Bess Streeter Aldrich House - Elmwood                         2025 

This beautiful mansion was built in 1922.  It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  

It was the home of Bess Streeter Aldrich who was a Nebraska Hall of Fame Author.  We were told by the volunteer that in her short stories and novels, she wrote about the ups and downs of small town living in hopes that her readers would understand the hardships and struggles of the times.  The inside of the house is beautiful and restored as best as possible to 1922.  They create different displays through the year.  Right now is a display according to each decade since Bess was born.  (I didn't realize the decade theme until it was too late so I missed some.)  Each room was furnished with many of the original furniture pieces and memorabilia.  It is also filled with some history of Elmwood.  

 1910's

 1920's

 1930's

 1960's

 1970's

1980's 

1990's 

We really enjoyed seeing everything in the entire house.  They offer guided tours through the house and you will learn the history of the home and the author.  We got to the museum about 1/2 hour before closing so we walked through the home on our own.  Don't make the same mistake that we did.  Go early so you can take the tour.  This museum is definitely worth seeing.

Published books and a small collection of magazines that her short stories appeared in.

Roc Hopper Brewing Co. - Syracuse                                2025 

Roc Hopper Brewing Company in Syracuse is a brewery and taproom offering a wide variety of craft beers, handmade cocktails, award winning wines and Italian influenced dishes from Chef Alek.  

It opened its doors in 2013 and the taproom is very nice inside. It offers unique beers such as Honu Turtle Porter, Doll Face Coconut Blonde, Why So Blue, Barry a blonde golden ale, Marshmallow Nibs Milk Sweet Stout and Feels Like the First Lime Kolsch which is steeped with Lime Peel and fresh Lime Juice and more.  We found out that they were closing early on the Sunday that we visited the brewery.  We didn't have time to try a flight of beer or eat anything so Cindy tried Mollydooker,  The Boxer, a 2022 Shiraz wine from South Australia.  It is an excellent semi-dry wine and Cindy liked it so much, she bought a bottle to bring home.  We'll see if we can get back here sometime during a mealtime.  

They have a fairly unique decor on the walls.  A lot of famous  performers, most of which I recognized.  It was fun trying to rack the old brain to see which ones I could come up with names for.  As you can see, some are still with us.  See how many you can put names to.  Most are from rock music.

EnvironsArt - Brownville                                                        2025  

EnvironsArt in Brownville is a working artists studio focusing on original landscapes and organic sculptural pieces of the Midwest.  

Rich and Brownie Hayek own the studio.  Rich Hayek is an artist, poet and geographer who captures the realism of the Midwest's Landscapes.  He told us that he captures the scenes he sees onto a grain sandpaper canvas using pastels and charcoals.  Rich's wife  Brownie gathers leaves, twigs, flora and weeds indigenous to the surrounding prairie and woodlands.  She builds wall sculptures, topiaries, centerpieces and other unique pieces for the home and office.  

 

We bought two unique greeting cards that you can put in a shadow box if you want to.  This Art Studio is an amazing place filled with beautiful creations.

 

NoFo Pizza & Cafe - Norfolk                                               2025 

NoFo Pizza &Cafe is located in the historic River Point Creative District in Norfolk. This place is very nice and it has a beautiful wood oven. 

They Offer a wide variety of pizzas, deli sandwiches, bakery items, side items, coffee, Fat Head Honey and much more.  If you want to eat breakfast, they have a variety of breakfast platters.  We didn't eat here because we had lunch with Frank's sister Roberta just before we headed here.  We did, however, buy a huge chocolate chip cookie, which was delicious.  We even visited with some fellow passport people before we left.  It's always fun to run into others with Passport books and compare our impressions.  These folks were from Pender where Tracy and Frank spent many hours over the years working on various IT projects.

Visit their website nofopizza.com to see all they have on the menu and learn more about NoFo Pizza & Cafe.