Scavenger Hunt: Final Places and Grand Prize

Our afternoon of traveling historic and memorable parts of Omaha could not have gone better.  The kids were getting into the competition of figuring out the clues.  We were experiencing trips down memory lane and tasting a bit of the history and culture of the city. It really was a family adventure that we won't forget anytime soon.

For our final leg of the journey, we had a few stops planned that would lead us to our final destination: dinner!  First up was a stop a memorial to the Street Car.  Grammy used to tell the kids stories of her days riding the Street Car to go shopping. She loved the street car and every visit we take to the Train Museum means we talk about Grammy as we sit on an actual Street Car.  How fun for the kids to see a memorial built to commemorate this special form of transportation.

Next up (though out of order) was Memorial Park, a beautiful open area in the middle of town, with a garden and a commemorative area dedicated by President Truman honoring fallen soldiers from WWII.  There is something about just pausing to thank and remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and those they left behind that just chokes me up.  Of course taking three crazy kids to this spot I not only am grateful to those men and women, I'm also reminded to constantly be telling them how precious our freedom and democracy really is, a real gift!

For the final two the clues were a little tricky for the kids and I told my husband either we are getting too old, or our kids just don't appreciate the finer things in life like we once did.  The Blackstone Hotel, which is now an office building is the site of the first ever Reuben Sandwich.  Yes, you can thank Omaha for making that yummy corned beef and sauerkraut delicacy.  Who knew such great things got their start here.  It did take almost ten minutes for one of our children to come up with the answer even if the Reuben is one of our favorite lunches on Sunday after church.

The last real clue was the funniest, cheekiest and filled with Omaha Folk Lore tales ever; but obviously my children were in the dark about it's existence.  Thankfully, my husband and I were able to enlighten them with tales of this Sunday Night Television masterpiece: Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.  Rumor has it that Marlin Perkins is buried in the Mutual of Omaha Dome (now the site of the first in Omaha Chic Fil A restaurant.)  If you recall Marlin's friend Jim Fowler was always traipsing off after the wild animals in the jungle while Marlin was back in the studio talking about the animals. You could say Jim risked his life for Marlin's glory.

No one got the final clue.  So, to avoid a tie between Mr C and Miss M we threw in the final question which was name a "border town" in Texas that is also the name of a favorite "watering hole" in Omaha.  We assumed that Mr C with all his Spanish expertise would come up with Laredo, but to no avail; Miss M got it. I credit the fact that she has a keen sense of direction and Cafe Laredo is only a block away from Mutual of Omaha, but she might just be a geographical wonder!

Thankfully, the grand prize was available to all the contestants no matter how well the did on the scavenger hunt: dinner out at our favorite Tex Mex restaurant in the city while enjoying a perfect night on the patio. The perfect close to a great summer of fun!