957. See the Octagon House Museum

Half the time I wonder where I came I up the things that ended up on my bucket list. Take the Octagon House for instance. There are many Octagon Houses in the US – which one did I mean and why on earth would I have wanted to see an oddly shaped house. However, once I determined which Octagon House I must have meant and read about it, I wanted to see it as soon as possible.

The Octagon House is in Watertown and while it’s not THAT far away (90 minutes), it seems a bit far to drive just for a house. I had several opportunities to see it the last few years but something always deterred those plans. I insisted that we stop on the way back from vacation. The problem was we had to be there by 2 to get the last tour. We barely made it thanks to construction.

I have to admit whoever came up with the concept of octagonal and hexagonal houses in the 1800s was a genius. John Richards built the octagon house in Waterford for his family in 1854 and was one of the largest homes in Wisconsin built prior to the Civil War. The home stayed in the Richards family until 1938 when it was donated to the Watertown Historical Society.

On the guided tour, unlike any of the other guided house tours this vacation, we were able to see all the rooms on all 5 floors – 2 floors for the family, a basement with the kitchen in it, a floor for the help, and the copula at the very top of the house. In the center of the house, were central heating, running water, and ventilating systems which were very modern and ingenious at the time. This system allowed for hot water for the tub and sink on the second floor. I would say it’s an engineering marvel.

After seeing the house, we had the opportunity to see the first Kindergarten in the US and a barn as well.

The Octagon House is worth the drive. If you are ever in the area, I would highly recommend stopping to check it out. It is only open seasonally though because it does not have any modern conveniences like heat.

Stadium Tour 2018 -- Principle Field

When planning our vacations, I look at major league teams and then filter my way down to A Teams in the area and on the way back home. Since we were leaving Omaha, we had several possibilities of teams in Iowa to see. The one that we both wanted see was the Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs Triple-ATeam. Lucky for us there were home on the day we needed them to be.

Since it was raining on and off for most of the drive to Des Moines, I checked the Cubs Facebook page to make sure the game was still on. To my pleasant surprise, last night’s game was postponed in the 5^th inning and would continue at about 5:00 tonight. Then the 2^nd game would be a 7 inning game. Free baseball (with a shortened game) was okay with us.

The Iowa Cubs play at Principle Field in downtown Des Moines. They charged $10 for parking which is the most any minor league team we have visited to date has charged. Most teams charged $5. Typical Cubs….

We got to Principle Field early enough and browsed the team store. We finally found the minor league baseball passport and picked it. We got our first official stamp in it and it had to be the Cubs.

The other nice thing about getting the passport was there is a spot for autographs. Since we were there early and the Cubs were playing the Colorado Spring Sky Sox, the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, we were able to watch warm ups and stretching. Because our seats were by the Sky Sox dug out, we had a few opportunities during warm ups to get a few autographs in our new passport.

In typical minor league ball park fashion, there was plenty of gimmicks and games between innings – some of which were carried over from last night. The featured a lot of kids in them. The hubby comes to see the park and the baseball, he could care less about the frills. I don’t mind them so much because it’s something else to pay attention to besides baseball.

My favorite part of the Principle Field is the manual score board. Just like Wriggly Field, the score board is manually changed after every half inning or when a run scores. I love the old school manual scoreboards.

Food options were relatively inexpensive. We both had decent chicken tenders. There were tables in the concourse to sit and eat at instead of balancing your food on your lap at your seats. Besides your typical concessions, there was also a beer garden with a ton of craft beers.

The games themselves weren’t all that exciting. The Sky Sox won the first game and got trounced in the second game. Our seats were pretty close to the action and if it wasn’t for all the little kids around us in the second game, I’m sure we would have taken home a ball.

Principle Field is a nice park but it’s full of the typical Cub fans. Some of them are friendly others are just as rude as they are in Chicago. I’m glad we got to see the Brewers Triple A team since most of those guys bounced between Colorado Springs and Milwaukee. If our travels take us through Des Moines, we may stop again but I wouldn’t go out of our way to come back.

2350. Go to The Bob Feller Museum

While at Barnes and Nobles picking up a book for vacation, we picked up 101 Baseball Places to Visit Before You Strike Out. The hubby should me the book and without looking at the price, I said we needed it. The book was on my want list. As I was looking through the book, I discovered that the Bob Feller Museum is just outside of Des Moines and it’s on the bucket list. I added it to the list for vacation.

Bob Feller, originally from Van Meter, IA, was a major league pitcher for the Cleveland Indians mainly during the ‘40s and ‘50s. He has 3 no-hitters under his belt and is the only pitcher to throw an opening day no-hitter. Because he missed four seasons because of military service, he ended up with only 300 wins but could probably easily had 400 wins and 3,000 strike outs.

The Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter, IA is not big. It is in the village hall and consists of one room. I swear the IOC Hall of Fame was bigger until they condensed it. What it does contain is very interesting. There is some memorabilia from his American Legion Days, the days of Exhibition baseball, and his days in the Major Leagues.

Bob Feller was an amazing pitcher and the museum is dedicated to represent this. I learned a lot of about Bob Feller. I knew he was a baseball player before coming to the museum but while there I learned a lot of his career in the 4 showcases they have.

Baseball fans should check out the museum if ever passing through Des Moines but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit it. It’s a great display of history to honor a local star but outside of Van Meter and the baseball world but very few people probably even heard of Bob Feller or Van Meter, IA for that matter.

AP US Mini Golf Tour 2018: Council Bluffs, Iowa

I wanted to get at least 1 round of mini golf in this vacation. We had 3 different states to be able to play in, two of which I never played mini golf in. I found a place another indoor mini golf place just outside of Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It looked much more entertaining than the place in Arizona besides I got a decent deal on Groupon. I challenged the hubby to golf on our to Des Moines at Pirate Putt Indoor Miniature Golf.

There were two different courses to play at Pirate Putt -- the orange or the black course. Both of them looked to be rather challenging. We played the orange course.

Many of the holes are pirate themed but they are all very challenging. They look easy but there's turns or something to make it just challenging enough.

You have to putt up the side of the pirate ship.

There is a plinko board and similar challenges.

I had a really bad hitting day. I couldn't hit the golf ball where I wanted it to save my life. The hubby actually had to give me lessons and help me out on a few holes. With his assistance I managed to get a hole in on the 12th hole. I know it's not quite fair but at the rate I was going I needed all the help I could get.

The hubby ended up beating me by 9 and leads the yearly series 2-0 with not many more opportunities to golf this year. Good thing the series isn't tied.

I would definitely go back to Pirate Putt. The company that owns Pirate Putt also has two other indoor mini golf courses in the Omaha area with different themes. I would check the others out if we were near them. I think the pirate theme would be the hubby's favorite though.

Bobbing in Omaha

I'm a sucker for weird and unique opportunities in case you couldn't tell. When I heard I could walk from Nebraska to Iowa, I was like add that to the list. However, I was pretty sure the hubby would be like um, I'll pass. I didn't completely write it off the list though thinking maybe there was still a way to do this.

The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge is a 3,000 foot bridge spanning the Missouri River between Omaha, NE and Council Bluffs, IA. It is less than a mile and 2 miles round trip. Omaha has hammed up the bridge by calling it "bobbing" when you walk across the Bob Kerrey Bridge. There is a whole vlog devoted to Bob and bobbing in Omaha.

Because the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center and the NPS Midwest Regional Office is almost at the foot of the Bob, as the locals call it, I was able to get a few stamps in my NPS Passport and convince the hubby to take a stroll on the Bob. There are actually several look outs on the bridge with different educational plaques about the wildlife.

About 1/2 across or so is the Iowa/Nebraska state line. I am now able to say I stood in two states at one time. I made the hubby do it too even though he was less than thrilled. 

One day I would love to walk the entire length of the Bob but that requires either being with more willing partners in crime or a patient hubby while I take a 2 mile walk. It probably would help that it not be 90 degrees either. 

When in Omaha, do like the native and take a stroll on the Bob. Then go get ice cream at Ted and Wally's (which we did not) or a sandwich at Pickleman's (which we did). 

3242. Go to the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, NE

I was struggling to find something to do in Omaha for a few hours that the hubby would enjoy. Everything I wanted to do was a quick stop or not up the hubby's alley. I had a few things planned including the BOB and National Park Regional Office but I was at a loss for something "big" to do.

On the way out of the hotel, I grabbed a Omaha guide. I narrowed it down to the Strategic Air and Space Museum (SAM) or the Durham Museum. They both sounded cool but I was leaning towards the Air Museum I explained both places to him. He saw a picture of a B-36 and decided we were going to the Strategic Air and Space Museum. 

The SAM is an museum dedicated to the planes the Air Force used in war.  There are 2 large hangars full of planes. You can also view airplane restoration through a viewing window. Plus there is a small children's play area. 

Although you can't go in any of the planes, you can look into many of them. The sheer size of many of the planes is overwhelming. Some of the propellers are taller than me.

My favorite plane was the Russian MIG just because it was a RUSSIAN plane. Those are just dang cool.

The hubby was awestruck by the B-36. It is ENORMOUS. It took about a good chunk of it's hanger. He was like a kid in the candy store.

Although I've never been to the EAA in Oshkosh (yet), I was greatly impressed by the SAM. The hubby says this is even better than EAA since it is strictly military planes. 

If you are in the Omaha area and zoos aren't your thing, check out the SAM. It is worth the 20 minute drive outside of Omaha to get to it. They might be a winery nearby too in case you need another reason to visit. 

I Always Wanted to Visit the Omaha Zoo Parking Lot

The one thing the hubby wanted to see was the old Rosenblatt Stadium, which was the home to the D1 World Series until the NCAA required them to build a new one. A memorial was built in the Omaha Zoo parking lot. I was like really, you want to see a marker in a parking lot? Oh this is going to be loads of fun.

Well, I was greatly mistaken. The memorial was more than just a plaque hidden somewhere in the parking lot. It is actually a mini stadium you can walk around and see exactly where home plate was along with the bases.

Also the original foul poles are still in the parking lot.

I was very impressed with what they kept of the old Rosenblatt including some of the original seats and original gate sign.

If you are a baseball fan, I would highly suggest stopping to check this out if you are in the area. Then go check out the world class zoo, which sadly we did not. The zoo from what I heard is one of the best in the country.

Pizza and Baseball

We really didn't want to eat at the ball park again so we left the Storm Chaser game early to get some pizza before the place closed. Mamma's Pizza was close to Werner Field and being the pizza snobs we were we decided to check it out. The pictures looked pretty good.

At Mamma's you order at the counter and then find a table. We were the only ones in the place. Because we weren't all that hungry, we just got pizza. The pizza was came quickly and was really good. Not too saucy and cut into triangles. It wasn't as thin as the pizza we get back home but it wasn't super thick either.

Mamma's could really be a museum with all the cool baseball memorabilia that is in the place. Because Omaha is the home of the D1 College World Series, there were some pictures and programs from the World Series through out the years. However, I don't be so excited about some programs. They had an amazing collection of autograph seat backs from various stadiums across the country like Fenway, Yankee, Tiger Stadium. For a baseball fan, it was an unique collection to see and it was a great way to pass time while we wanted for pizza.

For the non-baseball fans, there was also something for you. There was a mini arcade with several pinball machines. I'm sure there were other video games but the hubby and I played pinball while we waited. The hubby's ball got stuck and he couldn't get it out. I lost quickly but it was fun. Cheap entertainment. $3 and a few games of pinball later, our pizza was ready.

 I believe there are a couple Mamma's locations in the Omaha area and I'm sure they all have great pizza and food.The one in Papillion had the baseball memorabilia and pinball machines. If you're in town and hungry for pizza check them out. I know they are on our list if we ever get back to Omaha.