Somewhere in Middle America

Long before any of us thought specifically about setting foot in the city, we had been passionately belting out "Omaha/ Somewhere in Middle America/ Get right to the heart of the matter/ It's the heart that matters more," a song released by Counting Crows on their first album in 1993.  Though never a hit, this song has long been a favorite of our family, so capping off our trip to the heartland with a few days in Nebraska seemed just about perfect.

We headed to Nebraska on Sunday morning after one final morning in KC, which Daniel has declared one of his favorite cities.  Since the drive to Omaha was just under three hours, we planned to stop in Nebraska City, founded in 1855 and the oldest incorporated city in the state.  Our drive found us passing through Missouri and Iowa before we arrived in Nebraska, and though we seemed to be driving in rural areas, our cell phone signal was strong enough to let us virtually attend Kerrie and Jair's wedding, so that was a delightful way to spend part of our trip.  xo

When we arrived in the tiny downtown area of Nebraska City, we were not surprised to find that the majority of the little stores were closed on a Sunday afternoon.  Still, we were able to have lunch in a cute little Mexican restaurant that had clearly been converted from a drive thru of some sort and then go to Arbor Lodge State Historical Park, where we learned all about J. Sterling Morton, who, with his brand new wife Carrie, moved to the Nebraska territory in 1854.  His two passions were news and nature.  When he wasn't running newspapers, he was serving on various agriculture boards.  Believing in the importance of farming and horticulture, Morton knew that Nebraska didn't have to be the "Great Desert" and worked to devote a holiday to planting trees.  Legend has it that on the first Arbor Day in Nebraska, in 1872,  over one million trees were planted.  That history certainly is consistent with this lush part of the state we have been enjoying these last few days.  There is now an Arbor Day in all 50 states, as well as many countries around the world, though each celebrates it on the date that makes most sense with their planting calendar.

trying out the whispering bench 

Arriving in Omaha on a late Sunday afternoon, we did the only activity that seemed to make sense - go on the self-determined "Oracle of Omaha" tour.  We checked out Warren Buffet's favorite steak house (still closed due to Covid, much to Dana's chagrin), his Berkshire Hathaway office building (which is less that a mile in a straight shot from his home) and then his home, which looks much the same as it did when he and his wife bought it for $31,500 in 1958, though he now has a large iron gate around it, suggesting others may have tried to go beyond our casual tour.  The fact that he, with a current net worth of 71.53 billion dollars. has never moved from the home, which he dubs his 3rd greatest investment , or from Omaha itself, is a testament to the man who created the "Giving Pledge" in 2006, recognizing that "Were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced.  In contrast. that remaining 99% can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others." I'm still really curious how he spends the many millions that constitute that not so measly 1%.  That steak house must be pretty darn expensive!

Yesterday was our day to explore Lincoln and the cute little towns - from Gretna to Ashland to Bellevue - on historic Route 6.  We checked out historic buildings, darling little shops, parks on the Missouri river. 

Luckily, we finally found the perfect music store where Daniel could pick up a guitar!

And, of course, we explored the capital city of the state, whose Capitol Building I was pleased to see shouted out by at least one publication as being one of the finest in the country.  Dana and I were blown away by Iowa's Capitol Building, which I was happy to see also made the list, when we were in Des Moines earlier this year; once we complete our Amber Waves Tour, we may need to start working our way through this list of beautiful buildings.  In addition to lucking into an amazing tour of the history, art, and architecture of the building (which could warrant a blog post of its own, but I'll provide you this link if you'd like to dig deeper).  One interesting tidbit is that Henry Bacon designed the Lincoln sculpture for Nebraska a few years before he designed DC's Lincoln Memorial.   Another is that a woman, Hildreth Meiere, designed all of the inspiring mosaics within.

viewing area of Lincoln on the 14th floor

For lunch, we checked out the historic Haymarket District (because, let's face it, we're suckers for anything with the word "historic" preceding it). Blissfully quiet on this Monday afternoon, our waiter said there had been a two hour wait the previous Saturday.   I could imagine the area bustling with university students and local Nebraskans but was content to enjoy it is relative solitude.  It was in one of the shops in the Haymarket District where we saw several items that looked like this:

I, literally, laughed out loud.  The store clerk was less appreciative of this amusing slogan, which, she grumbled, cost the state $75,000.  As I read now about the various ads that are part of the campaign, I find it all the more brilliant.  The only problem is we never heard of the slogan or the campaign until we were here in Nebraska, so I'm not quite sure how that is helping the state move up from its ranking as "least likely state" tourists plan to visit. 

Another of their popular slogans is "Nebraska: More Corn than People."  While the perfect month to see the wheat fields in Kansas is June, Nebraska's corn fields (and their famous corn mazes) won't be maze tall ready until mid-September, so who knows... there may be a fall return to Nebraska at some point in our collective future, because while it may not be for everybody, it definitely is for us.

The Children Shall Lead a New Day

Yesterday's visit to the Monroe School in Topeka will likely be the memory that lingers longest for all of us.  Though the Brown Vs. Board of Education decision is one with which we were all familiar, we knew little of its intricacies.  The fact that the National Park Service oversees the site lets you know immediately the attention to detail, first-rate exhibits and knowledgeable park rangers that will enrich your understanding.

After driving around the building a few times, we finally found our way to the empty gravel parking lot.  The school is impressive and sits across a large grass field.  After we read the historic signs, still not knowing if the site would be open to explore inside, we tentatively made our way towards the school.  A young black park ranger met us as we stepped off the grass and assured us that the museum was open and he would be happy to give us some information before we began our self-guided tour.  While there were a few other people there, we had the ranger and the majority of the exhibits to ourselves, to delve into and reflect on as deeply as they deserve.

I have always found that I most fully understand any moment or place of historical importance when I am able to experience it first-hand.  Standing in the classrooms of this once segregated black elementary school, reading about how its black teachers were against the court case for fear of losing their jobs and realizing the weight of the decision those black parents made to risk their children's happiness and well-being in a school that was safe, beautiful, "equal" to its white counterparts to upend a system that highlighted that the country did not view their children or them as equal in any other way.... well, let's just say that I went through much of Monroe in tears.

As I exited a classroom devoted to the ongoing struggle to build on this unanimous Supreme Court decision to end segregation in public schools, reflecting on everything from the lunch counter in Wichita to the Black Lives Matter signs in nearly every store and restaurant in the majority of towns and cities we have visited, I started to talk with the ranger about George Floyd, Dave Chapelle, Just Mercy (which he had just watched the night before) and how everything is connected.  Maddie, Daniel and Dana joined me as each of them emerged from an exhibit, and we all talked about what we had known about this court case and the things that had surprised us.  Dana, who we lovingly teased all day for identifying himself as a Civil Rights Attorney (as opposed to his typical answer of Employment Attorney), was thrilled to discuss Thurgood Marshall's strategy in trying the case.  To add Kansas as the 5th state, one where segregation was permitted but not required and the schools for the black children were every bit as good as the schools for the white children, the books and materials identical and the teachers even better qualified, was a brilliant approach.  As we left, Maddie wondered how the same approach might be used to dismantle the current system of law enforcement.  I could write and write about how much we all learned and how inspired we were, but suffice it to say we were very happy to have made that our first stop of the day.

While in Topeka, we also visited the NOTO Arts District, about to celebrate its 10th anniversary, had a delicious lunch and walked the neighborhood as much as we could tolerate in the 95 degree weather.  Maddie noticed that a George Floyd mural on an outside wall was painted by the same person as one of the paintings inside the NOTO Arts Center, and I later realized that he (Jordan E. Brooks) had also contributed to the wonderful mural adjacent to the Monroe school. 

After lunch, we set out to see the Capitol building, whose dome is even taller (though not as large in diameter) as the one is DC.  We then stopped by the Historic Ritchie house, which is considered to be the oldest house in Kansas and was an important stop in the underground railroad.  The Ritchie's were ahead of their time in every way, early advocates for women's rights as well as for the end of slavery.

As Bleeding Kansas was on its journey to become a state in the mid 1850's, there was a desperate battle by both political sides to claim it as either a slave or free state.   This led to tremendous violence and much bloodshed.  In Lecompton, where we took the River Road to Lawrence on our way back to Kansas City, there was a pro-slavery constitution which ultimately was rejected, and today they proudly label their town as the "Civil War Birth Place" and claim it is "Where Slavery Began to Die."  I never knew what a role the Midwest played during that period of America's history, so this whole day was quite educational.

We ended our journey in the college town of Lawrence, home to the University of Kansas Jayhawks, where we drove around the campus, walked around the shops and had an ice cream cone in a shop that is beloved in these parts.  Back home for our last night in KC, we headed to Sunset Hill in Loose Park, where we enjoyed the rose garden and the people, all milling about and relaxing on this beautiful Saturday night.

 After beginning the day in one historic school, closing it in a college town, and spending lots of hours in between with my own two remarkable children, it is easy to have hope that the children shall, indeed, lead a new day.