August 11 - Lanesboro, Minnesota - Council Bluffs. Iowa
August 11- I feeling a little nostalgic and sad as I pull out of Lanesboro, Minnesota, but the rhythm of the road soon takes over and I settle in to the drive on route 16 to route 90 making stops at Wykoof, Albert Lea, Blue Earth, Sherburn and my destination of day in Worthington, MN.
Wykoff, Minnesota
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| Great name for the food store |
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| Great name for a beer |
Albert Lea, Minnesota
One things that has to be said in this area of the country, all of these towns developed along rivers or came about with the advancement of the railroads and they were settled and filled by immigrants filled with a passion and desire to succeed. Every town has stories of amazing, courageous people with good intent, but also those filled with racism and greed for any other clan, tribe or nationality.
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| Post Office |
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| Nasty Habit Bar |
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| A most interesting building |
Blue Earth, Minnesota
I was at Blue Earth a couple of years ago and you can’t forget a huge statue of the Golly Green Giant. They have a visitors center with displays on the company history and products. and lots of souvenir items for sale.
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| Everyone loves the Green Giant |
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| Green giant advertising is pretty great |
Sherburn, Minnesota
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| Impressive water Tower |
Worthington, Minnesota
I end up at Worthington, Minnesota for the night. I am quite surprised to see that the central downtown area is mostly all hispanic stores, shops and even a large dance club.
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| Beautiful mural |
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| Okabena Lake |
August 12 - In the morning, I go out to the huge Okabena Lake in Worthington to look around and then go downtown ti explore for a while. It’s actually, sorry to say, a mostly unappealing downtown, but the lake area is beautiful with a park setting around the lake front. They also hold a windsurfing Regata competition there every year.
I then leave town heading on route 60 making stops along the way at several towns.
Bigelow
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| Every town has a huge silos |
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| The corn grows tall here |
Sibley, Iowa
LeMars, Iowa
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| Started from scratch sucess story |
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| The Central Ave Entrance |
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| Notice the ice cream theme |
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| Love this mural |
LeMars is the self proclaimed capital of ice cream according to Wells Enterprises, the maker of Blue Bunny ice cream which is manufactured in town. They have a large sign draped across Central Avenue in the downtown and a great ice cream shop, with a company museum display and souvenir items to purchase. It was a hot day and the ice cream was great, but not free ! This is an attractive town with numerous beautiful old buildings and good murals.
I then leave town branching off onto route 75 towards Sioux City, where I find my way to the downtown area with the beautiful Orpheum Theater and impressive Woodbury County Court House. I wish I could have seen the interior as photos on line show it as a beauty.
There is also a casino area highlighted by a Hard Rock Casino and Hotel and a couple of other large Casinos right in the middle of downtown near the Convention Hall.
I bypass all these "sinful places" at this time and instead go to the historic 4th Ave area which has several old historic register buildings. I then spend the night at a Walmart.
Sioux City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sioux_City,_Iowa
I came upon theSioux City Bus Station and in a side alley found many really interesting murals.
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| Many colorful murals |
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| Mural with real meaning |
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| The Orpheum Theater |
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| The Woodbury County Court House is amazing |
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| Another view |
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| Huge Buffalo |
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| Remains of the First National Bank ? |
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| A mural taht appears as old as the building |
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| Liked the window treatment |
August 13 - I’m now leaving Sioux City taking route 75, a secondary highway, for most of the day, rough in places but much less traffic, more scenic and it passes through several old towns. I was very impressed by the Winnebago Tribal Reservation, in particular the town of Winnebago, with very modern school, the No-Chunk Village Plaza. I also stopped at a park area with 13 statues of historic tribal leaders.
Winnebago, Nebraska
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| There were 13 such statues of Indian tribal leaders |
Decatur, NebraskaDecatur has interesting historical stories about their trolley car and the "No River Bridge".
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| History of the Trolley Car |
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| Restored Trolly car |
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| Church sign |
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| Rocking on the porch |
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| The history of the bridge |
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| The Bridge was finally built after rerouting the river |
Tekamah, Nebraska,
Tekamah has a beautiful Carnege Library and a very nice corner building with the 1892 Burt County clock.
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| Library was nice but modernized inside |
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| Nice dining area with mural |
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| The Burt County Clock building |
Blair, Nebraska
I find several notable old buildings, one massive building being completely redone and several good murals.
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| A total reconstruction of this building |
Omaha, Nebraska
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha,_Nebraska
I drive into downtown Omaha, Nebraska where I park on 15th street and walk several blocks to the huge High School and the reflection pond at the Joslyn Art Museum. I also visit the impressive statues in the Pioneer Courage Monument near 15th street.
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| Indians along the way |
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| Pioneer Courage |
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| Omaha High School |
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| The Joslyn Art Museum |
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| The wall was saved from an old building being demolished |
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| Where the buffalo used to roam |
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| I remember this iconic scupture from a past visit |
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| The Orpheum Theater |
I then drive around finding a couple of other small cultural area known as the the “Old Market Area” and "Little Bohemia" which which are old industrial areas that has been turned into an entertainment area with lots of restaurants, bars, apartment buildings and various shops.
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| I had a couple beers here |
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| The interior was covered with old graphics |
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| Nice street views with old brick paved streets |
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| The Czech Inn |
I check my travel app and find that the Harrah's Casino across the river in Council Bluffs allows RV overnight stay, and that's where I spend the night.
August 14 - I’m at Discount Tires at 7:30 AM to get front tires on the van as those tires have become a worry. This is my second time at Discount tires and they are really efficient, I was away with new tires by 8 AM and they couldn’t be more helpful.
I was then off to the Durham Museum in the former Omaha Train Station. The buildings classic art deco architecture is remarkable inside and outside. The history exhibits are equally excellent, actually it seems more of a history museum than a railroad museum.
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| Steam Locomotive |
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| Very nice condition |
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| Early electric car |
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| Nice lounge car interior |
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| Trolley car on display |
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| One of several similar murals |
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| That's impressive ! |
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| The building is a beauty |
Council Bluffs, Iowa:
If you read the above link, you will see the amazing history of Council Bluffs, it was the prominent town in the colonial period for westward expansion and trade.
It's a short drive across the Missouri River into Iowa to Council Bluffs to visit the Rials West Railroad Museum at the old Chicago, Oak Island and Pacific rail Depot. Actually through the years some eight different railroads have used this Depot.
They have several passenger and freight cars and steam engines on display outside and good exhibits inside as well. The attendant on duty was very friendly and when I asked about the Johnny Cash display, I got the whole story, how he came to town to take part in a special event.
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| They were old friends |
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| This Locomotive is only slightly smaller than the "Big Boy" |
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| Big wheels rolling |
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| The Depot hasn't changed much at all |
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| There were separate waiting rooms for men and women |
It’s then a couple of miles to the central downtown to the Squirrel Cage Jail, a most unusual museum. The Jail was built in a rather nice looking house from the outside, but with a circular two story jail cell that rotated inside the house. It was decorated with personal inmate information on several of the cells that was a bit creepy.
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| The squirrel Cage Jail |
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| Weird ! |
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| Jake Bird was hung |
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| Not everyone believed him to be guilty |
In the evening, there is a food and craft fair going on in the downtown, I get my dinner there and then explore more of the downtown area which has another railroad museum and some Lewis and Clark history and a popular Mexican restaurant.
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| A couple of street scenes |
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| Lewis and Clark expedition camped near here |
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| Nice flowers and fountain |
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| I wanted the kid to pose |
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| Plaque to the pioneers |
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| The Carnegie Library is now the Railroad Museum |
It was an a busy day full of wonders. The beauty of this kind of trip is that everyday is a new adventure, something learned.
I have several overnight options tonight as there is a Walmart and a Cracker Barrel across the street from each other and two or three Casinos in the area as well. I’m going with the Cracker Barrel.
I’ll be moving on in the morning heading for Ogallalo, Nebraska.
