CREIGHTON FANS

[CU73]

http://www.visitomaha.com/things-to-do/#.U8aruqhKBjc (attractions. restaurants, hotels entertainment districts, etc)

http://www.creighton.edu/ ( all things CU, Looking for a church St John's on campus)

http://www.groupon.com/browse/omaha?context=local (local bargains)

hope this helps

[ljay]

... plus what must be a 150 foot central tower...

Affectionately known as the "Penis of the Plains" locally...true!

Some of the suggestions here were rather sketchy. I live downtown in the Old Market area and the warning of crime is pretty funny in my book. It is the #2 tourist attraction in Nebraska and the place teems with cops to ensure it stays that way.

Also used to live near Benson and I have trouble wrapping my head around the definition as a hipster area. Nice tapas restaurant and ...........

[gosports1]

anything going on near Ameritrade park/ riverfront drive?

[cu blujs]

anything going on near Ameritrade park/ riverfront drive?

Other than CU baseball games in the spring and CWS, nothing happens to Ameritrade. Riverwalk isn't much either. You could walk across the Bob Kerry bridge to Iowa and back, but dont' do it late at night as there have been issues from time to time. They did try to get a mid summer musical festival going outside Ameritrade for a couple of years, but found out not many people are interested in standing around on the blacktop in 95+ heat to watch a few bands no one has really heard of - shocking revelation, I guess.

Here is my Nebraska tourism plug: There are three ways you could get from Omaha to the Black Hills.

1. Take I29 North to Sioux Falls, SD and I70 west to Rapid City. Quickest route, but other than maybe stopping in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace, not much to see along the way.

2. Take I80 west accross Nebrsaka to Ogallala, then head Northwest on US26 to Scottsbluff. From there you go north on NE71 to Hot Springs, SD and into the Black HIlls from the South. The drive along on I80 along the Platter River Valley from GI west is flat, dry and long. But, along the way, you could visit Stuhr meseum in Grand Island, which is a replica pioneer town; spend half a day at Pioneer Village in Minden; visit the Kearney Arch (a neat little museum that spans the interstate and depicts life on the Oregon Trail; stop in Gothenburg to see a real pony express station; Visit Buffalo Bills Ranch in North Platte; have lunch at Ole's Big game bar in Paxton (o.k. food but interesting trophies throughout from the former owner's lifetime of hunting game, big and small, throughout the world -if you are anti-hunting then don't go), visit Windlass Hill and Ash Hollow on the Southwest side of Lake McConaughy, see Courthouse Rock, Jailhouse Rock and Chimney Rock; and visit Scottsbluff National Monument in Scottsbluff. Going North from Scottsbluff to Hotsprings, takes you past Toadstool Park near the SD border, named for the geologic formations that look like - well, toadstools. Nearby is a site where for hundreds of years Native Americans drove buffalo off a cliff to kill them.

3. My recommendation is to go west on NE92 (West Center Road in Omaha) through Wahoo to St. Paul. Not a lot to see for the first few hours, but you get to drive through the Bohemian Alps just west of Wahoo (named for all the Czech who settled the area). From just west of St. Paul, take NE71 northwest to Burwell. If you are going the week of June 24-26, the Burwell Rodeo is a must do. Calamus Lake nearby is a beatiful sandhills lake surrounded by sand beaches. You can spend a few hours tubing or tanking (floating in a big horse tank - I prefer tubing) down the Calamus River just upstream from the lake. There is an outfitter on the north side of the lake. It is a small river, but flows pretty well and great, relaxing afternoon. On the nortwest side of the lake is a state fish hatchery where they raise the rainbow trout that gets stocked in lakes and ponds around the state each fall. Little kids especially enjoy that. From there, you can go North to NE20 and west to Valentine. One of the most popular things to do in NE is to canoe or intertube the Niobrara River just east of Valentine. I prefer tubing, because canoeing requires you concentrate to keep from tipping over on a rock. There are many outfitters in the Valentine area, but you would need to reserve your tubes ahead of time from one of them as many sell out, especially on the weekend. If you have half a day or so to spare, this is highly recommended. It is a broad, clear river that is maybe waste deep in most places. Be sure to include a stop at Smith Falls state park along your float and bring some water cannons - water fights often break out among groups along the way.

From Valentine, you head North into SD, but instead of going to I70, cut off on SD44 through the badlands. It is probably feels the most like being on the moon as any place iin the country. If you take I70, then at least drive the little loop of SD 240 that cuts off I70 to catch the badlands. If you go by Wall Drug, stop in as its kind of interesting, but don't eat there. The food is absolutely awful.

Anther option, that skips Burwell and the lake, is to stay on 92 all the way to Ansley. From there, take NE2 through Broken Bow (eat at the Bonfire Grill in the Arrow Hotel). Continue on NE2 to US83 and then North to Valentine. Or, continue on 92 all the way to Alliance and stop to see Carhenge (look it up on the internet). From there you can go up US385 to Hot Springs.

Don't know what your timeframe is, but two things that most Americans never see that are like no where else in the world are the Nebraska Sandhills and tubing on the Niobrara River - IMO.

Couple of parting thoughts on the Blackhills. When you visit Mt. Rushmore, get ice cream at the store there. Some of the best ice cream in the world and cones as big as your head (almost). Crazy Horse monument is so-so. I don't think they will ever complete it. Museum and stuff at the base are o.k., but mostly about raising funds to work on the monument. If you go to Jewell Cave or wind Cave (both are cool, but I prefer Jewell Cave) get your tickets two or three days ahead of time. It is very unlikely that you will be able to walk up and take the tour same day. Get on the internet and/or call a couple days before you plan to go. Your ticket will be for a specific time. Southwest of Rapid City is a place called Cosmos mystery area, or something like that. If you have kids this is a lesser known, must do. My kids were 11 and 14 when we went and still talk about it. It is on the internet, maybe too intense if they are under 5 or 6, however. Make sure you drive Needles Highway it is an absolute must do (SD87 between Hot Springs and Custer), and stop at the top - but don't let your kids do bus surfing (search needles higway bus surfing on youtube).

One last thing on Black Hills, if you are going around the week of August 4 to 10, stay away from Sturgis unless you want your kids to see some "interesting" things. That is the week of the Sturgis bike rally. Perhaps the biggest bike rally in the country. There will be motorcycles everywhere in the Blackhills around that time and Sturgis is an absolute zoo. Something to see if you don't have kids, but not a place for kids at all during that time.

[gosports1]

WOW cu blujs that is some write up! Thank you for taking the time to do that!
Sounds like the things you mentioned are pretty close to what we're looking for. Originally the plan "in progress" was to go from Omaha along some state or local roads into south dakota and make way to I90.
I think those plans are likley to change and we'll spend more time in Nebraska. Sturgis will have just ended so may only see the leftovers if we go there.

what do you know about North Dakota going thru there on way back to Minnesota. ha ha

not sure if we will have the time to see everything id like (right now it may be too ambitious time and driving wise) but we shall see

[cu blujs]

Yeah, took a couple of days here and there to put it together, but I get tired of people driving down I80 and complaining that Nebraska is a long, flat, boring drive. Well, I80 can be, but if you get out of the Platte River Valley, it is far from flat and boring (o.k., some other parts are still boring). By the way, if the Balloon Glow you mentioned is the one Aug 8,9 at 204th and Q, skip it. Been there, done that. If the weather is good, its a nice outdoor party thing to do with a bunch of friends. But, there aren't that many interesting balloons and I don't thing it is something to spend your vaction days on. If you really want to do pioneer-history stuff, then I80 and up to Scottsbluff is the way to go. But, if you want to get off the beaten path and see the Sandhills, then head out Hiway 92, and I really do recommend looking into a half day float down the Niobrara River by Valentine. RockyFord and Sharps are two outfitters we have gone through that you can find on the internet. There are others. One other option to get a little of both history and Sandhills/tubing is to take I80 west to NorthPlatte with stops mentioned along the way to NP. Then Highway 83 goes north to Valentine through the heart of the Sandhills. Enjoy the trip. By the way, never been to ND, so can't help you there