NEBRASKA CITY Nebraska City is the home of Arbor Day – and it’s packed with beautiful parks, museums, first-class accommodations and family fun. Arbor Lodge, once the home of Arbor Day creator J. Sterling Morton, is a 52-room mansion surrounded by the 72-acre Arbor Lodge State Historical Park. The park includes an arboretum, garden, log cabin, carriage house, walking trails and more than 200 varieties of flowering lilacs. 2600 Arbor Ave. (402) 873-7222 Arbor Day Farm encompasses 260 acres of natural beauty. This national historic treasure is home to the one-of-a-kind Tree Adventure and the Lied Lodge. Tree Adventure is a nature-themed attraction at Arbor Day Farm where trails lead from treehouse to treehouse in the 3-acre Treetop Village. 2611 Arbor Ave. (402) 873-8717
Lied Lodge is a popular venue for weddings, retreats, meetings and special events. Nature-inspired rooms and suites provide respite. Timbers restaurant prepares seasonal meals with local produce paired with striking views of Arbor Day Farm through the lodge’s massive windows. A fireplace and libations provide warmth in the lodge’s Library Lounge. The pub stays true to its name with shelves of nature books to flip through while visiting with friends old and new. Lied Lodge also offers an indoor Olympic-size swimming pool. Every aspect of the lodging here is environmentally friendly from its recycling program to the onsite biomass heating system. 2700 Sylvan Rd. (402) 873-8733 The Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard features 40 acres of u-pick produce. Visitors can harvest strawberries in late May, cherries in mid-June and peaches from mid-July through August. Apples and pumpkins are popular harvests, too. The tasting room
Nebraska City’s Lied Lodge
34
NEBRASKA TRAVELER
Erik Johnson
offers wine samples year-round. 5995 G Rd. (402) 873-5293 Kregel Windmill Museum is Nebraska’s City newest museum. The Kregel Windmill factory operated for 112 years. The factory closed in 1991 and appears as if the workers simply went home for the night and never clocked back in. 1416 Central Ave. (402) 873-1078 The Nebraska City Museum of Firefighting chronicles the Nebraska City Volunteer Fire Department’s long history with an 1884 Button steam engine used to draw water from the nearby Missouri River. 1320 Central Ave. (402) 873-4403 The Wildwood Historic Center includes a 10-room mansion built in 1869. The house has been immaculately preserved and is filled with authentic Victorian-era furniture and artifacts. Tours are given by guides dressed in handmade period clothing. The center has a gift emporium,
