This week, we are helping fellow travel bloggers and friends, Tim and Lisa Trudell of The Walking Tourists celebrate the launch of their new book, 100 Things To Do In Omaha Before You Die. The book is a compilation of 100 vignettes covering a wide variety of things to see and do in Omaha, separated into categories like food and drink, music and entertainment, sports and recreation, and natural beauty.
We received the book in the mail this week from publisher, Reedy Press, and had a good time thumbing through it, reading about some of our favorite places in Omaha while learning about new ones. Sure, most people have heard of #46 – Talk with the animals at the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, but this book has 99 other Omaha gems worth checking out.
Ann could sit and watch these jellyfish for hours at the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska.
Five of our favorites
#41 – Hit a home run at the Johnny. This vignette is all about Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium and brought back lots of great memories about our first date there. It was encouraging to us to read in the book that while the stadium is no longer there, “Rosenblatt fans still bring their children (to the site) to have them stand at home plate and relive its history or play a pickup game, with the old Rosenblatt sign standing above left field.”
We loved reading about Rosenblatt Stadium, as it was the site of our very first date.
#54 – He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother. Boy’s Town began in Omaha and we’ve loved the time we’ve spent touring the campus and learning about its 100-year history. There’s a great audio car tour you can take around the grounds just off Dodge Street in Omaha and we especially like the museum that includes the Academy Award statuette donated by actor Spencer Tracy for his Oscar-winning role as Father Flanagan in the 1938 movie, Boys Town. The visitor center there also houses the world’s largest ball of stamps.
The famous “Two Brothers” statue at Boys’ Town.
#9 – How do you like your steak? Medium rare. Is there any other way? As you may know, we are big fans of Nebraska beef and there are plenty of great places in Omaha to get a good steak. The book lists several of Tim and Lisa’s favorites.
Steve and Meghan show off their whiskey ribeye steaks from Gorat’s.
#47 – Go on a safari. The Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari is one those places we’d driven by hundreds of times and never stopped. Until last year. And we’re so glad we did! We loved watching all of the wildlife and walking on the trails in this safari, just off Interstate 80 between Lincoln and Omaha.
We loved hearing the bugling elk at Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari.
#95 – Smell the flowers. We absolutely love Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens and since we found it, have been back several times each year.
There’s nothing like seeing bright tropical plants to warm up a cold winter day. This is one of many beautiful orchids at Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska.
Spread out over 100 acres (something new we learned in the book), Lauritzen Gardens features nearly 20 gardens, including an English perennial garden, children’s garden, herb garden, and Japanese garden. We especially enjoy visiting the gardens in the winter months and wrote about that in this blog post about 5 things to do in Omaha when it’s freezing.
On our “to do” list
#6 – Eat with the raccoons at the Alpine Inn. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
#49 – Be in two states at one time. That’s right, we’ve never walked across The Bob. Definitely want to get there this year.
#66 – Honor tribal culture. We would love to see the Fort Omaha Intertribal Powwow and let’s be honest … eat fry bread.
The book, which costs about $16, is 143 pages long. I liked that there are lots of white spaces to write our own notes about each destination (yes, I write in books). In addition, there are travel tips and fun facts, like “Triple Crown winner Omaha was buried near the old Aksarben racetrack. A memorial in his honor is located at Stinson Park.”
Love the tips and fun facts.
Authors Tim and Lisa were some of the very first travel bloggers we met and they’ve helped us out several times on our journey as travel influencers. We’ve enjoyed each others’ company at blogger conferences and festivals and we all watched the total solar eclipse together at our place last summer. We are so happy for them and wish them continued success with the book and their travels.
To get your copy of 100 Things To Do In Omaha Before You Die, click HERE.
Note: We received a complimentary copy of 100 Things To Do in Omaha Before You Die. However, the opinions expressed are our own.
