1. The Nebraska Wheat Board gives out free samples of cinnamon rolls that made with wheat. They are extremely delicious!
2. RFDTV set a guinness record today with having over 1,000 tractors in a parade. Great job and thanks to an old classmate of mine Kelli who works for RFDTV for the t-shirt and hat!
3. Case International Harvester is doing a hat swap so I swapped two hats and got a Case IH hat and a New Holland hat! I am sure my grandpa will like these.
4. I had one of my favorite treats from the fair and that is a chocolate nut sundae on a stick!
5. The Kearney Catholic High School marching band was my favorite band of choice from today. Their drumline’s cadence was awesome and I liked the little jig that he rest of the band did along to the cadence.
1. The Wilber-Clatonia Alumni Band did a fantastic job playing in the opening day parade.
2. I rode the tram for $3 just one way, it was nice to see a view of the fair from above.
3. Someone riding a big bull through the opening parade.
4. Eating the rocky road ice cream from the Ice Cream parlor.
5. Giant pig made out of cans of beans. The pig can feed 20,834 people at 3 oz each!
The Nebraska State Fair begins this Friday August 24th and runs until September 3rd. I will be out there all week, so I will have a new blog each day with 5 things that I have discovered or have found interesting at the fair! I am excited and I hope everyone will have some time to come check out the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island, Nebraska!
Platte River State Park has never crossed my mind before this year, I always knew it was right off I-80 in the opposite direction of Mahoney State Park. I have been to Mahoney State Park several times, but never Platte River State Park. I took a little adventure to the park yesterday, my hopes was to go on a horse trail ride, but those ended at 3pm. So, instead I went for a paddle boat ride around Owens Lake. It’s not a big lake, but it was peaceful just being able to sit on a paddle boat and float for a little bit while I drank some ice tea. There were a few families fishing around the lake, just hoping to catch a big fish of some kind.
I also learned that Platte River State Park is the first state park in Nebraska to have a open archery. A good friend of my dad’s Roger Sykes was the one that pushed and convinced the state to open one at the park. Roger is no longer with us, but the archery was placed in memory of his name.
Whether you want to come for a day or stay a few nights in a cabin with your family, I highly recommend that individuals and families take a little time out of their summer to come visit this state park. I believe that park has a lot of opportunities for growth and can not wait to see what exciting things they will offer to guest in the next couple of years. The staff I met were friendly and helpful and what to make sure you enjoy your visit. I know I plan on going back soon in order to ride some horses and I hope I will be seeing you there as well!
The 51st Annual Willber Czech Festival took place this past weeked in Wilber, Nebraska. The event is hosted each year by the Nebraska Czechs of Wilber and is always the first full week in August. I have gone every single year of my life and I will honestly tell you that it does not get old. There is always something to discover and memories to be made at Czech Days.
Wilber is the Czech Capital of the United States and this year the town built a new cultural center that was used to host their art show and demostrations during the weekend festival. Czech Days also hosts the National Miss. Czech-Slovak US pageant. The pageant is split up on two nights, I was able to sit and watch Sunday night of the pageant. There were many great talents showcased and the new Miss. Czech-Slovak US was crowned; Jennifer Salva from Kansas.
I hope everyone will take the time to make it to next years Wilber Czech Festival which will be August 2nd-4th!
Wilber, Nebraska is the Czech Capital of the United States. It is also the home of Hotel Wilber, a unique accommodation on the 2012 Nebraska Passport. My parents and grandparents are originally from Wilber, so I have visited this cute hotel many times. They serve brunch on Sundays and breakfast, lunch, and dinner on most of the other days of the week. I would say Hotel Wilber is one of the places all people from Wilber take pride in the most. The building is older and brings out a lot of antiqueness for you when you visit. The rooms are all on the second floor and the guest share an community bathroom. Each room is sponsored by a local business or individual and the room is name after them.
Besides being just a hotel they also have a bar in the basement called the Czech Cellar and in the back you can discover an big fenced off peaceful patio which occasionally hosts a local farmer’s market, a beer garden during Czech Days and other occasions.
This is a long time standing hotel and it continues to grow in success, so whether you need a quiet place to sleep or just passing by for something eat and drink; I recommend you take the time to discover the history of this unique hotel that has been my childhood favorite.
When I was in Hastings this past weekend I met a guy by the name of Marvin Hughes aka Butch. Butch has turned the old Hastings Junior High School building into a business building for locals with small businesses. Currently there are 12 different businesses and each owner is designated an area of the building to sell their products/services. Some use old classrooms, the old band room and even the cafeteria.
Some of the businesses include:
Simply Door Art by Nancy Parr. Simply Door Art sells creatively decorated designs to hang on your front door at home. You can check out some of her designs on her website: www.simplydoorart.com.
Form the Heart Creations, LLC by Deborah Brooks. From The Heart Creations sells handmade jewelry and gifts. Check out her website at www.heartcreations.com.
Woodland Archery. Services that are provided: custom arrow building, complete set-up and tuning, custom bow strings by Winners Choice and Octane, Life-time tuning on all new bows sold by Woodland Archery, Professional and experienced service. Visit their website at: www.woodland-archery.com.
Portraits by Kerry. Photography studio for all those family and senior year portraits. Her website is: www.portraitsbykerry.com.
If you want to get into fitness and working out the building also has Curves and Zumba available offered by two different owners.
There are a couple other businesses such as a pottery and paintings that are made by two locals.
If you are ever in Hastings, I recommend you check out the old junior high building on 5th and Lincoln to see all the locals that working hard to provide services and goods to the best of Nebraskans and visitors.
Yesterday I spent the day in Hastings, Nebraska. The Hastings Aquacourt is one of the places on the Nebraska Passport. This place is amazing and I wish Lincoln had a fun water park like this one. They have a lazy river, that I floated on about 10 times around. It was extremely relaxing. They also have 4 different slides, I only went down the yellow slide. The best part that I like about all water parks is when they have a wave pool and the Aquacourt has one! It’s not as big as the one at Mahoney, but the waves were just as enjoyable.
This is a great place to bring the whole entire family for a day or just to come hang out with your best friends for a few hours. It is definitely worth driving a few hours to Hastings just to go swimming!
After going to Branched Oak Farm on Thursday July 12th I went up the road to James Arthur Vineyards in Raymond. I have heard of this vineyard from some of my friends, but this was my first time visiting. The place is beautiful and I really liked the white building with a red roof design. There were several other people there for a Thursday, so that should tell you how popular the winery is.
I enjoyed tasting 6 different wines for only $5.00 and I got a free wine glass to take home. The six wines I tasted were: Lucky 13, Nebraska Red, Brianna, Edyn’s Blush, Heartland White and Sweet Charlotte. My favorite was Edyn’s Blush; it is a semi-sweet wine and it is smooth. For a snack I enjoyed some bread with salmon and dill cheese. I like how their bread is served warm and soft. The cheese they serve is made by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dairy Store; it is always great when local business will serve or sell other local items.
If anyone ever needs a good gift for a birthday, wedding or Christmas then I recommend to check out all the gifts they sell. They had so many decorated wine glasses and other gifts that would be perfect for someone who loves wine.
93 Counties 