Hail in the Heartland: Our Overnight Stay in Omaha

Omaha, Nebraska

Tuesday, June 7, 2022 – Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Traveling from Wall, South Dakota – This was part of a longer trip that started in Denver, Colorado and ended in Minneapolis, MN. It included: Cheyenne-Wyoming, Mount Rushmore-South Dakota, Wall-South Dakota, Omaha-Nebraska, Sioux City-Iowa, Fargo-North Dakota, Minneapolis-Minnesota (4 new states)

The Planning Phase

Omaha was selected for our Nebraska stay because it was a familiar name to me. My grandmother used to donate money to Boys Town, and I remembered seeing the return address on the mail in her home. I didn’t know much else about Omaha or Nebraska aside from “there’s lots of corn” which I learned from someone I socialized with briefly on AOL in the 90s.

By the time I added Nebraska to this road trip, my partner and I had already visited over 40 US states. It was the Northern and Central states that we hadn’t tackled yet, and this 2022 trip brought us so very close to Nebraska that I felt strongly to add at least a one-night stop. Our only plan for the area was a hotel reservation and a drive through the state. My hope was that we could find somewhere to eat dinner in the city that was either historical or offered a local favorite food of people in the area.

When We Got There

Due to the very bad rain and windstorm that was with us during the tail end of our drive through Nebraska, we arrived in Omaha after dark. As we drove into the city, it began to hail, which gave us very little opportunity to scan the area for some interesting place for dinner. We arrived at the checkout desk a little after 8:00PM and just as we walked through the doors the hail came down in full force. Even the desk clerk stopped what she was doing to look outside. My partner and I were relieved that we were at the hotel when that happened, and happy with our decision to push through the weather and get into Omaha instead of stopping for dinner along the way in hopes of waiting for the storm.  

Photo 1: Boys Town sign on our rainy drive into Omaha

Photo 2: Baxter Arena, same area as Aloft in Omaha Aksarben Village (our hotel for the night)

Photo 3: Night view from the car on our search for dinner in Omaha

Our hotel for the night was Aloft by Marriott Omaha Aksarben Village. From the information I read online, it seemed to be in an area with restaurants nearby.  This was the first time we’d stayed in an Aloft. It was super modern, and our room had a very interesting design. It was tighter than many of the other hotel rooms we’ve stayed in, but it was very functional and offered a social corner with seats that could view the television and a table to eat at (or work at I suppose). One of the things that made this room different was that the entrance and bathroom were separated from the bed area by a thin wall that didn’t go completely up to the ceiling. The bathroom had a sliding door (saves on room), but it wasn’t overly private. I wouldn’t be comfortable sharing this type of room with someone I wasn’t already intimate with.

Dinner?

It was still raining after we got our luggage into the room, but at least it wasn’t hailing. Earlier when we were driving to the hotel, we discussed pizza as an option for dinner. Mainly, because it’s usually the type of food that you could pick up outside of typical dinner hours. My partner had already pinned a few pizza places for us to check out. So back into the weather we went. It was a smidge before 9:00PM, when we drove to the first place on the list, but they were closing as we drove up. I saw the worker putting chairs up on the tables to begin cleaning, I didn’t want to go in and disrupt what might have been an early evening closure for them. The second place, although listed as open, didn’t have their lights on in the front of the building. Disappointed with the situation we found ourselves in, I pulled into a parking lot so that we could come up with dinner alternatives. It was approaching 9:30, and we were both tired and hungry.

After a brief discussion, he called what seemed like a local tavern that was back towards the hotel and placed an order for us to pick up. They closed at 10:00PM and we were happy they accepted our order. I drove up to Jimi D’s Food and Spirits and when my partner returned to the car with our food, he said that they were waiting for him at the bar with his order in hand.

Back in the hotel, we used our hangout area of the room and dug into our late-night dinner. An Italian muffaletta and a Reuben sandwich which we split.  I was more tired than hungry, but I ate and felt better. Though I was happy to finally crawl into bed afterwards. Day is done!

Photo 1: Seating area in our Aloft Omaha Aksarben Village room for the night

Photo 2: Half wall/partition between sleep area and bathroom/dressing area

Photo 3: Television on a swivel, can watch tv from bed!

Time to Tackle the Day

Our morning started out with a fast check out from the hotel and a short drive (1.5 miles) to Le Peep Restaurant for breakfast. Although Le Peep is a chain restaurant, it’s not one that’s local to us at home in New York. The menu looked awesome. I wanted to try so many different things on the menu, so my partner ordered the Homestead breakfast so we could try their biscuits and gravy. I ordered the Hen Pen with a side of pancakes. It was mid-morning on a weekday but most of their tables were filled. The tables themselves were a comfortable distance away from each other as well. Every bit of the food was delicious. We couldn’t finish everything, but we sure did try.

Photo 1: Homestead Breakfast with biscuits and gravy

Next task, find souvenirs. For this we went to The Old Market Historic District, which helped us fill two of our wishes for this trip, visiting a historic place and buying T-shirts, magnets and a keychain. We first walked to Made in Omaha. This was a cool storefront that sold locally sourced items. We bought T-shirts from here. On our way towards the store, we passed the Old Market Emporium. I wanted to check it out. On our walk back to the car we stopped in and we spent more than an hour walking through each of their rooms of collectibles. If you are interested in collectibles, this place is a MUST see. They even had a section of Pink Panther stuff. It was here where I bought a Nebraska keychain and magnets. I’d have bought a lot more if I didn’t have to fit it into my suitcase to fly home.

Photo 1: Historic Woolworth Building being revitalized as Woolworth Lofts in Old Market District.

Photo 2: Pink Panther section in Old Market Emporium (there's lot's more!)

Photo 3: A comic book section of Old Market Emporium (more of that too!)

Although I’d have been content spending the afternoon in the Old Market area, we had one last place we wanted to see before leaving Omaha. It was a walkable distance from where we were, approximately a mile, but we went back for the car anyway because we’d be leaving Omaha directly afterwards.

The Riverfront is a refurbished land project along the Missouri River. Close by, there is a pedestrian bridge (Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge aka the Footbridge) that crosses from Nebraska into Iowa. The day was perfect for such a walk, but the timing wasn’t. Instead, we stayed close to the Lewis and Clark National Visitor Center and took photos. There seems to be high-rise homes nearby with walkways from their building to the riverfront. While we were there it seemed like it might be in the middle of a remodel, but it was still gorgeous just the same. It’s also a little quirky, there is a statue of a troll, named Omar who “lives” near the bridge. We stayed for about 90 minutes, exploring the area, sitting and enjoying the scenery and weather. We packed a lot into our last few hours in Omaha. We wrapped up our visit around 4:30PM and hopped into the car to start our next adventure.

Photo 1: Monument to Labor - right near the Lewis and Clark Visitors Center

Photo 2: Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

Photo 3: Omar the Troll, he lives under the bridge!

Things I learned from planning this trip: Omaha is on the east side of Nebraska and very close to Iowa. Less than a day’s drive to Fargo, North Dakota and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The drive from Omaha to Minneapolis is about the same as NYC to Washington DC, 5.5 hours. We are still in the still in the pandemic years, restaurant hours might not be as posted.

Things I learned from attending this trip: Driving through hail in the dark is no joke! I’m glad we were inside for the worst of it.

Things I keep in mind when organizing a trip for myself: Go back for more. I’d like to see more of the area. Drive around in the city. I’d like to visit Boys Town, or at least the area that it is in. Next visit, I’ll consider staying in the Old Market area and for a couple of days. Make time to walk across Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge into Iowa. Visit inside the Lewis and Clark’s Visitors Center.

Things I learned from typing this blog post: There are a lot more restaurants near the hotel, some of which offer cajun food which surprises me. The Riverfront area has been updated and a mall opened not far from where we were. Other states along the Missouri River have cleaned up their waterfronts too. That sounds like another trip in the making…

Some information, such as baseball game information and directions were sought by using ChatGPT or Perplexity. Brainstorming ideas for blog titles too!

Written on May 3 and 24, 2026