We went on a short trip out to Omaha this summer to celebrate with our friends who are expecting their first baby! There are 3 awesome must-dos you’ve got to check out for your next trip to Omaha!
We arrived on Friday afternoon, and our first stop was to check-in at our hotel.
I chose The Magnolia Hotel mainly because of its location. It sits right downtown – close to everything. This is a really cool hotel, but I wouldn’t call it super kid-friendly. It worked for our needs for the one night we were there. Very nice rooms.
THE OMAHA CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
The first place we checked out was the Omaha Children’s Museum. This place is fantastic. Go. Don’t skip it on your next trip to Omaha. I’d even say it could easily be the reason you go to Omaha.
We got there right at 4 pm (they close at 5 pm… parent fail) and since it was the last hour, we received half-off admission. That was a nice perk, but then we only got about 45 minutes to explore which was definitely not enough time. Not even close. You could easily spend half a day going through each of the exhibits in this place. So neat! And, they’re continuously transforming exhibits, so there will always be something new to check out.
Des Moines has one Children’s Museum that has just gotten off the ground and expanded in the past few years. It is also really fun, but Omaha’s is on a whole other level. Check out these awesome photos from our short time at the Omaha Children’s Museum. Of course, we could barely get Myles off the tractor (insert: eye roll). He just kept wanting to go back to it!
We are definitely going to need to go back to the Omaha Children’s Museum. There was so much more that we needed to experience but ran short of time. This is a must-do!
11-WORTH CAFE – FOR BREAKFAST (or lunch)
So, funny story…as I was checking out at the hotel, I asked the lady where the best place would be for breakfast. She said (what I heard) Leavenworth Cafe. So, I get to the car and tell Eric so he can navigate… He’s looking it up and can’t find it (and I’m thinking, “Of course not” , like a typical wife – eye roll, sigh, and all.).
But, there was an 11-Worth Cafe… on Leavenworth Street (get it? ha!). (And now I’m thinking, “Good thing I kept my mouth shut on that one!”) Those clever people used some tricky word-play in the naming their now-famous Cafe! I couldn’t believe it. We got a good chuckle out of it on the way.
You guys. It was so yummy! But, I think what set it apart from other breakfast joints was two-fold – customer experience and service. They just nailed every aspect of the experience for us. We didn’t have to wait long to get seated, the waitress was on-top-of-it…everything. She didn’t forget things, our food was out quickly. They did a fantastic job.
It was a very well-oiled machine…everyone worked together seamlessly and it showed. Training is obviously taken seriously at this Cafe. And then, the cherry-on-top, was when they brought out a balloon and a dum-dum sucker for our sweet Myles. He was ecstatic (see photo)! It was awesome and the best inclusion of children I’ve seen yet at a restaurant. Oh, and the food and coffee were superb, as you may have guessed.
The whole experience was the perfect way to start our big day. We were headed to the famous Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium next!
HENRY DOORLY ZOO & AQUARIUM – Omaha
Whoa. We’ve got a membership for the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines (which gets us a discounted price at other select zoos across the country, btw) and it is awesome for an easy get-out-of-the-house adventure. We’ve gone so many times this year.
But, going to a much larger zoo with many of the “big” animals is a totally cool experience with kiddos, too. I definitely appreciated having an extra set of hands with me to handle the kids in this place!
After getting in and getting everyone situated, we decided to take a train ride to get a lay of the land and see quite a few of the exhibits from that vantage point. It was great, Myles enjoyed riding a “real train”, and we enjoyed not having to haul kiddos around for a bit!
This is a big zoo… definitely plan to have plenty of time there to really get your money’s worth. They do have an entire splash pad area called the Scott Alaskan Adventure Splash Park (it’s a splash pad on steroids really), so don’t forget your suits if you want to do that.
They also have a very cool natural park area – the Bay Family Children’s Adventure Trails – that is super fun for kids of all ages to go through. There’s a goat encounter area in this part that was so fun experience, even as an adult! Who knew hanging out with goats could be so fun?!
They have excellent “encounter” experiences, and we got to see a giraffe up close and personal. They are such beautiful creatures.
We ate at the newer food court area for lunch – The Fisherman’s Landing Picnic Pavilion. The lines were outrageous (they should have had more registers open for a Saturday!), but once we got our food it was pretty tasty. I’d say it’s a nice step up from fast-food or quick and easy meals you’d expect. They had a nice selection of wraps, salads, burgers and fries, etc.
Overall, it was a great experience visiting the Henry Doorly Zoo. I don’t know that I’d ever been (maybe when I was really little?), but it seems like they’re making some great improvements throughout the zoo.
Recap of 3 Must-Dos in Omaha
If you are a skimmer, I’ll make it easy for you… We went to the Omaha Children’s Museum, 11-Worth Cafe, and the Henry Doorly Zoo on our short, but sweet, trip to Omaha this Summer.
That’s it! Hopefully this provides you with some inspiration for your next trip to Omaha. There is definitely plenty to do with the family while you’re there. I’ll have to add more highlights to this list once we go again!
Let me know any highlights you’ve had from your trip/s to Omaha in the comments. I’m sure we’ll go back again soon, so having more things to check out would be awesome!
To the Chaos!
MG
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We love the Omaha children’s museum and it’s totally free with a SCI pass if you have one! Ted and Wally’s and coneflower creamery are both great ice cream spots! Our kids also enjoyed browsing at the Hollywood candy store. Downtown there are fun metal slides. Block 16 is super yummy! We love early bird for breakfast – they have a giant donut plus really good egg Benedict options! We are actually on our way to the Omaha zoo right now 🙂
Wow! Awesome list of things to see, do, and try! Thanks for your feedback, Kayla! Hope you guys had a good trip.