After Lincoln I next visited Omaha, by far the state’s largest city. It was a cloudy day for me in Omaha with a bit of rain here and there. It was also memorial day so a lot of places that would normally be open were closed. Omaha has over 400,000 people, and is a much bigger city than I expected. The photo on the left is one of the main streets in downtown Omaha. On the right is part of a lagoon that has a business district built around it. On the other side of me which is still part of the lagoon is Gene Leahy park. I liked the walk the park offered and the large fountains and the two waterfalls they had. Their was a a section that went under a bridge and the large blocks reminded me of super Mario brothers. I think they should have spaced them farther apart to make crossing them more of a challenge. It started raining when I was in the park so I took refuge under the bridge for about 15 minutes to let it pass.
I had gone through several different neighborhoods while in Omaha. I was surprised by how segregated the city seemed to be between white and black populations. I’m used to cities being culturally mixed where I am from and in other parts of America I had visited. In Ohama it seemed to quiet literally be black and white. These photos above where from one of the several rich neighborhoods I passed through. Below are two photos from Joslyn Castle also taken in an upscale neighborhood known as the Gold Coast Historic District. The castle was built by George Joslyn who became a rich Nebraskan in the late 1800s. His castle was completed in 1903 and became an important landmark to Omaha. George Joslyn was well respected for being a community leader and providing generous funds for several important cultural projects in the city.
In one of the neighborhoods that wasn’t so rich was the birthplace of Malcolm X. I really wanted to visit this place but unfortunately the visitor center was closed being a public holiday. Until I go back all I can offer is the photo I took outside of his home and the teddy bear that I met.
I also went to Memorial park in Omaha. This memorial seen on the left is dedicated to the people of Douglas County who have served in the armed forces. The site was actually dedicated by President Harry S Truman back in 1948. Memorial park was used as a stage for major protests in the 1960s and 1970s against the Vietnam war. When I visited the park was pretty quiet with a few couples and families laid out in the grass along with a jogger here and there. From the park I could see the large building poking out of the trees on the right. I decided to cut find out what it was and on the way I came across the squirrel seen in the center with a orangish brown tail.
I figured the building was either a university or a church. It turned out to be the Margaret Mary Church. I visited in early September, so the fall wreaths seemed a bit early for me on the entrance doors. The church was unlocked but seemed to be completely empty.
Another religious site I went to was the Mormon visitor center in the norther outskirts of Omaha. I never associated Mormons with Nebraska, but it turns out Omaha is a very important place for Mormons. Above is a statue showing Mormon settlers crossing the great plains over 150 years ago. On the upper right is the Mormon temple of Omaha, across the street from the visitor center. Within the visitor center I was shown a quick video that told the story of why and how Mormons ended up leaving the mid west to start a new life out west. I was fortunate enough to visit while a rotating art gallery was present in Omaha. Someone working at the center took me through and explained most of the two or three dozen paintings they had on display. The paintings all depict times around 2500BC when they believe God told the people living in what is now Israel to leave the city and create a new life elsewhere. I never realized this until I visited this center in Omaha, but Mormons believe these people left in ships and arrived in Central America where they lived for about 500 years. Eventually they lost their ways and killed each other off in a great war. A surviving man named Mormoni passed on to his son God’s will who wrote these onto golden plates and buried it within the North American continent. Below is a painting of Jesus, and on the right the final moments of Mormoni with his weeping son above him.
Mormons believe John Smith of Illinois discovered the plates in America with the guidance of an angel. Once again they were told to leave their current life and move on to start over elsewhere. This led to the creation of Salt Lake City in Utah, but not without sacrifice. Many lost their lives in the difficult journey westward. On the initial trip many expected to reach what is now Nebraska in about four weeks, but it actually took over four months. Knowing that they would not survive the winter the party created “Winter Headquarters in what is now Omaha where they took refuge from the harsh cold. Below is a photo of a real photo taken during 1866 of the Mormon emigrants. Below on the lower right is a painting of Winter Quarters in the 19th century. There were actually dozens of camps throughout the area for years to come.
At the recommendation of someone who I met on my flight to Nebraska, I made a trip to the Air Force museum which is located right by the wildlife safari park. Even the entrance of the Air Force museum is quite impressive, with a few air and space craft on display outside. As soon as you walk in the front door you’ll be right in front of this impressive SR-71 Blackbird. This has always been one of my favorite aircraft and this is as close as I’ve ever been to one. There are free guided tours here at the museum. The speak noted that the SR-71 was a high speed non stealth spy plane. To help attain such high speeds, the entire aircraft is essentially a giant wing. The cockpit is also so small that pilots have to be shorter than 5′ 7″, or under 67 inches in order to fly the aircraft!
There are dozens of aircraft here on display along with several interactive units such as simulators. As I said my favorite aircraft here was the SR-71. I’d say my next favorite exhibit here was the B-25 on display that took place during the Doolittle raids of World War II. I had known about the raids before but I suppose I failed to understand the significance and effect they had. After the Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, the moral of Americans and their allies was at an all time low. In response the Americans organized an unprecedented attack on Japan by launching dozens of B-25s from a carrier. The aircraft weren’t designed to launch from such short distances,and neither were they designed to fly such long distances without fuel. The attack was a nearly suicidal mission for the pilots, but amazingly the far majority of them survived the bombing run on Japan although most of them crash landed after running out of fuel. There are several other stories in here about other aircraft missions. On the lower left is a painting of most of the US Air force’s recent aircraft. On the lower right is the U-2 spy plane.
