Lincoln

Atop a tower roughly 400 feet tall, rising above the prairie, stands the "Sower," a bronze figure scattering seed across the land. A trip to Lincoln takes you to the capital of Nebraska, whose Capitol is considered one of the most significant works of American architecture, and to a college town where football is practically a religion.

A Capital on the Prairie

Lincoln was originally called Lancaster and was renamed in 1867, shortly after the death of Abraham Lincoln, when the town became the capital of the new state. The choice was controversial, since Omaha was larger and sat on the Missouri River. The salt flats in the area had drawn the first settlers. The University of Nebraska was founded in 1869 and still shapes city life today. Nebraska is also the only state with a unicameral legislature, which is organized on a nonpartisan basis and meets in the Capitol.

Sights in Lincoln

The Nebraska State Capitol, designed by Bertram Goodhue and built between 1922 and 1932, impresses with its mosaics, murals, and an observation deck with views far across the flat landscape; tours are free. The University of Nebraska State Museum, known locally as "Morrill Hall," displays mammoth and dinosaur skeletons. The Sheldon Museum of Art, housed in a building by Philip Johnson, holds a significant collection of American art. The Sunken Gardens are a lovingly tended garden, and Pioneers Park is a large nature area with bison and elk. The International Quilt Museum exhibits quilts from around the world.

Eating and Going Out in the Haymarket

The historic warehouse district of the Haymarket, around the old train depot, is the city's nightlife hub, with restaurants, bars, breweries, and a farmers market on summer Saturdays. Typical of Nebraska are steaks from locally raised beef and the runza, a pastry pocket filled with ground beef, cabbage, and onions that traces back to German-Russian immigrants. The Pinnacle Bank Arena hosts concerts and basketball games. On fall football Saturdays, Memorial Stadium fills with more than 85,000 Cornhuskers fans dressed in red, and the whole city celebrates along.

Prairie and Parks

Just a few miles outside the city, the prairie begins. The Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center protects a large stretch of original tallgrass prairie with hiking trails and traces of the Oregon Trail. In and around Lincoln, Holmes Lake and Branched Oak Lake offer opportunities for fishing, paddling, and walking. The Lincoln Children's Zoo is popular with families, and in spring thousands of tulips bloom in the Sunken Gardens.

Getting Around Lincoln and the Best Time to Visit

Lincoln Airport has only a few connections; the larger Omaha airport is an hour's drive to the northeast. Amtrak stops here with the California Zephyr, which runs between Chicago and the West Coast. StarTran buses serve the city, and a good network of bike paths links parks and neighborhoods. The best times to visit are late spring and fall; summer can be hot and stormy, and winter is cold. Excursions lead to Omaha with its well-known Henry Doorly Zoo, to the Platte River in spring, when hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes stop to rest, or to the Sandhills.