Here’s Our Best & Worst Things From Nebraska

Shae, Truffles and I spent a month in Nebraska in recent months. We spent a few weeks there in June, then returned for another week in July to visit Omaha because the week we’d originally planned to visit was when NCAA baseball was in town and so hotels were either fully booked or very expensive.

While Nebraska certainly wasn’t our favorite state on the road trip so far, we did find lots of fun stuff to do, with one of the places we stayed being one of my favorite stays ever.

Here’s our best and worst things from our month in Nebraska.

Favorite Accommodation We Stayed At

Stephen – This is the easiest answer – Kinkaider Brewing Co in Broken Bow. We booked the two bedroom apartment they have next to their brewery which has a beer fridge in the shower that comes pre-stocked with six beers. We loved it there and would love to return.

Shae – Simple. The Bed and Beer at Kinkaider Brewing Co. The most disappointing part is that it conditions you to want to drink in the shower and now showers are just boring! I also enjoyed the locations of both the Lincoln and Omaha hotels we stayed at immensely, so I’d give them honorable mentions.

Favorite Meal

Stephen – Probably the dinners we had at Kinkaider.

Shae – The food at Kinkaider in Broken Bow was really incredible. But for my favorite I’m going with the night we ate at the zoo. It wasn’t particularly delicious but that whole evening of food, drinks and animals was so fun it makes that meal memorable.

Most Disappointing Meal

Stephen – I don’t remember having a disappointing meal in Nebraska – I enjoyed all the places where we ate out.

Shae – My most disappointing meal is also my favorite… wait, what?! Food-wise, I regret my choice of the pizza food truck I went with at the zoo. It had a grain crust that was not for me and I missed the cookie truck and the deviled egg truck.

Favorite Free Activity

Stephen – Visiting Scotts Bluff National Monument, even though it went from hot and sunny to stormy incredibly quickly.

Shae – The Nacho Ride in Lincoln. If you don’t buy any nachos or drinks it’s free! It was just a really fun ride and night, so the out and back on MoPac Trail was really fun if you want to get out of the city.

Favorite Paid Activity

Stephen – The Switchfoot/Collective Soul concert where I got to do a meet-and-greet with Switchfoot – worth every penny!

Shae – The Omaha Zoo. Hands down. No contest. That might be one of my favorite paid activities of the year!

Favorite Pet-Friendly Activity

Stephen – Omaha Dog Bar. A bar that’s effectively a big dog park? Count me (and Shae and Truffles) in!

Shae – Omaha Dog Bar. No question.

Least Favorite Activity

Stephen – Chadron State Park. The park itself was really pretty, but there were all kinds of ticks and so we still imagined feeling them crawling all over us weeks later.

Shae – Ewww yes. Chadron. Sorry. Pretty place but I’m still itchy months later.

Favorite Hike

Stephen – Scotts Bluff National Monument.

Shae – Scotts Bluff National Monument was really great but I loved Toadstool Geological Park – it was more of a walk than a hike because of the heat but the formations were really cool.

Favorite Quirky Thing We Did

Stephen – That would have to be Carhenge – a replica of Stonehenge in Alliance, NE created using vehicles.

Shae – Going to our first rodeo!

Favorite Memory

Stephen – Our entire week at Kinkaider Brewing Co – it was such a lovely time.

Shae – Making new friends with Jessie and Lisa in preparation for RAGBRAI – I went on bike rides with both of them. I also loved meeting Lyndi and Lee at Kinkaider in Omaha. I don’t always get a lot of friend time so these connections are really important. My other favorite memories were made at the zoo, particularly riding the Skyfari at the zoo.

Funniest Moment

Stephen – Shae dancing at the Outlaw Saloon in Hay Springs.

Shae – Riding back with Jessie 7 miles in the dark on the trail – our lights both died so we had to tuck our phones in to use them to light the way.

Thing We Most Regretted

Stephen – The two Airbnbs we booked in Hay Springs and Lincoln. We’ve nearly always had great experiences with Airbnb properties, but both these properties fell short. Oh, and I regret us hiking at Chadron State Park due to all the ticks.

Shae – Ugh, yes to all of what Stephen said but I also regretted missing a few of the museums in Omaha and Lincoln just due to time constraints.

Something We Missed And Want To See

Stephen – Going tubing on the Niobrara River. We didn’t stay close enough to Valentine to do that, but it looked like it would be fun as we’ve always enjoyed river tubing in the past.

Shae – Yes, anything that’s water related, I’m in so I’m sad we missed it. I also wished we’d had a little more time in North Platte (where we saw the rodeo) because there were a few museums there I was sad to miss.

Our Biggest Surprise

Stephen – How hot it got in Nebraska. It felt like it was 90°+ and humid nearly every day.

Shae – How much I enjoyed Nebraska. I enjoyed several of our towns more than I expected to.

My Nebraska Drinking Game Would Be…

Stephen – Take a drink every time you see a kamikaze bird. For some reason, birds in Nebraska have a death wish, constantly flying low across the road as you drive along. In non-unrelated news, you see a lot of dead birds alongside the roads in Nebraska.

Shae – Take a drink every time you see a Oregon Trail marker, sign, scenic byway, etc.

Summary Of Nebraska In 10 Words Or Less

Stephen – More interesting than you’d think, Kinkaider Brewing is best part.

Shae – A good spot for a short vacation, not to live.

Nebraska Cities We Visited In Order From Favorite To Least Favorite

Stephen – Broken Bow, Lincoln, Omaha, Scottsbluff, Hay Springs. Broken Bow comes first by virtue of it being where Kinkaider’s brewery is, otherwise I really liked Lincoln’s Haymarket District.

Shae – Omaha (because of the zoo), Broken Bow (because of Kinkaider), Lincoln, Scottsbluff… Hay Springs.