Our Weekend Get-Away

This summer has been a whirlwind. Nate completed 11 hours in only 6 weeks towards his Master's Degree, and I completed 9 more. We've also been planning for a missions trip to Poland. Needless to say, we haven't had a lot of time to enjoy each other's company. We also haven't done a good job of treating ourselves in our almost four years of marriage, so it's a goal of ours to do more of it (within a budget of course!). So..this weekend we packed up and headed to the Kearney/Grand Island area for the weekend (Nate was still in Lincoln, so we met in Kearney). We got a hotel room on Friday night, had dinner at Red Lobster (I LOVE their coconut shrimp!), and then went on a walk at Harmon Park (this is where Nate proposed to me!). The next morning we slept in, ate breakfast in bed, and then headed downtown.

Nate proposed to me in that gazebo five years ago!

Can't you tell that Nate is super excited?!?

I am a sucker for original shops, cafes, bakeries, etc. While strolling downtown we stumbled in to Tru Cafe, a cafe that serves breakfast and lunch dishes made from fresh, organic, and local ingredients. They also serve great beers and Nebraska wines.

A view from "The Bricks"...notice the detail on top of the pillars....

My egg salad sandwich and Nate's chicken salad wrap...both were delightful.

The inside is so charming!

This is probably my favorite part of the restaurant. They have this piano situated on the sidewalk in front of the store for people to play. I love that Tru Cafe and Kearney are supporting and encouraging music-making.

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After we ate lunch, we headed down the road to Hastings, Nebraska. I hadn't been to Hastings in about ten years, and a friend of ours and former teacher at OHS is moving to this community next month to start a new teaching job. He just scored a beautiful loft in the downtown area above The Back Alley Bakery. I had read about this place in a Nebraska Life magazine a few months back, so I was eager to try it out. This place creates natural artisan breads that are unprocessed and use as many organic and local ingredients as possible. This is not frozen bread dough that is popped in the oven, people. The grain is ground right there in the store. We bought a loaf of the three-pepper cheddar and it was delicious! They also serve Lincoln's own Cultiva coffee. Again, another charming small, town shop that is worth the stop!