10 Days In Omaha, NE – Here’s What We Did

Shae and I originally planned to visit Omaha at the end of June after spending a week in Lincoln, NE. We got unlucky with our timing though because the Men’s College Baseball World Series was in town which meant that hotels were either fully booked or were very expensive.

As a result, we decided to postpone visiting Omaha, heading over to neighboring Iowa for a couple of weeks before heading back west to Omaha once the hotel market had returned to normal.

It was extremely hot in Omaha during our visit – seemingly 90°-100°F (32°-38°C for fellow Brits) with high humidity most days, so I wasn’t keen on doing too much outside during daytime hours! Despite that, we did still get to enjoy our time in Nebraska’s largest city – here’s what we got up to during our 10 days in Omaha, NE.

Where We Stayed

We stayed all 10 nights at the Homewood Suites Omaha Downtown. Funnily enough seeing as we’d had to reschedule our time in Omaha due to the NCAA College World Series, the hotel is right opposite Charles Schwab Field where I think the World Series was played.

I booked our stay by taking advantage of Hilton’s Price Match Guarantee. They had a one bedroom suite bookable on Hotels.com for cheaper than it was on Hilton’s own website. I therefore booked directly with Hilton and submitted the Price Match Guarantee Form. My claim was successful, so Hilton not only matched the price but gave an extra 25% off. That reduced the average cost per night to $95.17 which was a great rate for a one bedroom suite with a kitchen in such a great location downtown.

I’ve written about using Hilton’s Price Match Guarantee over on Frequent Miler in the past, so check out that post to learn more about how it works.

What We Did

Switchfoot & Collective Soul Concert

When planning out our time in Nebraska and Iowa, Switchfoot – one of my favorite bands – announced that they’d be touring with Collective Soul – another band I’d liked in the mid 90s.

I’d bought a VIP ticket for Switchfoot which included a meet-and-greet 2.5 years ago, but that concert got cancelled due to COVID. I was therefore really pleased when I saw that they’d be playing in Council Bluffs, IA while we were going to be in Omaha because Council Bluffs is only a few minutes away across the Missouri River. The day the tickets went on sale I got a VIP ticket with a meet-and-greet, along with pit access which meant I was right in front of the stage.

The meet-and-greet was awesome – Switchfoot are such genuinely lovely people. The concert was fantastic too, made even better by the fact that I was standing right at the front with an unobstructed view.

I’m not someone who takes a lot of selfies, but I’m also not one to pass up the opportunity of taking a photo when Jon Foreman (Switchfoot’s singer) walks through the crowd right past you during the concert!

Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium – Daytime

One day while I was working, Shae went to visit Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium. It’s listed as one of the top 5 zoos worldwide, but in Shae’s opinion it’s the best zoo she’s ever visited and we’ve been to the number 1 zoo on that list – the San Diego Zoo – a couple of times. Check out this post for more about why Shae loved this zoo so much.

Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium – Nighttime

Shae enjoyed the zoo so much that she wanted me to get to experience it too. The great thing is that the Henry Doorly Zoo gave us an opportunity to do just that a couple of nights later.

Every other Thursday night during the summer the zoo runs Late Nights At The Zoo. This is an adults-only event – you have to be 21+ to get in and not even babies are allowed to come along. There are food trucks, adult beverages and most animals can still be seen, although things like the Skyfari don’t run at night.

It was a unique and fun way to see the zoo, especially seeing as it was cooler walking around in the evening than being out in the heat of the day.

Wildlife Safari Park in Ashland

About 30 minutes southwest of Omaha is the city of Ashland. That’s home to the Wildlife Safari Park, a drive-through safari park featuring North American wildlife.

We got a little unlucky when we visited; because it was so hot, some of the animals weren’t anywhere to be seen. However, at only $9 for adults it’s well-priced and so was worth the trip. It’s even pet-friendly because most of your time there is spent driving through in your car. Despite that, we didn’t bring Truffles with us as there was a non pet-friendly place we wanted to visit after the safari park – more about that in the food & drink section below.

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Headquarters & Visitor Center

Another afternoon when I had to work, Shae visited the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Headquarters & Visitor Center. It’s run by the National Park Service, is free to visit and features information about the Lewis & Clark Trail.

Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge is right next to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Visitor Center, so Shae walked along that before heading back to the hotel.

Where We Ate & Drank

Omaha Dog Bar

When looking for dog-friendly breweries and bars near us, the name of one in particular caught my eye – the Omaha Dog Bar. This isn’t just a bar that allows dogs, but it’s a bar that revolves around dogs. It’s more like a large, enclosed dog park where humans can also enjoy a drink. Check out Shae’s post about the Omaha Dog Bar to see why it’s so awesome.

Kinkaider Brewing Co

After staying for a week at Kinkaider Brewing Co in Broken Bow and having an incredible time, Shae and I wanted to visit their other taprooms. We’d already visited their Grand Island and Lincoln locations, so all that was left was their Omaha taproom.

We met up with Lee and Lyndi there who we’d connected with through the GoWithLess Facebook group and had a fun evening getting to know them.

Glacial Till Cider House & Tasting Room

After visiting the Wildlife Safari Park in Ashland, we drove a few minutes into downtown Ashland to check out Glacial Till Cider House & Tasting Room. We’d missed out on visiting Glacial Till Vineyard & Winery in Palmyra while staying in Lincoln, so it was nice to get a second opportunity to check out their ciders and wines at their tasting room in Ashland.

Although service there wasn’t great, Shae liked a couple of wines in her wine flight and I liked the ciders I tried in my cider flight.

Ted & Wally’s Ice Cream

National Ice Cream Day on July 17 which is when we were in Omaha. We tried visiting Ted & Wally’s downtown but the place was slammed. The line was out the door and it seemed like it would be a 30-45 minute wait.

We weren’t keen on waiting that long for ice cream, but we’d heard good things about Ted & Wally’s and so didn’t want to miss out. Shae and I decided to try again later that evening but it was still very busy, but we had a backup plan. There’s a second Ted & Wally’s location in Omaha that’s northwest of downtown in more of a residential neighborhood, so we drove out there and found it to be much less busy. It was worth making the effort to drive there though because their ice cream was delicious.