April 23rd, 24th, 25th – Across the plains, a few states and tornado watches.
We packed up the car and set our course for Omaha, NE. As soon as we plugged in Omaha on Google maps we were met with an immediate warning, “Tornado Watch may affect your route”. 🙄 I have to say, that was a first for us. We checked the radar and weather apps and they indicated a line of storms in front of us heading for Omaha. We continued to check for updates and drove across the state, saying a few prayers along the way. After driving for a bit and rechecking the warnings and radar, we decided it best to take a break and let the storm move farther east. Although the Wizard of Oz is a favorite film, we were not ready to reenact any portion of it. We pulled off, found a Walmart and picked up a few things we needed. This was a good choice; it set us behind the storm enough that it had moved out of the Omaha area before we arrived, and thankfully, no tornados. It was pretty nerve racking for me especially since the night before I couldn’t sleep and ended up watching a movie. Any guesses which one? Yup, I watched Twister! And the week before, I watched a special on the Discovery channel about tornados with real footage. Needless to say, it was a long afternoon for me.
As we drove into the downtown Omaha area we could see remnants of the storm, some branches down, lots of leaves on the ground, etc. And we also noticed all the streets were dug up, a big mess. We would find out later that downtown Omaha is under a major construction project, they are putting street cars back in. This is a change for so many other cities that are removing them. It’s a huge undertaking, I hope it proves to be a good decision, I just don’t see it.
We pulled up to our home for the night, The Hotel Deco, yes, it was another historic hotel, with a list of politicians and celebrities who have stayed there. 😉. Believe me, I could care less about that, I loved the architecture and the interior design. This was originally called the Redick Tower and was built in 1930 and has since been designated as a historic building. The décor was fantastic, lots of art deco, huge chandeliers, high ceilings, and beautiful tile floors.
The hotel has a restaurant onsite called, the Monarch, we had a delicious meal and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. After our meal, we wanted an after dinner cocktail and the staff told us about a little spot next door, Looking Glass Spirits and Curiosities. They also told us to be sure and tell the clerk we were looking for the Wicked Rabbit. We did as instructed and upon saying the magic words, he locates and pushes the bottle, and the wall opens to a room that whisks you back to a speakeasy from 1920’s.
We were given instructions and escorted to the bar. Our bartender greets us and drops off a book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, once you open it, you’ll see it’s their craft cocktails menu. There were so many to choose from, we made our choices and our bartender performed his magic. We really enjoyed this it was a great way to end our night.
A new day, a new destination. Leaving Omaha, you immediately cross into Iowa, another first for both of us. The drive is beautiful, full of farmland as far as you can see. Through Iowa and into Illinois, we made an overnight stop in Ottawa. Had a nice dinner and back on the road in the morning through the rest of the Illinois, Indiana and now we’re in Ohio.
Our plan is to find some antique shopping along our route on Sunday. We will have our last night on the road somewhere in Pennsylvania and we should be home Monday afternoon.
See you down the road.
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