IOWA to NEBRASKA

Balltown, Iowa (population 72) didn’t have much in the way of overnight accommodations, so we spent the night at the Decker Hotel in Maquoketa, Iowa. The next morning we headed for the oldest tavern in Nebraska, the 44th state in our noble quest. To get there we had ourselves a lovely 400 mile ride through the seemingly endless corn, soy bean, and windmill farms of Iowa and Nebraska.

After passing through Des Moines for the second day in a row, we started getting a little parched and hungry. So I put up my trusty Toucan Sam nose and sniffed the air for some nearby refreshments. Right on cue we quickly exited I-80 and found Elk Horn, Iowa. The quaint little town is chock full of Danish and Viking pride. We visited a couple of watering holes, The Norse Horse Tavern and Larsen’s Pub, for some ice cold Carlsberg beer…a fine pairing to the ubiquitous breaded tenderloin sandwich. As you know, Yolie’s not a huge beer fan, but she took quite a liking to the Carlsberg. After filling our bellies and slaking our thirsts we continued the journey to our day’s destination…Columbus, Nebraska.

Columbus, Nebraska is where you’ll find Glur’s Tavern, established in 1876. At Glur’s we met our good friend, Rick, who drove up from Lincoln to join us. While catching up with Rick, we were superbly taken care of by Ben, doing double duty as bartender and table server. At Glur’s the beer was cold, cheap, and went down great with a tenderloin sammy.

After departing Glur’s we headed for our night’s lodging in Columbus at the River’s Edge Hotel and Convention Center. We first ventured into the hotel’s New York vibe lounge where Yolie was able do a little salsa dancing with a few locals. After a quick bachata and merengue or two, we moved on to the hotel’s convention hall. The hotel was hosting a multi-day American Legion convention and it turned out we were the only non-Legionnaires staying in the hotel. If we had arrived earlier in the day we could have had a photo with the governor of Nebraska! That would have been a first for us! The Legionnaires were incredibly nice and inviting. We had a great time chatting with them that night and over breakfast the next morning. We thank them all greatly for their hospitality, and most importantly, for their service to the country.