3260. Visit the Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice

When planning our trip to Spring Training this year, I didn't plan on any stops on the first day... just get to Dodge City was the motto. Then I looked at my National Park map and discovered the Homestead National Monument of America was literally like 20 minutes out of the way if that. Detour we here come.

Homestead National Monument of America tells the history of homsteading in the US. Basically that the government paid you to move to the middle of nowhere, build a house, and start a farm. If you could hack, the government paid you. If not, too bad so sad.

There was the main exhibit hall in the visitor's center, a small cabin, an educational center, and a school. It is on a former homestead land. The exhibit hall talks about what it was like to be a homesteader and the hardships you faced. Most states with the exception of the original 13 colonies, Texas, and a couple other states were homestead states. There's a good chance a distant relative of yours was a homesteader. There were computers to look up that information. Yeah, I didn't care about that.

After exploring the exhibit hall, we drove over to the school which is only open in the summer. We peeked in the windows and walked around. We didn't see the need to see the cabin.

It was a very cool stop. If you are into American History or National Parks check it out. There is a prairie grass trail to walk along as well for those that need to get their nature on. Like many National Monuments it's free and only about 45 minutes south of Lincoln.