Walk #4: The Process of Falling Near the Aquila Court Building

Address: 1615 Howard Street

Information: Magnolia Hotel

Lunch: Bento Box #10

Destination Review: This beautiful old building is now a luxury hotel, the Magnolia.

I walked right in, and again, nobody seemed to care that I was there taking pictures. So I got a lot of good ones. There’s a lot of beauty in this place.

There is an interior courtyard here which is quite beautiful.

The best part of it is a beautiful fountain with multicolored tiles in the bottom.

At the top of the stairs in the back, you get a good view of the Flatiron Building, which I'm sure I’ll be visiting at some point.

It wasn’t until I had been there awhile that I remembered that I attended an art therapy professional continuing education course there a couple of years ago.

The Walk: I walked around the building, essentially, but it’s big, so I got in lots of steps. That would be it, but I must tell you about the fall I took after tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. I went flying, and my iPad also went flying out of my hand, and it landed hard face down on the sidewalk. So did I. Fortunately, I only ended up with a few scrapes on my legs, and my iPad now has scratches and cracks on its screen, but it still works. Kudos to Apple for making a tough product.

It wasn’t until I got home that I discovered something amazing. My iPad had been in camera mode when it went flying, and somehow it automatically took no less than 200 pictures (you heard that right—200!) during the 5 or 10 seconds it went flying through the air. Here’s a small sample of them:

I will make these into a slideshow called "The Process of Falling.”

The Lunch: There was a nice set of benches near where I parked, but unfortunately, it had been drizzling all day and they were soaking wet. So I had to eat lunch in my car again.

The refried beans were hardly the "Best Ever”, but they were OK. Cheese quesadillas are OK, but better when they’re warm. The best part was the trail mix, which I made by mixing a cashew snack mix I got at Dollar Tree with a package of peanut butter M & Ms. Good stuff. And a Dove dark chocolate bar is always delicious.

Lunch Ingredient Deals

Baby Carrots: These were on sale at Aldi for 69¢ for a one pound bag. Subtract a 25¢ Allrecipes rebate and a 10¢ MobiSave rebate and they ended up being 34¢.

Black Beans: Bush’s Best Black Beans are 92¢ at Walmart. A $1 off 2 Checkout 51 rebate made them 2 for 84¢, or 42¢ each.

Cumin: A big bottle of Hy-Vee Ground Cumin was on sale for $1 at Hy-Vee.

Dark Chocolate: A Dove Dark Chocolate Bar is 99¢ at Target.

Garlic: A 3-pack of garlic bulbs is 99¢ at Aldi, or 33¢ each.

Habanero Chile: 3¢ at Hy-Vee! A single chile weighs hardly anything.

Onion: A yellow onion was 68¢ at Fresh Thyme, minus a 30¢ Allrecipes rebate, making it 38¢.

Pepper: A can of Spice Time Ground Black Pepper is $1 at Dollar Tree.

Salsa: Pace Salsa was on sale for 2 for $3 at Walgreens, minus a 50¢/2 coupon from campbells.com, making them 2 for $2, or $1 each.

Salt: I'm still using the Morton Salt I got for free with a Saving Star rebate, back when they used to do Friday Freebies.

Trail Mix: The cashew snack mix was $1 at Dollar Tree. A theater box of Peanut Butter M & Ms was on clearance at Baker’s for 49¢.

Artwork: Embellished Frame

Walk #3: Anheuser-Busch Beer Depot

Address: 1207-1215 Jones Street

Information: Anheuser-Busch Beer Depot

Lunch: Bento Box #2

Destination Review: This is a very cool old building, one that I’ve noticed before in the Old Market. It was built way back in 1887 as part of a much larger complex. Now it houses offices.

Almost the whole building is beautifully covered in ivy.

The was lots of great brickwork to photograph.

Streetcar tracks still exist in Omaha.

And this landmark kindly provided me with a picnic table on which to have my lunch.

The Walk: I walked up to Cubby’s to get a drink to go with my lunch, then continued around the block. I discovered that the Fairmont Antique Mall now has a soda fountain. but I resisted the temptation to stop there. Congratulate me.

The Lunch: One sentence is all it takes, really: hummus makes everything taste better. The chicken nuggets were a little dry, but that was solved by the hummus (see first sentence). The homemade pizza crust slices ended up tasting a lot like a pita, which hummus made taste better (again, see first sentence). Later on in the week, my husband gobbled up the leftover chicken nuggets, and I finished up the rest of the hummus with crackers. I really like hummus.

Lunch Ingredient Deals

Baby Carrots: These were on sale at Aldi for 69¢ for a one pound bag. Subtract a 25¢ Allrecipes rebate and a 10¢ MobiSave rebate and they ended up being 34¢.

Cayenne Pepper: Gold Emblem Cayenne Pepper was $1 at CVS minus a 25¢ Allrecipes rebate, making it 75¢.

Eggs: An 18 ct. carton of Hy-Vee Eggs was 59¢ at Hy-Vee with the Fuel Saver + Perks card.

Garlic Powder: A big bottle for a buck at Hy-Vee.

Olive Oil: Got an 8.5 oz. bottle of Gem Extra Virgin Olive Oil at Walmart for $1.74. Take off a 50¢ Allrecipes rebate on olive oil and a 25¢ Ibotta rebate on any item and it was 99¢.

Paprika: $1 for a big bottle at Dollar Tree.

Pepper: A can of Spice Time Pepper is $1 at Dollar Tree.

Red Bell Pepper: On sale for 88¢ at Fresh Thyme.

Salt: I'm still using the Morton Salt I got for free with a Saving Star rebate, back when they used to do Friday Freebies.

Turmeric: Tone’s Mini Spices are always 99¢ at Fareway.

Artwork: Embellished Frame

Walk #2: Ansonia Apartments?

Address: 2221-23 Jones Street

Information: Ansonia Apartments

Lunch: Bento Box #12

Destination Review: This one was hard to find. I couldn’t find Jones Street from 24th Street, so I went over to 20th Street on Harney and went south. There I found that Jones Street was essentially an alley, but I found a big old apartment building, so I parked my car there and looked around. I went up to the front of the building and found this:

What a lovely courtyard! It wasn’t until I got to the end of it and took lots of pictures that I found out it wasn’t the Ansonia Apartments, but Drake Court Apartments. I eventually ended up at a locked gate.

So I had to walk around the last building to get further down Jones Street. There I saw a bunch of old buildings in sad shape, but still being rented out as apartments, and a bigger old building at the end of the block. That building had a sign identifying it as the “Anderson Apartments”.

It also had this sign on it:

So I think that’s the place I was looking for, but I’m not completely sure. It is an attractive old building, but not nearly as cool as the Drake Courts. And what was depressingly obvious was how poor a neighborhood this is.

It’s too bad some of these landmarks are in areas of such poverty, but then it’s also too bad that our society condones such poverty.

The Walk: Walking through the Drake Courts, which involved climbing several flights of stairs, walking around the building to get to Jones Street, and walking down to the Anderson Apartments, then walking back to my car gave me a fair amount of exercise, as well as lots of pictures.

The Lunch: I settled down on the front steps of Drake Courts to have my lunch and this time, I was able to take a nice picture of it.

And then I discovered that I forgot to fetch my drink from the car, so I had to go back to my car to get it, and then just ate it in the car, rather than go back to the steps. Yes, I know that’s rather lazy, but I never said I liked moving around; that’s the whole point of this project. So, anyway, the lunch. The chicken and avocado sandwich was OK, the egg muffin was all right (I had a couple for breakfast, too, after making them), the carrots were as expected and the peanut butter bite was just like it was for Lunch #1. I packed two sandwiches, but only ate one, because it was actually pretty filling. That’s a good thing, since I’m trying to eat less overall.

Lunch Ingredient Deals

Avocado: Got one for 88¢ sale price at Hy-Vee.

Carrots: Baby carrots were on sale at Aldi for 69¢ for a 1 lb. package. Combined with a 25¢ Allrecipes rebate and a 10¢ MobiSave rebate, they were 34¢

Eggs: One dozen for 59¢ at Aldi

Peanut Butter: Skippy 16 oz. jars were on sale for 98¢ at Hy-Vee. Combined with a 55¢ off 2 jars coupon from peanutbutter.com and I got 2 for $1.41, or 71¢ per jar.

Red Bell Pepper: A 3-pack of red, yellow & orange bell peppers was on sale at Aldi for $1.69. Take off a 20¢ Allrecipes rebate and they were $1.49, or 50¢ each.

Turkey Bacon: Got Butterball Turkey Bacon at Walgreens for $1.29 minus a 55¢/1 coupon from butterball.com minus a 40¢ Allrecipes rebate on bacon, making it 34¢

Vanilla Extract: This is occasionally available at Dollar Tree.

Whole Wheat Bread: I was hoping to find Nature’s Own Whole Wheat Bread at Dollar Tree, but no luck this time. However, my coupon said “bread or buns” and they had the whole wheat hot dog buns, so I got those instead. $1 minus a 55¢ off 1 coupon from the 4-30-17 SmartSource inserts, and I got the buns for 45¢

I will leave you with some charming pictures of sidewalk art from Drake Courts:

Some kids still play hopscotch, it seems.

Godzilla is attacking the city!

A lovely bit of abstraction.

Artwork: Embellished Frame

Walk #1: Ackerhurst Dairy Barn

Address: 15220 Military Road

Information: Ackerhurst Dairy Barn

Lunch: Bento Box #11

Destination Review: This is a very big barn. Unfortunately, it was under construction when I arrived. Fortunately, the construction workers didn’t seem to care that I was wandering around taking pictures. All the doors were open, so I got a few peeks inside, but there were no lights on, so it was too dark to take pictures. I did get some pictures of the outside of the barn, as well as an old tractor and some other things I discovered in the backyard.

The Walk: I walked all the way around the barn and also around the barn’s backyard. I also climbed one flight of stairs. Hopefully, one of these days I’ll figure out how to get the Health app on my iPod to count my steps.

Lunch Review: There was no place to sit and have lunch, so I had to do it in my car. Since my car is a mess inside, I didn’t take any pictures of the lunch. The pasta salad was OK, though I wish the dip was creamier. Raw pepper strips and cucumber slices were your basic raw vegetables. I made the chocolate peanut butter bite with Skippy, rather than grinding my own, which made the mixture the consistency of peanut butter, rather than dough. Time in the freezer firmed them up a bit, but by the time I came to eat one, I had to dip it up with my fingers. It tasted pretty good, though. Next time, I may add some Jif Peanut Powder to the mixture to firm it up.

Lunch Ingredient Deals

Cucumber: On sale for 79¢ at Fresh Thyme minus a 25¢ Allrecipes rebate = 54¢

Feta Cheese: You can get small packages of this for a buck at Dollar Tree.

Garlic: Got a 3-bulb pack for 99¢ at Aldi, 33¢ per bulb.

Greek Yogurt: I had a rain check at Hy-Vee that made Siggi’s Yogurt Cups $1 each. Combined with a $1 off 2 coupon from Siggi's Dairy, they were 50¢ each.

Olive Oil: Got an 8.5 oz. bottle of Gem Extra Virgin Olive Oil at Walmart for $1.74. Take off a 50¢ Allrecipes rebate on olive oil and a 25¢ Ibotta rebate on any item and it was 99¢

Pasta: Some time ago I got some packages of Allegro Veggie Pasta for 50¢ at Family Fare, a clearance price in the Dollar Zone

Peanut Butter: Skippy 16 oz. jars were on sale for 98¢ at Hy-Vee. Combined with a 55¢ off 2 jars coupon from peanutbutter.com and I got 2 for $1.41, or 71¢ per jar.

Red Pepper Flakes: Got a big jar of these at Dollar Tree for a buck.

Sun-Dried Tomatoes: I found these at Dollar Tree!

Vanilla Extract: This is occasionally available at Dollar Tree.

Yellow Bell Pepper: A 3-pack of red, yellow & orange bell peppers was on sale at Aldi for $1.69. Take off a 20¢ Allrecipes rebate and they were $1.49, or 50¢ each.

Zucchini: 99¢ lb. at Fresh Thyme. One zucchini was 36¢, and minus a 30¢ Allrecipes rebate minus a 10¢ MobiSave rebate it was free!

Art Project: Embellished Frame

What This Blog Is About

So my doctor wants me to try to lose weight and move around more. But I hate exercise. I just recently realized, though, that I don't like how exercise is usually done, but does it have to be done that way? I think not. I am an artist, so I decided why not do an art project that will make me move around and eat healthier? So I came up with the Omaha Walks idea. I am going to visit all the Omaha landmarks according to Wikipedia, take a walk in or around each one, take lots of pictures, eat a healthy bento box lunch, and eventually do an art project based on each one. This is an exercise activity that I believe will be actually fun and enjoyable, so I'll stick with it. I invite you to read about my Omaha Walks adventures. Together, we will see how successful this will be.