Wow!! If you are into this sort of thing or even curious. You have come to the right spot!!…read more Amazing what these brothers have collected and built with petrified wood. Great collection. Just wish some of the items were up for sale. Donations accepted but otherwise free so definitely a great value. Greeted with a friendly smile and felt very welcome.

Hidden gem! Beautiful, pictures cannot capture the beauty. It's been over a year and I still think…read moreabout this place and tell all my friends passing through! Absorb all the beauty it's truly one of a kind

We made a visit to Cozad with the express intention of seeing this museum and learning more about…read moreRobert Henri, his art, his life, and his influence as a teacher and mentor. We had a delightful time viewing the art and learning from the director who gave us a personal tour. Overall it was a very rich experience. I'd recommend visiting here if you have an interest in American art or history in general. Could be a great place for a field trip if you live in the region. Top notch!

Three words......."take the tour." Having Doris tell the stories of early Cozad and the journals…read moreand art of Robert Henri (Cozad) was well worth the $10 admission. The museum rooms and furnishings had excellent narrative but Doris was the story teller for us on our tour. Pointing out highlights and their relationship to Robert Henri and the facts behind the family name change. The gallery includes many original paintings and sketches and is carefully locked and supervised. This museum was a hidden gem that we missed on our last Nebraska Passport visit to Cozad. Although the tour put us behind on our trek across western Nebraska, you won't find us complaining. If in Cozad, or even remotely close by, three words.......go meet Doris!

Very nice little railroad museum located in a fabulous county park. The park has every imaginable…read moreoutdoor recreation and very nice concessions. The ice cream stand was great.

This is a cool little museum. I say little only because their are just 2 Locomotives and a few rail…read morecars. But with that being said ..DONT miss this museum. The steam locomotive is AWESOME and the depot has a lot of neat things to see. Great staff as well. Located in the back of a city park which is also worth seeing.

This place is amazing!! We were on a road trip cross country and looking for somewhere for our…read morelittle one to get out and stretch their legs. I found the museum on a goggle search and decided to give it a try. My little one was in heaven with all the fun rides, toys and games. There are several themed rooms full of toys that are great for imagination and learning. It was a hot day outside but nice and cool inside the historic building. I highly recommend this place to anyone with little ones.

We took our 3yr. old granddaughter here to play. She had a lot of fun. They were changing things…read morearound. She liked the train ride, but the last time we went it was in need of repair so it kept coming off the track. The music room was fun with piano, organ, and drums. She liked the little pizza restaurant where you could pretend you're making pizza. She liked playing pirate on their partial mockup ship, and the bug room where you played stepping on the bugs projected on the floor for points. Its hard to find parking for your car unless you walk a block away. That's why I'm giving it three stars, no place close to the building to park. Prices are reasonable though! Senior citizens discount admission.

What a gem of a museum. While many city and county museums are suffering from constantly dwindling…read morefunding and staff, the Dawson County Historical Society museum is doing a great job. They understand what it takes to interest the next generation in history and the staff and volunteers greeted my wife and I on our visit from CA and made us feel very welcomed. We enjoy stopping at smaller museums to get a sense of what shaped the community and how it has changed. They put a lot of thought into the displays and they do a lot with what they have. Totally worth a visit - don't forget to make a donation so they can continue their mission.

This is the most awesome museum ever. They constantly working on the exhibits & rotating them so…read morethat you have new things to see every time you are there. Come see it when you are either here or passing by.

Just Go (#39) This…read morewas the latest "new" state we visited during our road trip to America's heartland visiting the Dakotas. It was a day trip that we included in our itinerary since we were already 'nearby'. On July 7, 2024 we were able to visit: * Scott's Bluff National Monument, Gering NE After stopping by the Visitor Center we drove a 1.6 mile scenic drive on Summit Road and did the short walk at the South Overlook Trail (one of two overlook trails) We skipped the longer hike to the Saddle Rock Trail due to time constraints. The paved trail included educational interpretive signs... the views of the prairie land were vast and amazing. Can't even imagine what the early pioneers endured during their journey to their westward expansion. The Visitor Center has displays of life-size prairie wagons towards the entrance to the park. Entrance is free. * Chimney Rock, Bayard NE We did not make it inside the Visitor Center because they closed at 4:00p (we were an hour late). We drove to another area called "Walk to the Rock" where we could see the Chimney Rock closer. The volunteer who welcomed us gave us the lowdown on "pathway rules" including "... if you encounter a rattle snake." We chose Trail "A" from the four different trails and the path that took us closest to the rock. It was a pleasant hike and we did not see any rattlesnakes シ * Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Harrison NE This was way out in the middle of nowhere in western Nebraska. TIP: make sure to gas up your car and bring snacks before heading out to the monument because the closest gas station is 30 miles out on Highway 29 heading either north or south. No vending machines at the Visitor Center. We watched a short film inside the small theater and checked out the interesting exhibits including a life-size display of ancient mammals. We had to drive to the open prairie where the fossils can be found on quarries where digs were conducted. Unfortunately, we were on a tight schedule and were not able to do the hike. We had dinner at the Flyover Brewing Company in Scottsbluff. We shared a Chicken Artichoke Pizza and a Burnt End Brisket Brat. There was live music entertainment. It was a busy venue. Thank you, Great State of Nebraska, for sharing your national monuments and landmarks,... learned so much about the emigrants as they progressed West on the Oregon Trail. Review #3595

My Beloved is a fan of astronomical curiosities…read more We've driven hours towards the desert to watch the Perseid meteor shower, and we're planning a 2018 European trip, probably to northern Norway, to watch the aurora borealis. For this year's Christmas and Valentine's gifts, I gave her a total solar eclipse. To be more precise, I gave her a weekend in Denver, and then a week-long road trip that began with eclipse-watching at a spot in western Nebraska that was in the "path of totality", followed by a week of driving around the prairie, looking for good steak and corn, nice people, and whatever interesting things we might find. ********** Several small Nebraska towns, some partnering with larger neighbors, formed the 2017 Nebraska Eclipse Coalition to attract and entertain tourists like us with events, speakers and promotional materials that guided our decision to visit. We left Denver at 4 a.m., stopped in Scottsbluff for breakfast at Shari's Café & Pies - a sort of mashup of Denny's and Marie Calendar's - then crossed the highway to wait for darkness in the parking lot of the local Target store. I must thank Target's management for allowing our group of 30-or-so cars to tie up space for the couple of hours it took for the eclipse to happen. Not only that, Target was good to their employees, allowing them to step outside during totality so they wouldn't miss the remarkable event. The topper: their group took a staff photo, all wearing their eclipse glasses. ********** Some other notes: - We discovered a couple making very drinkable wines in north-central Nebraska, at Niobrara Valley Vineyards. - I'd previously swapped email with Robert Joseph, owner of the Peppermill & E.K. Valentine Lounge in Valentine. He's a smart, funny businessman whose understanding of social media is effective and entertaining. We made it a point of stopping to visit with Robert and to enjoy a steak dinner - one of the two best I had in a week that featured five such meals. What's more, as I told people in other parts of the state that we'd eaten at the Peppermill, located in a town of 2000 people in north-central Nebraska, several of them knew the place, and had eaten there. If I thought I had anything better to offer Robert, I'd ask him to come help me with marketing, but frankly, though we have better winters, I think he's got the better gig. - Omaha was cool. Seriously. Like Buffalo, Baltimore and Milwaukee, it's an older, formerly industrial city that has been revitalized by "clean" business, and, along the way, its architecture, dining and other social markers have improved, even as the locals have preserved the best of the old stuff. I particularly enjoyed a great cortado at Culprit Cafe and Bakery, where I was happy to meet pastry chef/owner Luke Mabie and especially his chef, Ben Jordan, formerly of San Diego's Prepkitchen, a coincidence that opened the door to a nice chat about here and there. - I'd gone to the prairie expecting lots of Trump-related nonsense, but found little public idiocy. The most offensive thing I saw all week was at the Nebraska State Fair, where the right-to-life whackjob exhibit at the Expo Center covered a table with plastic models of fetuses. This was done in a way that children would see, which went beyond inappropriate, edging into disgusting. But 1A, so whatayagonnado? - The Nebraska State Fair is a no-carry event, a fact that earned it a spot on the "Unfriendly Business List" compiled by the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association. These are the same armed dickheads who gripe when they can't take a gun into their endoscopy appointment. It's ok with me that they boycotted the Fair. It made the event feel less 'Murica and much more American. - Finally, surprisingly, we played hell finding sweet corn, in the country's third-largest producer of corn. I finally found what I wanted at the Nebraska State Fair, at a stand called "Manny's Sweet Corn On-A-Stick". Manny sold elotes, which is comfort food for me, and which, I imagine, must seem a very strange and magical thing to Nebraskans. ********** Shari's Café & Pies: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sharis-restaurant-scottsbluff Target (Scottsbluff): https://www.yelp.com/biz/target-stores-scottsbluff Niobrara Valley Vineyards: https://www.yelp.com/biz/niobrara-valley-vineyards-nenzel Peppermill & E.K. Valentine Lounge: https://www.yelp.com/biz/peppermill-and-e-k-valentine-lounge-valentine City of Omaha: https://www.yelp.com/biz/city-of-omaha-omaha-2 Culprit Cafe and Bakery: https://www.yelp.com/biz/culprit-cafe-and-bakery-omaha Prepkitchen: https://www.yelp.com/biz/prepkitchen-little-italy-san-diego-2?hrid=9kr8SXXu6KYmubepFhUuuA Nebraska State Fair: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nebraska-state-fair-grand-island?hrid=XsNGzA2CjYFzPOlrDVVD5g Nebraska Firearms Owners Association: https://nebraskafirearms.org/wp/unfriendly-business-list-3/ Manny's Sweet Corn On-A-Stick: http://www.statefair.org/business/mannys-sweet-corn-stand

We were visiting North Platte on the way to Denver and checked Yelp, TA, and Atlas Obscura for…read morethings to do and see and this place had some great reviews and comments. Plenty of parking, and a little bit off the main drag, so it was not too crowded. The girl at the front desk was very helpful and took the AAA discount. When I went to purchase some gifts there was a YELP Discount offer which she had not seen that before, she ended up giving it to us, but I think she didn't know how to ring it up in her system. I should have brought my camera, but at least I got some pictures with my cell phone. Some great views of the trains nearby and the surrounding area. There is a lot of information about trains, history, WWII, and the area. A neat place to visit in North Platte for sure. There is a fee to get in but you get to see everything inside and you can take an elevator to go to 2 different observation levels, which have a lot more information and history, and offer 2 different vantage points. There is also a train car outside on the ground level, as wells as a small wooden train, and a bunch of state flags with some interesting facts on the base of each flag.

Everyone at this tower was super friendly. All of the employees were nice and informative about…read moreeverything there. We only paid $10 for our ticket to go up the tower and it was a very pretty view. They told us that we could come back all day with the ticket so if we wanted to get food and come back and picnic there we could! The view from the tower was really nice and the tickets they gave us was like a train ticket so it's really cute. A very good stop!

I'd heard about this museum and its exhibit of early Japanese settlers so I had to come. Luckily…read morefor me, I was able to visit on the morning of their annual all you can eat pancake feed! Besides lots of pancakes there was a guy dressed up like Buffalo Bill to welcome me at the door. There were lots of great exhibits. One of the highlights of North Platte was documented in the display of the North Platte Canteen, which served troop trains passing through during World War II, offering soldiers a brief pit stop to relax and enjoy some company along with cakes, sandwiches, cookies on their way to war. Of course, my interest was in the Japanese exhibit and I loved the touch screen monitor that showed the different families that had lived in the area, as well as the displays showing the early farmers and railroad workers. Later in the afternoon, I met with Jim Griffin, the museum director. Jim shared some fascinating photos of the Ice House, that many Japanese men worked at in the early 1900's. The workers cut huge slabs of ice from lakes, and transported the ice slabs to the giant ice house to be stored for later use when the railroad shipped fruit and other perishable goods by rail. Fascinating stuff! If you are in the area and get a chance, stop by, there is so much to see at this museum!

This was not a scheduled stop on our trip out west, but it turned out to be quite a nice museum. We…read moredidn't know anything about the "Canteen" that served soldiers leaving for Europe during World War II. They have an incredible collection of memorabilia.