H.A. Larson's Blog, page 11

Squirrel Cage Jail

In early January, my friend Rebecca and I took a day trip over to Council Bluffs. We tried to visit the Union Pacific Railroad Museum that day but, as it was a Sunday, the museum was closed. Fortunately for us, the Squirrel Cage Jail Museum is right next to it and it was open. The bad news is that it costs money to get in (unlike the Union Pacific Railroad Museum) but seeing as how I'd always wanted to visit the Jail, I sprung the $6 or $7 it cost to get in.



See, the Jail has a reputation for being haunted, and you all know how much I love a good haunted location. In fact, there is an organization that holds regular night ghost hunts in the Jail. Group ghost hunts with strangers aren't really my thing and cost quite a bit more than just visiting the jail yourself and maybe running an EVP recorder while walking around - which is what I did.



Completed in just five months, it opened in September of 1885 and was as unique as it was interesting. The reason it was called Squirrel Cage Jail was because of the design. The cells are contained in a cylindrical structure inside the main building and that structure can be controlled by one person using a crank. This meant there only needed to be one jailer on duty making security easy and efficient.



There are three levels of cells on the cylinder.



Surrounding the cylinder jail structure were rooms used for many other things. An apartment for the jailer was built on the fourth floor, for instance, while a kitchen that fed everyone inside was built on the first floor, just inside the entrance.



This model shows you exactly how the cells jail looked from the inside.



As we walked around, we could tell the cells were pretty cramped as the circular shape of the structure made every individual cell shaped like a piece of pie.






Access to the cells was only on one side so all the jailer had to do to access a prisoner was rotate the cage, using a crank, around to reach the one he wanted.






There were plenty of signs around letting people know about its haunted history.






This picture display shows many arrest records of the jail.



The whole jail had an interesting vibe - not creepy like during my time at Edinburgh Manor - but rather I felt like I was stepping back in time. 



Jake Bird, the Tacoma Axe Killer, was one of the Jail's most infamous former inmates. He spent time in the Jail during the 1920s. He was a serial killer who actively stalked and killed white women. It was his axe killing of a mother and daughter in Tacoma, WA, that was his downfall. During his trial, he put the "Jake Bird Hex" on anyone associated with his punishment.



Six people associated with the trial allegedly died, giving some credence and a bit of fear about Bird's hex.












Unfortunately, the sewage smells from the basement made their way up the shaft of the cylinder to the fourth-floor Jailer's apartment. As you can imagine, that made life in the apartment a bit stinky so some side cells that were going to house women were turned into the new Jailer's apartment.



A view from the outside of that 2nd-floor apartment.







A room for Trustees. Trustees were prisoners who had good behavior and were rewarded with a bit of freedom in exchange for helping out the Guards...or Jailer in this instance.



Eventually, I made it up to the fourth-floor apartment. 



It contains an Ediphone - an object I've never set eyes on before! 



A blueprint glimpse of how the cells work.



A view of the ceiling where you can see the graffiti of the names of prisoners past - locked in time.



This was a small side bedroom where I spent about 10 minutes doing an EVP session. I swore I heard some faint voice, but when I enhanced it in my audio processor...it was just my breathing.  Figures!  LOL



A view of the topmost part of the cells. You can see the turning spindle in the middle.



At the very end of our visit, we checked out the Solitary Confinement room.



More of a long hallway, it would've prevented anyone from really lying down and/or be comfortable.



A view from the other direction.



This is a painting of what the prison would've looked like in its surroundings back when it first became a jail. Of course, these days it's completely surrounded by the city of Council Bluffs.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and an abbreviated history of the Squirrel Cage Jail. I realize there are more pictures in this post than any singular past post I've done before, but there were so many more pictures that I had taken so it was hard to choose! I'm a bit bummed that I wasn't able to detect anything paranormal there, but that is so often the case when doing even a full-fledged investigation that I'm not surprised. I have a real ghost hunt planned for sometime soon after the weather warms up more, and you'll definitely get the scoop when it happens.


I released a new book recently called The Urban Prepper: A Succinct Guidebook, so if you're interested in checking it out, click on the link here.






 

The Write Life: Guess I'm a Liar

 

Last month, amidst a long spell of not blogging regularly and not having published a book in four years, I declared that I wasn't much of a writer anymore. Well...I'm a liar. 
Sooo, while I haven't written much in the way of fiction or metal reviews, I have been working on a couple of books of a different variety: prepping and finance. I wrote a succinct guidebook on urban prepping that I recently finished, edited, and published on Amazon. *GASP* I published a book and didn't tell you guys?! Yes, I admit it: I recently published a book. Here's the cover of the book:




The title tells you all you need to know about the contents, and it's short - hence why it's "succinct". Why did I write a book on urban prepping? Well, I think it's no secret - in looking at all my content here on my blog over the years - that I am a prepper at heart. Some of it was learned growing up, some of it was out of necessity living as a poor urban-dweller, and the rest of it because I'm passionate about preparedness. I've weathered many power-grid-down moments in all my years in the city and having a stockpile makes sense for me in more ways than one.
I didn't promote the book or mention it to anyone before today, except one person. And you know what? The book is doing quite well on Amazon - more so than my other books if I'm being honest. Here's a screenshot from Amazon from just this morning:



It's been the #1 New Release in that category for a few days now. I know it's a small victory, but the victory is very sweet for me. It's also put a small spark back in The Write Life for me, and I feel a bit reinvigorated.
So, what's next for H.A. Larson? I'm currently working on a book for how to get your finances together when you're poor. This, as you all know, is something I'm well-versed in.
It's going to be a beautiful Sunday today and I'm definitely going to get out and enjoy it. I hope you do, too! And, if you'd like to check out The Urban Prepper: A Succinct Guidebook...click on this link. 

Day Trip Adventure in Council Bluffs

Not long after the 2021 Holiday Season was over, and life returned to a normal pace, I had a hankering to do a day trip. Around the same time, I was visiting my friend Rebecca one evening and we got to talking about the Black Angel in Council Bluffs. This got me thinking that she and I should take a trip to see it, since I never have, and a Day Trip Adventure was born. 
On a chilly Sunday, we made the brief drive across the river to check out the statue in question, forever known as the Black Angel. Located in Fairview Cemetery, on a bluff overlooking the city, the statue stands tall - a memorial to a mother from her daughters.



We parked on the road where a path leads directly from the street to the statue. The statue is the focal point of the memorial to Ruth Anne Dodge, the wife of railroad magnate Grenville Dodge. The memorial consists of an Angel holding a bowl of water. She stands on a pedestal made to resemble a ship's prow and a reflecting pool that flows with water during the warmer months.



The statue is a translation of a dream Mrs. Dodge told her daughters about in the three days leading up to her death. In her dream, she stood on a rocky shore and, through the mist, she could see a small boat approach. On the front of the boat, a beautiful angel stood who spoke softly, encouraging Mrs. Dodge to take a drink from the bowl she held. On the third night, Mrs. Dodge took a drink and told her daughters that she felt she had transformed into a new and glorious spiritual being. She died soon thereafter.



Over the years, spooky legends have attached themselves to this monument of daughterly love. The most prominent of these is that if you look into the Angel's eyes at midnight, you will meet an early death. It is this macabre interpretation of the statue that keeps visitors coming. 



An inscription on one side of the platform.



Oddly enough, Ruth Anne Dodge is not buried at the memorial site - like one might think - but rather a mile and a half away in the Walnut Hill Cemetery. She forever lies in a crypt with her husband, Grenville Dodge. It seemed only fitting that we go to the actual burial site after seeing her memorial.



Ruth Anne Dodge's husband was Grenville Dodge. Grenville Dodge was a Union Army Officer during the Civil War who became a pioneer in military intelligence. After he resigned from the military, he became an engineer for Union Pacific, becoming a leading figure in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. If that wasn't enough, he became a U.S. Congressman in later life. He and his wife both died in 1916 and were interred here.



Not far from where they are buried, their home - the Dodge House - is on the historical register and a museum. It wasn't open the day we were there, but we drove by since we were on a mini-tour of the Dodge family at this point.



Our intention after this was to visit the Union Pacific Museum (the railroad that Grenville Dodge was once an engineer for), but it is closed on Sundays apparently. Fortunately, right next door is the Squirrel Cage Jail - a haunted former jail that I have always wanted to go to. So, we ponied up the $3 entry fee and went inside. I decided not to include the jail in this post as it's more than worthy of its own post - so look for that in the future.



After an interesting visit to the old jail, we wanted to take advantage of what warmth and sunlight we had left in the day, so we drove over to Lake Manawa.



During the summer months, the lake is a haven for people to swim, fish, and take their boats. During the winter, you can fish or recreate on the ice (at your own risk). 



We opted to walk on the trail that runs across from it. We didn't walk for long, I mean it's Winter, but it was nice to be outside for a little while.






On our way out, we spotted these guys so stopped to admire them and get a few photographs. What a bunch of turkeys!  


I hope you're having a good weekend and are looking forward to a great week.
-H.A.







 

The Future is Always Uncertain

 

In life, the future is always uncertain. Stock markets, relationships, jobs, kids, even our own demise, can never be predicted with certainty. Sometimes we can come close to figuring it all out but, for the most part, we just don't know.
This brings me to the point of this post: my writing and blogging life are, like everything else, uncertain. There's a part of me that thinks that I will eventually get back into the swing of it all, but I'm starting to understand differently. Like I mentioned a few posts back, I thought I was being lazy - but that's just not the case. I'm more productive now than I have ever been, yet my writing has taken a backseat to everything else going on in my life.
More than that, I think I just don't have the fire for it anymore. When I first began writing books and blogging, it was like a compulsion. It was the first thing I thought about every day and I would start every day by writing on my books and thinking about blog posts. 
After I went through a rough few years in my personal life, I practically quit altogether. I figured once the dust settled, I would eventually get back into my old routine. But, you know what, I haven't. So, what has changed? Simply put, I just don't seem to have the fire for it anymore. I'm not a writer anymore - or at least not in the way I used to be. Sure, I still enjoy writing blog posts here and there, but I find myself unable to sit down and put them together like I once did. 
Instead, my life is on a different path than when I first started this journey. I'm older, I'm almost an empty-nester, I'm single and loving it, I'm working towards financial independence, and I'm going to buy a house early next year. On top of that, I have big plans for the next few years and it takes much of my spare time to plan and prepare for these things. 
It's evident that I have moved on from my past and am moving towards my future. There's not a damn thing wrong with that, but it's just different than what it was. I can also say with certainty that my life is very fulfilling as it is, and I'm enjoying the ride more than I ever have.
So, will I give up writing completely...well, I already have for the most part. What I enjoy, and will still do, is write here on my blog, but...it will be when I feel like blogging and not on any set schedule.
I'm grateful to all of you who've stuck by me all these years by buying my books, subscribing and reading my newsletters, and following my life as it unfolded here on my blog. You will still be able to follow my life as it unfolds on the blog - it just won't be happening as often. As for writing stories and books, will I ever write those again? Who knows? I know I sure don't. But, if I do, you'll be the first to know.

I hope you're having a fantastic weekend, friends. I'll be posting here again, I just can't tell you exactly when.


Sincerely, H.A.

I Live on the Poverty Line...but You'd Never Know It

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Before I begin, I need to say a couple of things:

1. I make more than the poverty level. Before taxes and other deductions, I make a little over double the poverty level for my state.

2. This post is not an attempt - in any way, shape, or form - to belittle or lessen the people who live in poverty. Poverty is a real issue with real consequences, so please don't take this as me trying to condescend to anyone in poverty about ways they can just not be poor anymore.

3. This post is strictly informational and describes my own personal situation.

My daughter and I live on the poverty line. It's true. We live on $16,800.12 per year and in our state of Nebraska, poverty for a single parent with one child is $17,308.00. This figure is what I pay, combined, for rent, utilities, food, car payment, gas for my car, car insurance, phone bill, household supplies, internet service, and even a YouTube Premium subscription.

It wasn't my intention to live "in poverty", but rather my intention was, and still is, to live as frugally as possible while still living a good life. Living a good life for me means living without fear of losing my housing, not worrying about where my next meal is coming from, never fearing my electricity will get shut off, and being able to provide the things my daughter and I need - like clothes, toiletries, and the like. Does this mean we never have fun? Absolutely not, I'm always doing something fun or adventurous...but I tend to do them all in the same frugal manner I do with the rest of my life. 

The truth is, I spent most of my adult life making and living on the actual poverty line and I'm not ashamed to say that I relied on food stamps and Medicaid for my children for a few years. It was during those incredibly lean years that I learned all the frugal habits that helped us get by on such little money. Back then, it was necessary for our survival as the real fear that even the smallest of problems could make our situation most dire.

As I started making more money, those habits never left me, and neither did my fear that I could be that impoverished again at any point in my future. Now that I make more money, I still live on the same amount of money that I have become accustomed to. However, I can now invest in my future and squirrel away cash, food, and supplies in the event I should ever lose my income.

When people see how nice my home is, my new car, how I'm able to travel (whether far or near), and how I go out to eat with friends once or twice a month, they think I'm well off. They'd never guess that I was living in "poverty". 

I spent months searching for the perfect place to live that fit in my budget and my patience paid off. I shopped for cars for months as well, saving a down payment, figuring out my budget, and deciding how much I could pay each month. I do credit card churning, which allows me to travel - often for little out-of-pocket expense. I can also travel cheaply often because of where I travel and I've mastered the art of taking a Day Trip. Because of my frugality, I can meet with friends a few times a month for a nice meal and drinks - not daily or weekly - which I can afford on the money I have left after paying my expenses and putting away money in my emergency fund/investments.

I rarely spend money on things that aren't needed which allows me to purchase wanted items a few times a year - within reason. I understand the power and danger that comes with a consumer lifestyle, which is a pitfall for so many people. Sure, there are lots of things I'd love to do and things I'd love to buy, but I envision my future and any scenarios that would put me in a bind, and use that to curb impulsiveness.

That doesn't mean I want to sacrifice having a nice life...and I haven't.

I'm off for a weekend of adventure visiting a friend for some good conversation, good food, and plenty of hiking. See you next week!

December's Seasonal Fun

Another week begins and I completely forgot to post this blog entry this weekend, even though it was ready. Admittedly, I had a busy weekend mixed with a lazy weekend - if that's a thing, and if it's not, well, it is now! Anyway, back in December, when I finally got in the holiday spirit, I attended some fun holiday events. Let's take a look.



Here in Omaha, we have a good-sized German descendent population. They even have their own event space called the German-American Society (GAS). This space is a large building composed of two adjoining buildings and a large basement. In addition to their yearly Oktoberfest, they also have Christmas in Germany early in December. While I've been to Christmas in Germany before, this was the first time I went alone (i.e. without children) and I met up with my friends Keith and Maggie.



The GAS has its own bar and since the lines can get long, the first thing I did was get in there as quickly as I could. I picked up a German beer and since it was German Christmas around there, some gluhwein. Gluhwein, if you don't know what that is, is a mulled wine. Spices like cinnamon, clove, star anise, orange, and sugar are added, while liquor is added for good measure - in this case, I believe the gentleman said brandy, and the whole thing is warmed up. You can get red gluhwein or white gluhwein and I opted for the red. This stuff is powerful, though, so one glass was all I needed!
Besides the drinks, they serve a bevy of traditional foods but, in my experience (and it was just as true this time around) the line for food is ridiculous so I ate before I left. 



The beer hall in GAS is beautiful and traditionally German in architecture. The walls are adorned with the flags and coat of arms for all sixteen states of the country. In the balcony area up top there, is where a polka band plays. I mean, no German celebration is complete without a polka band!



Christmas in Germany has a host of events to entertain you throughout the day, one being a small men's choir singing traditional German songs...in German, of course.



The aforementioned signs above the bar or "Stein Raum" and a flag for the GAS itself, established in 1890.



While Keith held our spots at our table upstairs, Maggie and I went down to the basement to peruse the German Christmas Market going on down there. True to form, the market hosts a bevy of artists making traditional handmade gifts.



We made it back upstairs in time to watch traditional German dancing!



Opa!



After the dancing, a mixed choir sang some more traditional German songs. After that, it was time for the polka band to play and attendees, full of food and drink, danced the day away. Maggie left first, leaving Keith and I retire into the tucked away, more private room at the back of the bar where I had one more beer for the road.



Right by the exit are some old patches of German states. Considering the number here, I don't believe all of them are states anymore.



A couple of weeks later, on a crisp cool evening after work, I wanted to get down to Fontanelle Forest for their Winter Wonderland event. This yearly event lasts a week and sees the Forest open a few hours later each evening in order for working folks to make it to said events. I grabbed my usual partner in fun, Rebecca, and headed down on a Thursday night.



They were serving hot chocolate and had a kid's band playing Christmas music. The great hall was decorated with all kinds of Christmas trees and it was quite beautiful to see the kids play amongst it all.



I have a membership to the Forest (mainly because they also own my beloved Neale Woods) and I hike here quite often. In addition to the miles of trail within its borders, they have a mile of boardwalk as well for those not wanting to hike. The first section of it makes a circle around an outdoor children's area and it was this section that they decorated with Christmas lights. Rebecca and I stole away with our hot chocolate to admire it.









I snapped this picture of the nature center as we walked back up to it, and the lights on the trees made a cool lighting effect on my photo.






After our short walk, we came back in to check out all the trees and other decor in the great hall.



In a room adjoining the great hall, they have some small animals in cages and some art on the walls. I thought this one was particularly interesting. This event held by the Nebraska Audubon Society in 1916 looks like fun!



After we left the Forest, we headed over to the GI Forum (not my photo, obviously). It's a Mexican-American VFW that serves Mexican food and has a full bar. It was Taco Thursday and I got tacos, a few beers, and a few tacos to take home to my daughter - with tip, it came to $20 even. Now that's a bargain! 



I only have a few more posts before I'm finally caught up with old posts from last year. I hope you have a great week and stay warm!


 

Things I'm Into Lately

 

Now that I have a home that I love, I've been enjoying the time that I spend there. Sure, I like to get out and about as often as I can, but in the evenings, either after work or after a day of adventuring, I make the most out of my time at home. For me, this has been an adventure of another kind: rediscovering things I love.


Cooking
I already dedicated an entire post to this so I won't go into detail, but I've gotten back into the groove of cooking. It's incredibly easy to be lazy so getting my butt into the kitchen and making a real meal every night (well, most nights anyway) has been great. More than that, I'm finding it to be therapeutic - a way to unwind from a day at work and reconnect to my home life.


Reading
When I was young, I was a voracious reader, consuming books like a madwoman. The older I got, the less I read until I, truthfully, went a handful of years without really reading anything - shocking, I know, considering I'm a writer. Slowly but surely, however, I've been getting back into it. It was a sense of accomplishment to actually read and finish an entire book! Lately, I'm mainly reading books about the Appalachian Trail as I prepare for my big trip. Of course, reading books in these cold weather months means...


Tea
I love tea, particularly herbal tea, and every winter, I'll have a day or two when I drink it. After moving, I was able to take stock of just how much tea I had and organize it all. I have to say, it's pretty impressive. I have a good three or four loose leaf teas and several boxes of different flavors of bagged tea. I run water through my coffee pot (no coffee grounds of course) so my daughter and I can make ourselves a few cups of tea. 


Old Radio Programs
When I was growing up, my dad was not a fan of television so we never had one. Instead, we listened to music and radio programs. I was perusing YouTube one day and a recommended video opened me back up to that world. Some clever people out there have taken old radio programs, put cool background images on them, and posted them for all to enjoy. I've been listening to old scary radio serials with Peter Lorre in them and old favorites like Dragnet, and they're fantastic. So much fun and it brings me back to my childhood!


As you can imagine, my evenings often look like this: I make dinner, we eat, and then I clean up. I then either put on a fireplace video on my tv, sip on some tea, and read a book while snuggled under a blanket, OR I put on an old radio program and sip on some tea while snuggled under a blanket. I can't think of a better way to enjoy my evenings and leave the world behind. I think my Winter is booked - at least as far as home is concerned.

If you're interested in the old radio programs, you can do a search for just that on YouTube. My personal favorites are The Late Late Horror Show and Old Time Radio Archive. 

Have a great week!

Miles and Miles

Back in April of 2018, prompted by a need to get healthier and get some regular exercise, I started keeping track of the steps/miles I walked every day. At the time, I had an old step counter watch thingy that my dad had given me. A few months into it, I got myself a little, blank notebook from the dollar store to log all these miles in.




Fast forward to today, and I was able to fill in the entire notebook, using that inside back cover to finish the last month of 2021. I thought, then, that it was only fitting that I tally all the miles up over the time that I've been logging in my little notebook.




Here are the stats:
2018 : My total mileage this year was 838.08. The reason I logged so few miles compared to the following years is that I didn't start logging my miles until April of that year.
2019 : I walked and hiked 1,247.89 miles. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself! 
2020 : I only got a few more miles in this year at 1,250.90 miles. Not really a surprise as this wasn't a good year for me, something you know all too well.
2021 : I logged a total of 1,318.12 miles! I'm surprised that this was my highest mileage year as I was the least healthy and most out of shape I was out of all the other years. I did manage to rebound the last few months of the year, putting forth the effort and getting back out there. It was also surprising as I tore the meniscus in my right knee rendering me unable to do much walking for a long time. Somehow, though, I still managed to end the year strong. 

Now that my little notebook is completely filled, I'm not logging my hours anymore. Well, that's not entirely true but I'll save that for a post I plan on putting up more towards the middle of the year. I will miss my nifty little space notebook but I'm glad I used it to log all those miles. Looking at it now fills me with inspiration. We'll see how this year goes!
Have a great weekend friends and, if you can, get out and take a walk.

-H.A.










 

An Afternoon in Brownville, Nebraska

Brownville, NE, circa 1907. 

Brownville, Nebraska, is a small town in the far southeastern part of the state. Once the largest town in the Nebraska Territory, with a population of 1,309 in 1880, it was an important port as goods made their way up the nearby Missouri River on riverboats. After the railroad system was built, the town became useless as a port town - as was so often the case in history. The town now boasts a much smaller population of 132 but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in historical significance, quaintness, and a host of interesting events throughout the year. During the week, it's a sleepy, bucolic village, but on the weekends, especially during the warmer months, this town comes to life.
I have visited Brownville one time, a handful of years ago, but it was during the week and it was like visiting a ghost town. I vowed then to come back one day to properly see and do all the neat things there are to see and do here on the weekend. So, one Autumn afternoon, I returned with my daughter and my BFF, Keith.



This handy map details where everything of note is. As you can see, it is quite a small town.


The map was handily outside of Whiskey Run Creek Winery - our first stop. It was a gorgeous day so we took our wine outside to sit and enjoy - after all, Fall just doesn't last long enough so take it in while you can, right?






A view of the inside of the winery.



After a few glasses of wine, we headed out to see some of the museums before they closed for the day. Unfortunately, they all seemed to close early and I was once again foiled in my attempts to visit the interesting places of Brownville! We found this out as we attempted to stop at the Flatwater Folk Art Museum. Next time!



This metal sculpture sat outside of the Flatwater Museum. Try as I might, however, I was unable to find out any information about the sculpture.



After this, we drove up onto the hill above the town to Capitol Square Park to have a snack - which I packed myself, of course. From its vantage point on the aforementioned hill, I afforded us a nice view.



Since we were unable to visit the merchants and businesses of Brownville, I decided to drive over to Indian Cave State Park. It wasn't far away and I figured it would be the perfect day to take a drive through it. The cave is currently closed so that was a bummer, but it didn't deter us.



There's a long, one-way drive that weaves around the park and its attractions.



The first attraction is the Old Town of St. Deroin. It's the first time, of the handful of times I've been here, that I actually stopped to check out St. Deroin.



It's a ghost town that grew up around a trading post and was named after the trader in question, Joseph Deroin. Formally charted in 1854, it had a popular ferry crossing over the Missouri River until the river changed course. After a few more tragic events, it was eventually abandoned and taken over by Nebraska Game and Parks.



Today, only two buildings and the old half-breed cemetery survive. One of the buildings is the Broom Maker's shop.









The other building is the old schoolhouse.






After leaving the Old Town and cemetery, we continued on the road to my second-favorite spot (besides the temporarily-closed cave): the Overlook. The view here is fantastic! 



I've mentioned this before, but living near the Missouri River for most of my life means I have no shortage of Lewis & Clark information within a short drive. 



Ahhh, Autumn in all her glory...



...while the Mighty Missouri River snakes its way through the lush landscape.

This was a great way to spend a lazy, Sunday afternoon. It's only about an hour's drive from Omaha and there are plenty of things to do. I swear, though, that when the weather warms up this Spring (or maybe Summer, we'll see) I'm going to get down to Brownville and finally visit all their museums and shops. Hopefully, the cave in Indian Cave State Park will be open and I'll make my way down here again, as well.






        
 

Day Trip to Yankton, South Dakota

 Believe it or not, I labeled this post for later writing in mid-October of last year. By the way, it still feels weird to say last year when last year was literally just days ago. Anyway, like I mentioned in my last post, I have posts that need to be finished and I'm going to finish them, damnit. I'm not a quitter! Well, maybe sometimes I am, but I try hard not to be but, alas, I digress.

Back in July of last year, I bought a much-needed and eagerly-anticipated new car. My old car wasn't road-worthy anymore and so traveling outside of the confines of my city just wasn't something I could do. All that changed with the new car and after I acquired it, one of the first trips I made was to visit my dad. Dad, like me, loves to get out for adventures both big and small, and we are both a sucker for a day trip. It came to be, then, that we spent a day in Yankton, South Dakota.

Our first stop was the Lewis & Clark Visitor's Center at Gavins Point Dam. If there's anything I know after living on or near the Missouri River most of my life, it's that there is no shortage of Lewis & Clark waypoints along its banks. This particular one sits on Calumet Bluff, affording one excellent views of the Dam and the River.



The inside of the visitor's center isn't terribly exciting and is more set up for young kids - having had young kids once upon a time, this is a great thing...if you have young kids. Still, there were some informative tidbits here and there but I found this piece of history particularly interesting.



As you can see, it's the actual speech handwritten by Captain Meriwether Lewis during his travels up the mighty Missouri River. This one he wrote to address the Yankton Sioux Tribe.



Of course, the main feature of the visitor's center is to educate and give fantastic views of Gavins Point Dam. There are a few viewing decks on the bluff side of the Visitor's Center, and this diagram helps you to know exactly what you're looking at.



The actual dam. This dam was built in 1957 by the Army Corps of Engineers with the express purpose of conserving, controlling, and using the water resources of the River.



A view from the deck in the other direction.



A more expanded view. Just to the west of the dam, the river has been impounded into Lewis & Clark Lake, while to the east of the dam is the much-smaller Lake Yankton.



After our time at the Visitor's Center, we made our way over to the other end of the Dam where we could see where we had just been. 



There are a few of these long, metal staircases that will take you down to the manmade, rocky shore.



A view of said shore down to the Dam. After this, we made a brief stop just a short trip down the road to see Lake Yankton. It had a small roadside park and a trail that goes around at least part of it. 



Our next stop was at the Meridian Bridge. Built in 1924, it's a double-decker bridge that was designed for car traffic up top, train traffic below, and an expanding portion of the bridge that would allow for riverboats to pass under it with ease. However, the train rails were never constructed so for many years it was a bridge for cars with traffic moving in a one-way manner. The importance of the bridge, and why it was built in the first place, was to allow people and goods to easily move between Nebraska and South Dakota. 
Today, it's a unique piece of history that was closed as a vehicle bridge and was reborn as a pedestrian bridge. It's 0.57 miles each way, making the round-trip 1.14 miles. My dad, my daughter, and I decided to walk the entire thing.



We started on the lower half.



Along the way are some interesting pieces of art.



The art seemed to encompass artists from the two states the bridge connects: Nebraska and South Dakota. This article talks more about the artist, this piece, and another piece he created for the town.



This plaque, placed between art, gives good information about the bridge's history.



After walking a little way, the trail moves directly under the top portion. It's a neat perspective to see in person.



While the lamps that adorn the bridge look old, they are definitely much more modern. They just look older and I think that's cool.



Have you ever heard of the Pont des Arts? It's a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Seine in Paris that people would put locks on the prove their love for one another symbolizing the unbreakable nature of it. While it's now forbidden by law to put locks on the Pont des Arts, you can still put a lock on the Meridian Bridge. The locks can also symbolize good luck, so here my daughter attaches one.



After meandering the bottom section, we finally made it to the top section.



The top portion of the bridge really allows you to see for miles. This bridge in the foreground is the one built to replace the Meridian Bridge for motor traffic.



The number of locks on the top section of the bridge far outweighed the locks on the bottom section and we definitely spent some time checking the various locks out. They came in all shapes, sizes and were often spread out in patterns (like two big locks for parents with smaller ones surrounding those for their children) or engraved.



Case in point. While I'm definitely jaded on marriage (haha), I thought this must have been an interesting way to propose.

After this, we drove the short distance over to Riverside Park - a large park that is exactly what it sounds like. We packed food and drink so we ate a late lunch while taking in all the people enjoying a nice summer day along the River.

It was a nice way to spend a day. Even though Yankton isn't terribly far from where I grew up, I think I've only been there one other time in my life and that was for a band competition back in high school. While there's not a ton of stuff to do there (we visited four of the top eight things to do), there are a few other things to check out if you ever decide to visit the town yourself.

I hope you have a great weekend! The weather is going to be considerably warmer today, so you can bet that I will be outside somewhere at some point.