Lincoln, Nebraska at a Fast Pace

We have a full day of touring planned, as we are picking up the pace of our usually slow wanderings. So hang on to your hats, as we whiz through the high points of Lincoln, Nebraska today. Our first stop is to the University of Nebraska campus and its Memorial football stadium. The welcome center lobby houses a 40-foot waterfall of that bright Cornhusker red, and this wall-size football mural.

This big room is also a great place to display some very impressive athletic hardware.

But probably the most impressive trophies are these five national championship trophies from 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, and 1997.

We had planned to just take a self-guided tour around the outside of the stadium, but we were told that we could join a scheduled group for some behind-the-scenes looks at the athletic programs. This free tour took us to the weight rooms, the athletes' snack bar, past the pictures of the All-Americans and team captains, the track, and the new indoor practice facility.

But the highlight had to be walking down the locker room hallway that leads to the stadium. Each player touches that good luck horse shoe on their way to the game. It looks like Denisa isn't going to make the team since she's too short for that good luck.

We followed our group of youngsters down the same red carpet that the Nebraska football team goes down on game day.

This is their view as they burst out of the tunnel onto the field to the cheers of a sold out crowd! Incidentally, the University of Nebraska holds the NCAA record for sell-out crowds with 311 home games that started in 1962.

We didn't get to experience that game day drama, but we did get to experience the tunnel and the field. Our volunteer tour guide snapped this picture of us in the tunnel entry way.

She sent the kiddos running to the far goal post while the adults hovered at center field for pictures on the big red Nebraska N.

It was fun to actually be on the field, something that we haven't gotten to experience even though we have visited many college football fields in the past.

We appreciate that the University of Nebraska makes even their out-of-state visitors feel so welcome and offers these free tours.

The other option to taking the guided tour is a self-guided tour of interesting features outside of the stadium. Of course we picked up the brochure that described those stops and started the circle around this massive building. Our first stop was at these columns, where Nebraska pays tribute to two of its favorite coaches--Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne.

We learned that Devaney coached here from 1962 through 1973, and was the first coach to win more than 100 games during those eleven years. More importantly, his teams also won those first two national championship trophies.

His assistant was the legendary Tom Osborne, who assumed coaching duties in 1973.  During his first 11 seasons, Osborne matched his predecessor's monumental 100 wins. More importantly, his teams won the other three national championships before Osborne retired.

For those that don't want to take the time for the guided tour, the university of Nebraska makes available a great view of the field via a special walkway at Gate 23.

Even though our tour guide kept reminding us that they have a total of 700 college athletes from 24 sports here at the university, it was pretty obvious that football is king here at the stadium.

We are enjoying beautifully cool weather here in Lincoln, and Denisa had to include those pretty skies and pretty flowers in the last shot from our self-guided tour around campus.

Then it was time to hurry downtown towards our next destination. We had just enough time to admire the "Sunken Gardens."

We are also noticing sculptures of hands as we drive around the city. This project is called, "Serving Hands" and they will be on display until October. This set was appropriately painted as it sits between two nice gardens downtown.

Even though the other butterflies are painted, this real butterfly was a little confused by this big pink rose that didn't seem to have any nectar.

He should have gone with us across the street to the Rotary park, where the roses seem to be at peak bloom during our visit.

The park sign actually read "Rotary Park for Seniors" and we're not sure of the background of that name. But we do know that one senior citizen enjoyed her walk through the park this afternoon.

Mark is a good sport, and even on a hurried day of touring, he allows Denisa time to stop and smell the roses.

One last rose picture before we're off to our next destination in downtown.

That would be the Nebraska state capitol building. When it was built, it was the tallest of all the state capitol buildings in the United States (and held that title until Louisiana built a few feet taller).

At 400 feet, it's the tallest building in Lincoln, and it can be seen from 40 miles away in this flat state.

As we got our first glimpse of the interior, we thought we had entered a European cathedral with its tall foyer and mosaic domes.

If those pictures would have been of Jesus and the apostles instead of Nebraska pioneers, we would have surely thought we were inside a church instead of a state capitol.

Our entertaining tour guide told us the story behind all the mosaics on the walls, and the marble artwork built into the floors, and pointed out the themes in the ceiling art. Our necks were sore by the end of the tour from looking at everything as she described it.

We learned that Nebraska is the only unicameral form of government in the U.S. That means that they have only one legislative body. Our guide pointed out that it is cheaper with only 49 legislators to pay and only one chamber to air-condition in this old building with high ceilings.

After our tour we were whisked up to the 15th floor in the tiniest elevator we have seen. Mark is smiling, but his claustrophobia didn't like this tight ride to the top at all.

From the observation decks at the top we could look north to see the university campus in the distance.

Our last notable picture from the Nebraska state capitol was in the bathroom. When was the last time you saw a hand dryer like the one on the right with the roller towel?

As we walked back to the car, we tried to get a picture of "the sower" statue on the top of that tall dome. During the last refurbishment, several holes were found in this guy's head that weren't there originally. It seems that this statue also serves as the capitol lightning rod when it was determined those holes were caused from direct lightning strikes.

There are 39 hand statues throughtout the city, and we found another one at this stop in Lincoln. Now we're at the "American Historical Society of Germans from Russia."

Denisa's great grandfather was a German from Russia that immigrated to the United States in the 1800's, so this would have been an interesting museum for her. But in a one-day blitz tour of a city, it was too late in the day to go inside.

Given more time, we would have also explored the bike trails that zig zag around the city. We found this over-sized bike sculpture along one of those trails earlier today.

Friends from Nebraska suggested that we should eat at Runza--the fast food restaurant established here in Lincoln in 1949. With 85 locations (mostly in Nebraska), we ordered one of their signature meat and cabbage rolls for lunch. It was tasty, and reminded us of the beirox that our German from Russia ancestors made.

We had to giggle at the signage on the beverage machine, which debated what to call the liquid coming out of the spouts below--pop or soda. If you can't read the fine print at the bottom, it says, "Please note: you are in the Midwest and the correct answer is pop. #popnotsoda." We love eating (and drinking) like the locals as we travel! This time is was eating at a fast food place on this one-day fast paced tour of Lincoln.