of itself. However, the real Gem of this museum is Railroad Town. It is staffed from May 1 through Oct. 1 with fabulous ';interpreters'; and really gives you a feel of what it was like to live 110 years ago, when Nebraska towns were first springing up.
http://stuhrmuseum.org/
In Hastings,you could see the history of Kool-aid at the Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
Lincoln has the capital that can be toured, the Frank H. Woods Telephone Pioneer Museum
Experience communication antiquities and learn how the telephone transformed a segmented nation into one large community. View replicas of Alexander Graham Bell%26#39;s original telephones.
See an impressive display of wooden wall and candlestick phones, as well as the colorful telephone sets of the ';art deco'; 50%26#39;s and 60%26#39;s. View the beauty and sparkle of the ';Crown Jewels of the Wire'; - the glass insulators. Harken back to a simpler time when the operator had to place your call and you shared your line with as many as ten other customers.
Hours: 1-4 p.m. Sunday, or by appointment. Closed all holiday weekends.
Tours: Guided tours available upon request. Call and leave a message. Someone will return a call to schedule your tour.
Cost: No fee, goodwill donations encouraged.
2047 M Street
(402) 436-4640
www.WoodsTelephonePioneers.org
International Quilt Study Center
The Center is home to more than 2,300 quilts, including the Ardis and Robert James Collection, Robert Cargo Collection of African American Quilts, the Jonathan Holstein Collection and Kathryn Berenson French Textile Collections. Visit the website for exhibition and activity schedules.
Hours: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
1:30-4:30 p.m. Sunday
Closed Mondays and University schedule breaks.
Tours: Please pre-arrange for groups by calling 472-6549.
Cost: $5 adults; $3 age 5-18; free under age 5
1523 N. 33rd Street
(402) 472-6549
http://www.quiltstudy.org
Lester F. Larsen Tractor Test and Power Museum
View exhibits of early hand tools dating back to the 1700s to modern day educational tractors. See the evolution of food production from colonial times through the introduction of diesel powered tractors.
Check out the tractor model that prompted the Nebraska Tractor Test Law and construction of the testing lab building in 1919, which is now the museum building.
Hours: 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. weekdays. Call for weekend hours.
Tours: Tours of the operational test lab are available.
Cost: Suggested Donations: $3 for adult, $1 for child, $5 for family.
UNL East Campus
(402) 472-8389
http://tractormuseum.unl.edu
Directions: Take the East Campus Loop off Holdrege Street to 35th Street. Go north to Fair Street. Turn east. Museum visitor parking areas in front and back of building.
National Museum of Roller Skating
Believe it or not, inline skates are not new! Only in Lincoln will you find the world%26#39;s largest collection of roller skates and roller skating memorabilia. Displays of skates, posters and other artifacts depict the sport and the industry from its past to the present. The museum is located within the headquarters of USA Roller Sports.
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Closed Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
Cost: Free. Donations are appreciated.
4730 South Street
(402) 483-7551, ext. 16
www.rollerskatingmuseum.com
Nebraska State Historical Society%26#39;s Museum of Nebraska History
Discover Nebraska%26#39;s many stories told in beaded leather and fabric quilts, a Pawnee earth lodge and a WWII living room, a Kawasaki motorcycle, a Cushman Motors airborne scooter and much more. Visit the new Investigation Station, a place where kids and grown-ups alike can learn about history hands-on. New for 2009: Saving Memories: Scrapbooks, Photo Albums, Home Movies and Ledger Drawings and Crazy Quilts. Find Nebraska products in the museum store. Call for information on programs.
Hours: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Tours: Self-guided tours are available during museum hours. For guided tours for groups of 15 to 100, please give three weeks notice, if possible.
Cost: $2 donation encouraged.
15th %26amp; P Streets
(402) 471-4754
www.nebraskahistory.org
Red Wing Pottery Museum
The Redwing Stoneware Company started in 1877 in Red Wing, Minnesota and distributed its wares throughout the U.S. More than 5,000 pieces of the famous pottery are artfully displayed, with pieces dating from 1877 and include the earliest pieces of stoneware through dinnerware and art pottery.
The collection includes cookie jars, several pieces of Grayline or Sponge Band and a one-of-a-kind 70-gallon jug made in 1923. Representative samples of all the patterns and hundreds of examples of the different styles of art pottery and dinnerware are exhibited.
Hours: By appointment only.
Cost: Admission free.
3901 Normal Blvd, Suite 200
ldschleich@aol.com
(402) 489-6508 or
rsplittger@hotmail.com
(402) 770-7600
University of Nebraska State Museum - Morrill Hall %26amp; Mueller Planetari
Runza is a local chain with runza%26#39;s that are oven baked stuffed sandwiches with ground beef.
West of Beatrice, which is 45 minutes south of Lincoln, you could visit the Homestead National Monument. Here you can visit a new visitor%26#39;s center that is shaped like a sod-buster plow, tour a one-room school, walk on trails in the prairie, and view exhibits that pertain to the Homestead Act.
Between Lincoln and Omaha, exit 426 SAC Museum is a great place to stop. Here you can view various aircraft and the kids can even climb in a few. They also have a traveling exhibit. It is all enclosed in an air-conditioned building. Just down the road is the Mahoney State Park where you could ride horses, go to the water park, walk trails along the Platte River, play in the kids activity area, ride paddle boats. At Mahoney is a lodge that is kid friendly for a place to eat. Ask for a table by a window to view the hummingbirds eating at the hummingbird feeder hanging from the building. If you drive down the road, just a little farther and on the south side of I-80 is the Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari where you can view bison, elk, wolves, etc. on a drive through road that includes prairie and wetlands.
One place that my kids really like in Omaha is the Durham Museum.
http://www.durhammuseum.org/
The building that houses the museum is an old train station. There is a real old time train and street car in the lower level that the kids are allowed to explore. There is also a large train model that the kids will enjoy. There is a nice area that shows kids what things like during the times past of the old midwest. It is not a stuffy museum and very family friendly. It would take about half a day to visit. There is also an old time soda fountain that you could have lunch at. They also sell candies that are definately blasts from the past. My children are now 9 and 7 and still love to visit the Durham we have been taking my son since he was 2.
Also on I-80 is a bridge near Kearney, Nebraska that runs over the interstate. Housed in/on that bridge is a museum that talks about the history of Nebraska and the migration of settlers across Nebraska and the Native Americans they met. There is not a link for a web site but here is the trip advisor page:
tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g45649-d12…
I have never taken my kids here but my father thought it would be a place that they would enjoy. I think the good thing about this location is that it is about 3.5 hours outside Omaha and would make a good place to stop with the little ones who may need to burn off some energy.
As for place%26#39;s to eat...in Lincoln we like to go to the Runza right near the Children%26#39;s Museum. It is within walking distance (less than a block) and the waitresses wear roller skates. It has a Rock and Roll theme to it. As for the zoo, you can always eat at the restaurant there but it will cost you. You can take a cooler into the zoo if you would like to pack a picnic lunch. We put ours in a wagon if we end up going the picnic route. Make sure you take some wet wipes so you can clean off a picnic table though. There are a lot of resturants in the Old Market which are very close to the Durham museum and not too far from the zoo. If you are traveling I-80 to get to Chimney Rock a fun place to stop for lunch is Ollie%26#39;s Big Game Bar in Paxton, Nebraska. This restaurant/bar houses a huge collection of stuffed (real) animals. The kids love to walk around and look at all the species while we wait for our meals. It is just one of those fun off the wall places to stop.
The rock n roll Runza closed several years ago. Their are 14 other Runza%26#39;s in town, but none in the downtown/haymarket area.
The Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City might be a good stop. It is essentially a walking trail with a tree house and some really huge marimbas thrown in. We have a 2.5 yr old and she loves to play the marimbas as well as walk and hop on various log balance beams and ';stepping stumps';. I don%26#39;t know your route or if this would be out of your way, but it%26#39;s a proven winner for our child.
If you%26#39;re interested in fossils, etc...you could also try Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park (mammoths and rhinos). They are doing construction on the structure over some of the fossil beds, so I don%26#39;t know if it will be open by next summer. We haven%26#39;t been there as of yet, but it is on our to do list for this summer.
Good places to go in Nebraska:
-Morrill Hall, with its fossils
-Stuhr museum, as mentioned
-Ashfalls Fossil beds
-Fort Robinson
-Chimney Rock
The State Capitol is worth a visit, especially if you take one of the almost hourly tours. Their library is beautiful.
You might also want to see Carhenge or the archway by Kearney.
Here%26#39;s a site with some suggestion for trips and ideas on where to go:
industry.visitnebraska.org/index.php…
If you see a Valentinos pizza around, they have good pizza and are kid-friendly.
