Yesterday started out on the cool to cold side. I didn’t know if I should have my Carhart on or a jacket. I decided to start with the Carhart and take the jacket for later in the afternoon. My day was going to be filled with 4th graders and one of their many field trips. The 4th grade is the year in our elementary school to learn about the history of Nebraska. In order to help pay for all the trips they take, they become mini salespeople. By far, their best fundraiser (in my opinion) is the Baker’s Candies – a favorite local chocolate company.

The big yellow bus left the elementary school about 8:30 a.m. and headed for Nebraska City.  This wonderful town is full of beautiful homes, beautiful trees and a lot of history! We began our day with a stop at the Mayhew Cabin & John Brown’s Cave – “Walk through the Mayhew Cabin and travel down the underground cave to better understand what the remarkable flight from slavery entailed.”

From there, we went to the Lewis and Clark Missouri River Visitor’s Center – “Education through time-honored methods of observation and discovery is the central mission of this interactive center and adjoining hiking trails. The flora and fauna (178 new plants and 122 new animals) and scientific discoveries recorded by the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1804-1806) are the focus of the Center. This theme is exciting and unique because no other museum or interpretive center in the nation, existing or planned, focuses on the captains’ amazing scientific discoveries. People of all ages will learn through interactive participation and you-are-there experiences. The exhibits and displays were designed with the expert advice of the University of Nebraska’s distinguished professor, Dr. Gary Moulton, the nation’s definitive scholar on the Lewis & Clark Journals, who served as the Center’s first In-Resident Scholar.”

After eating a sack lunch and getting a little exercise from a short 30 minute hike, the kids loaded the bus again and we headed for the Arbor Lodge State Historical Park and Arboretum (“the 52-room neocolonial house began in 1855 for Julius Sterling Morton, originator of Arbor Day and Secretary of Agriculture in the 1890s under President Grover Cleveland”) This park and home is BEAUTIFUL – definitely a must see if ever in Eastern Nebraska!

The kids had a great day! They were well behaved and seemed to thoroughly enjoy learning about a portion of the great state they live in. Unfortunately, it seems that when you live close to something as historic as Nebraska City or the Arbor Lodge Mansion, you never truly seem to appreciate it as much as you would if it were not as readily available. I encourage anyone living in Nebraska or interested in the history of Arbor Day make a trip to Nebraska City! The day was beautiful and I truly appreciated and enjoyed the changing colors the new season has provided. The whole time I was at Arbor Lodge, I was thinking we (the family) need to come visit again…SOON!

All pictures were taken at the Arbor Lodge State Historical Park and Arboretum

Arbor Lodge Mansion