Photo of the Day (11/18/06)


The further we slip away into winter I can’t help wanting to migrate to the same places where butterflies land on sweet beautiful flowers. Sure this shot comes from my own collection of flicks taken in Omaha’s botanical gardens during the very early stages of fall, but it seems I couldn’t find a fluttering butterfly these days to save my life. Luckily I’ll have this shot to help pass the time until spring and summer arrive once more or until I see more cheery winter land pictures in the Gadling Flickr pool.

Chef Mike’s

Catfish Friday is one of those things you stumble upon and think “My goodness it’s my lucky day!” Such is what happened when I entered the Community Cafe on the corner of 24th and Lake Street in Omaha, Nebraska. At the Community Cafe you can expect a few things; casual dining atmosphere (cafeteria style), affordable prices and enough food to keep you fueled for the entire day. And my plate, covered with a rather healthy size catfish, collard greens, spaghetti and cornbread did exactly that. Everything before me was delicious and had the kind of touch my own mother would have graced the plate with however; it is Chef Mike who does all the cooking and a fine job too.

Catfish isn’t the only thing to be found on Chef Mike’s menu. Head in on a Monday and taste the ‘Blues’ Cajun style or swing in on a Tuesday for some tantalizing tacos. (Have I had the tacos – no, but if the catfish is great I’m willing to bet the tacos are just as good if not better.) Don’t take my word for it, visit the Community Cafe in North Omaha or Chef Mike’s site to learn more about his catering business.

Malcolm X Birth Site

Aficionados of African-American history should be happy to know that big plans are underway for the Malcolm X birth site out of Omaha, NE. While on a recent trip of the Omaha area, I myself rediscovered and remembered that Malcolm X was born in Omaha and quickly took off to see the controversial Black leader’s old stomping grounds located at 3448 Pinkney Street. At the present time being the state of Nebraska has a placed a rather decent sized historical marker in the area of which Malcolm and his family resided up until he was about four years old. And to be quite honest, I was very impressed with the marker and the details on the life of Malcolm X included. With the exception of a few street signs indicating it is indeed the area in which Malcolm X was birthed, the marker is the only major attraction to be found in the 10-acre green space.

Future plans include the construction of a learning center, museum, library and an outdoor amphitheater where visitors can come to study the times, writings, and teachings of Malcolm X – all of which should hopefully be finished in another two years. If you can’t wait for the project’s completion head to the Malcolm X Foundation online to find out about visiting sooner and perhaps you can stop into the African American bookstore for a conversation with Marshall Taylor. Speaking with Marshall is one of the bigger highlights as he is full of information on the organization and African American history period.

In short the exchange of conversation and the marker is an attraction worth anyone’s time.

Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens

Yesterday I finally stepped out of my hotel for a breath of fresh Omaha air. Unlike some of the past couple of days the sun was shining brightly and the temperature was near perfect for exploring. There were many stops along on the way, which I may or not reveal as time moves on, but for now I’ve settled on sharing my precious moments in Omaha’s botanical gardens. (Okay, precious was a bit much, but they were certainly pleasant.) The 100-acre Lauritzen Gardens are the home of many different gardens: the arrival garden, festival garden, rose garden, and one of my personal favorites – the Hitchcock-Kountze Victorian Garden. Within the later garden mentioned both English and Victorian garden styles are combined and architectural remnants are also featured. Spending a good little bit of time in this area; I studied some of pretty perennials and snapped many a photo. I wandered on the walkways checking out the Persian Cornflower and Garden Mum. I walked the pathway to Japanese Sunpu Gate and imagined the future Japanese garden. Many years past I probably wouldn’t have spent much time in a botanical garden, but having been to three (not many, I know) in very diverse regions of the world, I’ve come to gain a new found appreciation for our floral pals.

Having just returned from Tajikistan, where I visited the world’s second highest botanical gardens, I wasn’t blown way by Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens, but a visit still makes for a nice afternoon activity. Plus Omaha, Nebraska is probably much easier to reach than Tajikistan. If you go to the gardens take a book and relax on one of the benches or your camera for a photo safari. No matter how you choose to spend your time you’re bound to have a good one.

Lauritzen Gardens are located at 100 Bancroft Street, Omaha, NE 68108. Ph. 402.346.4002. The gardens are open year-round except Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Hours of operation are 9 AM to 5 PM. Admission is $6/adult and $3/child (age six to 12).

Word for the Travel Wise (10/08/06)

Having recently purchased a small Lakota dictionary for beginner’s I thought I’d put it to use here on Gadling. Lakota won’t be a language you run around using on a daily basis even with the majority of speakers in the U.S. For the following word I please note the letter ‘n’ should be more like a ‘n’ with a ‘j’ hanging from the second line of the ‘n’. I don’t have the correct character key, but should you really try pronouncing this one, just beware of the way it appears here and how it should actually appear.

Today’s word is a Lakota word used in North America:

wawíhangya – destroyer

Lakota is spoken in the U.S. in areas which include North Dakota, South Dakota, parts of Nebraska, Minnesota, and Montana. It is also spoken by a few people in Canada and has a total range of 8,000-9,000 speakers in all of North America. Lakota is the largest of the three languages of the Sioux, of the Siouan family as noted in Wikipedia. Head over to their page for a quick read on lingo background info. One last interesting fact is that the language represents one of the largest Native American speech communities left in the United States.

Learning Lakota online will be a bit more challenging than Spanish, but can be done to a certain point. There is a Lakotiya Yahoo group which holds live online classes. You must be a member, but I believe registration is free and from there you can start learning pronunciation and grammar. The Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Center has a decent website which includes quotes form the elders, common terms & phrases (with audio), and a grammar guide. Lakhota.org offers off-line language products like this Speak Lakota Level 2 Textbook which are said to be the finest according to the site. If you’re in the northern plains area of the U.S. try seeking out a native speaker for some lessons, otherwise you can pick up this Everyday Lakota for beginner’s dictionary at the Crazy Horse Memorial or on Amazon.