I was traumatized to see this fountain and little park in front of Lincoln's old city hall. Not nearly as traumatized as when I saw the unveiling of the previous occupants. But that's a story for another day.
Completely unrelated: Neil Armstrong's parents on "I've Got a Secret" on the day Armstrong was named an astronaut.
Miller and Paine was a legendary department store in Lincoln. Eight floors of shopping and for years it had the only escalator in Nebraska. At state basketball tournament time in March the kids from outstate Nebraska schools would come into Miller and Paine for a thrill ride on those escalators.
Employee #251645 was a humble dishwasher in the basement cafeteria during the week and in the fancy tea room on Sundays. As he was the last to leave the tea room on Sundays, the humble and poor dishwasher would enjoy the famous cinnamon rolls, mac-and-cheese, and chicken pot pies.
Among the dishwasher's co-workers was the daughter of a former governor. Said daughter once said to the dishwasher "A master's degree? Don't you have to write a dysentery for that?" Another co-worker was an older woman from Kansas who looked like a cafeteria cook. The dishwasher was charmed by her because she pronounced "extra" as "extry".
Dillard's bought Miller and Paine in 1988 and closed the downtown store soon after.
Hazel Abel Park was a complete wreck! Hazel Abel is the park on the same block as my last apartment in Lincoln. It fills a quarter-block with lots of topiary, a fountain, a little gazebo, a small play area for kids, and plenty of benches for sitting. I read James McPherson's excellent Civil War history Battle Cry of Freedom on those benches. Four friends got married under that gazebo (not all at same time).
It was unsettling to see the park all torn up. I was all set to take pictures of the pretty park. Enjoy the view of dirt! Or, here's a more attractive view. Around the corner there was a sign that said the park would re-open this summer after renovations. Phew!
Who was Hazel Abel? Glad you asked. She was a businesswoman and first woman elected to the senate from Nebraska. She was also the first woman to succeed another woman as a senator. She served less than two months but did manage to vote to censure Joe McCarthy in that time.
Back in the good old days, one of the great pleasures of living in Lincoln was watching the weather on the local news. Before cable was ubiquitous Channel 10/11 was the only local station that could be viewed in outstate Nebraska.
Every night at 6 and 10 the local news would begin with five minutes of weather. The camera would lovingly pan its way across the handwritten map from Chadron in the panhandle to Falls City in the southeastern corner. Bruce Kopplin would dutifully and monotonically read off the temperature of every single city on the map. He once explained that he had to mention every city or the station got barraged with angry phone calls from the overlooked town. Toward the end of my stay the station upgraded to a map with stick on temperatures.
It was with great disappointment that I saw the fancy new computer graphics. There was no panning and the weather guy didn't mention every city. So disappointing. I was half-tempted to call the station and express my outrage that they had skipped McCook.
2920 Q St. (1984-1988)
18th and F (1988-1990)
These are the three places I called home in Lincoln.
The first, was a fourth floor (upper right) furnished one-bedroom apartment in the Shurtleff Arms. I think rent was $200/month. In addition to the bed in the bedroom the living room had a murphy bed. The building looks a lot better cared for now than when I lived there.
Fun facts:
It is hidden by the tree on the right but the building was a block from the state capitol. I often would cut through the parking lot -the state senator's parking lot- to get to 16th Street. Two blocks away is the governor's mansion. Bob Kerrey and Debra Winger were practically my neighbors! Across H Street is the Kennard House -the oldest house in Lincoln.
The following year four of us graduate students shared the house on Q Street. A house that will live in infamy after we held a housewarming party for ourselves and showed our guests the one 2x4 in the basement that was holding up the entire first floor. I'm surprised it is still standing.
Jack and I had bedrooms on the second floor while Susan and Mary had theirs on the first. Rent was $100/month each until January. That's when we were joined by JW for half a year. If I remember correctly, he and Jeff were kicked out of their apartment because it was to be demolished.
The Q Street house was on the edge of what was a bad neighborhood for Lincoln. I didn't know it at the time but a kid named Joba Heath (later Chamberlain) lived just a few blocks away on Y Street.
That arrangement ran its course after a few years and I decamped back toward the capitol. This time to the corner 18th and F Streets. This was by far the nicest, and most expensive ($225/month!) place of the three. I had half the first floor to myself. Cherry wood cabinets in the kitchen and hallway. It was quiet and there is a very nice little park at the end of the block.
The only thing I didn't like was the lack of a shower. I was a bath-only person for a couple of years. At least the tub was large. The black-and-white hexagonal tiles on the bathroom floor were a bit much as well. Especially on those nights when I came home after having a drink or two.
Following 18th Street I moved a few hundred miles east. I hope this doesn't mean I have to make a visit to Saginaw to complete the former home series.
The Sapp Brothers giant coffee pot -the true "Welcome to Nebraska" sign. At one time this was the undisputed largest coffee pot in the world. For Lincolnites and ex-Lincolnites the giant pot means you've successfully passed through the lesser city of Omaha and are now within an hour of home.
August 1983. My father and I stopped at the first rest area in Nebraska to take a break before the last hour's drive to Lincoln. This is my introduction to Nebraska. A sign that says "The Great Platte Valley" and a perfectly flat landscape (click on the panorama to get a much larger version). There was a discussion about the sign's accuracy as we didn't see a valley. I was soon to the learn that the Platte was famous for being a mile wide and an inch deep.
In retrospect there was a much more significant, and noticeable, landmark about ten miles back.
I forgot to include the map yesterday! The markers show where I stopped long enough to take more than a couple of photos. I went to Des Moines for a wedding last Saturday then headed west to Lincoln for two days. From there it was southeast to St. Joseph and indirectly returning back to Des Moines. From there I took three day trips before leaving.
For transportation I had reserved a compact car. When I got to the airport my choices were limited to a Dodge Caravan or a Chevy Suburban. I chose the humble minivan. That Suburban is huge! The Caravan was really nice. Much nicer than my old RAV4. It handled well, accelerated nicely and was very comfortable for an all-day drive.
You can see four states from the observation deck on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River in White Cloud, Kansas. Well, you can definitely see Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. Iowa is a good thirty miles away. You'd need perfect visibility, or a fata morgana to see that far.
Not so coincidentally these four states were where I've been for the past week. Mostly Iowa and Nebraska but I spent a few hours in both Kansas and Missouri.
Willa Cather's childhood home, Red Cloud, Nebraska
Last surviving building in New York in which Willa Cather lived, 82 Washington Place. John Phillips Sousa owned the building next door!
State Bank Building (1883) and Red Cloud Opera House (1885). Nice, aren't they?
Willa Cather was born in Virginia but her family moved to Red Cloud, Nebraska when she was nine. She went to school in Red Cloud, graduating in 1890. While she was in high school she worked at the town pharmacy, getting paid in books, a magic lantern and rose wallpaper that is still hanging in her room in the house at top. She also had a laboratory for dissecting cats and dogs in her father's real estate office. Cather then studied at the University of Nebraska, where today you can enjoy the Willa Cather Native Weed Garden as you walk from Avery Hall to Love Library.
A fictionalized Red Cloud lives in Cather's prairie novels like O Pioneers, My Antonia, and Song of the Lark. The Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial and Educational Foundation is located in the beautifully restored Red Cloud Opera House. The Foundation offers tours of Cather sites in town, hosts an annual Willa Cather Conference and sponsors cultural events in the Opera House.
I toured the Opera House but declined on the town tour because it didn't start until 1:30, it was only noon, and I needed to be somewhere in Kansas by 3:30. After the tour I bought a few postcards and a special souvenir for myself. I also asked the two women at the foundation what place in town was good for lunch. It was a bad sign when they both recommended the Subway (you can see the yellow awning in the bottom photo), because it was "better than other Subway's we've been to". Throwing advice to the wind and refusing to eat at Subway left me with a choice between a cafe with windows or a bar without. An hour-and-a-half later I finished the patty melt special and greasy fries at the cafe. Just in time for the walking tour, but I was way behind schedule and had to get to the strange and magical land known as Kansas.
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