Let Them Brush Your Rock and Roll Hair

If your ship ends up 1500 miles inland, the lighthouse at Linoma Beach will keep you safe. Isn't that good to know?

Linoma Beach is on the Platte River, halfway between Lincoln and Omaha. Back in the early 80's, my friend Mike was in a pretty bad car accident, and he went to an Omaha hospital to recover. Mike's mother Toni used to drive a whole carload of us up to see Mike every Sunday. Sometimes we would stop at Linoma Beach on the way back and eat BBQ ribs. They were pretty darn good.

I passed the lighthouse on my bike travelling from Lincoln to Omaha on Monday. It was a good 45 mile trip, fairly flat, and 2 1/2 hours of riding. Lisa and the kids and I went for a huge Fuddrucker's burger (this is going to be a constant theme through this whole blog, I'm afraid). Then to Penze's Spices for a stroll through olfactory heaven.

We ended up down in Omaha's Old Market district, one of my favorite places on earth to browse around. I used to make a bus pilgramage to there once a year or so. The Antiquarian, the most unique book store in the world, however, was not there any more. The Antiquarian had four floors of old books, and darn good ones too. When you arrived at the door the manager would greet you with, "Wooouuuullllddd yyyyoooouuuu lllliiikkke aaaa ccccuuupppp offff ccccoffffeeee?" And a group of guys would always be sitting on the couches talking obscure philosophy. These people loved books above all else. I miss it.

But we did get to Ted and Wally's for homemade ... and I mean, really homemade, ice cream. I had vanilla ice cream swirled with cran-grape sorbet. Mmmmmm!! Then down to Drastic Plastic for some used CD's. We capped off the day with a Gilmore Girls marathon and some Wii Bowling.

After fixing my third flat tire (yes, I'm cursed), I biked back to Lincoln. It rained about half the way and my bike was full of sand ... but it was a fun time. I now am quite ready for the California leg.

Lemme tell you something. Valentino's in Lincoln is still the best pizza I've ever had. And the East Coast has pizza places on every corner, you know. Every different kind of Val's pizza has different spices in the sauce. So Sausage, for example, has a bit more fennel. Yummy!!!

So I met my friend Christa at the Valentino's buffet and we made a serious run through all the different kinds of pizza. Her daughter Evelyn, who is approaching three, loves Pizza as well, but also likes their little deep-fat fried battered Corn Bites. "CORN!!!!" she yelled as she bit into one. In Nebraska, you must learn the important stuff early in life. Like corn.

After taking their dog Frankie the Dachsund for a walk, we went down to Home Depot where I got to drive Evelyn through the aisles in a car-shaped shopping cart. When I snapped the picture above, she had just attempted to kidnap Travellin' Tom and take him home. The lil' heart melter!

I just love the espresso down at The Mill, so I ended up there for a double. The crema is so thick you can lay a spoon on top of it. Then I retrieved my cell phone down at the Zoo Bar (see Friday), went home and had grilled steak and cucumbers and tomatoes. What can I say. If I don't help the Nebraskans thin the herd of cattle down, they'll just take over the joint. I'm just doing my part.

"Let the good times roll. Let them leave you up in the air. Let them brush your rock and roll hair." What does it mean? No one can explain it, but if you know it on an instinctual level, you are having a good time. Like I am.