Casper Museums – Best Museums in Casper, Wyoming

Casper - Horse

Gene and I have enjoyed many long weekend trips to Casper, Wyoming, and enjoy this little city a lot. Quite often we are there during the hotter time of the year or the cooler time of the year. For some reason, it just seems to have worked out that way. Thus, we have tried to do some museums and such when it is really hot out. If we are not at a museum, we are often at Frontier Brewing, or Backwards Distillery, lol.  Hey, you have to support the locals, right?  In all seriousness, we have enjoyed a few outside attractions such as the amazing Ayres Natural Bridge, and the beautiful waterfalls at Rotary Park. However today, I wanted to share a little about some of the best Casper museums in and around Casper, Wyoming. These are in no particular order:

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Berlin Wall Exhibit – Rapid City, South Dakota

Berlin Wall Exhibit 10

Last week Gene and I took to trip to South Dakota and decided to do a few things that some visitors may not have time to visit or experience. One of these places was visiting a memorial and piece of the Berlin Wall. It is called Memorial Park and is located on Rapid Creek adjacent to The Monument (formerly known as the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center). The park holds one of America’s largest Berlin Wall exhibits (two large slabs of the wall), Memorial Pond, Flood of 1972 Memorial fountain, several other sculptures, a band shelter, and Legacy Commons.  It is a very special and touching exhibit. Along with the wall exhibit, there are many interpretive monument stations explaining why the wall was built, and how it was eventually taken down.

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Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park – Georgia

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield 6While visiting some friends in Georgia and attending a convention in June of 2012, we had a great time checking out the Coca-Cola Museum as well as their capitol. One of the more interesting things we did was have dinner at  Stone Mountain and watched a laser light show on the huge monument depicting Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. It was very interesting and led us to check out a few other Civil War parks and Battlefields. One such place we visited during our visit was Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. This huge park is located between Marietta and Kennesaw.

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Plains Indians and the Keeper of the Plains – Wichita, KS

Plains Indians - HorsesEarly March of 2022 when took a 4-day weekend trip to check out the small town of Wichita, Kansas. One of the things high on my list I wanted to see was the Keeper of the Plains. It stands at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers and is located adjacent to the Mid-America All-Indian Center. This 44-foot Cor-Ten steel sculpture by Kiowa-Comanche artist Blackbear Bosin was erected on May 18, 1974, to celebrate the United States Bi-centennial and has kept a watchful eye on the city ever since.  Around the statue are multiple displays which describe the life, belief, and practices of the local Plains Indians tribe(s) that used to inhabit the area, as well as several fire pits which are sometimes lit to illuminate the statue at night.  Below are some of the writing on the displays sharing their stories. Here is also a link to their website with more information if you want to visit yourself while in the area. Continue reading “Plains Indians and the Keeper of the Plains – Wichita, KS”

Rapid City, South Dakota – My Top 7 Free Things on Our to-do List

Rapid City 1We have had a few fun times exploring Rapid City, South Dakota and the area since living here in CO. Of course we had to do the big attractions like Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse, but we also look forward to doing some more historical and local attractions on our next trip in May of 2022. With a budget in mind, I also wanted to do a few free things while in the area. Thus I did some research and found 7 free things around Rapid City that I think would be fun to do. Here is my list (alphabetically): Continue reading “Rapid City, South Dakota – My Top 7 Free Things on Our to-do List”

Canyonlands National Park – Moab, Utah

Canyonlands 7On our first trip to Moab, Utah we had wanted to do Arches National Park one day, and Canyonlands National Park the next day, however, we quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen as Arches National Park was just too big. We were disappointed with our limited amount of time in Moab, but it did give us a great reason to come back. It was definitely on our must-see list the next time we were in the area. were able to visit on a trip in February of 2021.

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The Lucille Ball Hometown Experience – Jamestown, New York

Lucille Ball 1Growing up I always watched I love Lucy with my mom as she grew up watching it. The series aired from 1951-1957. Today, more than 70 years since the last episode aired on May 6, 1957, this amazing comedic icon named Lucille Ball is still entertaining people everyday. Thus when Gene and I were in Buffalo NY for my birthday in 2021 we had to make sure and visit the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum in her hometown, Jamestown. I didn’t know what to expect really, but I was excited to visit, and it didn’t disappoint. We had an amazing I love Lucy experience.

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Park City Olympic Park- Utah’s 2002 Olympic Winter Games Venue

Park City Olympic Park - RingsIn April 2009 we were in Salt Lake City to see their State Capitol Building and decided to drive up to Park City. While there we had a wonderful time exploring Park City Olympic Park. This is one of the cities that hosted the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. This area served as a venue for ski jumping, nordic combined, bobsled, skeleton and luge. It also features the Joe Quinney Winter Sports Center, which houses both the Alf Engen Ski Museum and George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum. Parking and admission to the museums and venue is free. It was a real thrill to be there and remember what happened. I felt like I was a small part of it. The area itself I beautiful and has a small-town feel even though it has grown in the last decade or so.

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Omaha, Nebraska – My Top 7 Things on Our to-do List

OmahaIn June of 2019 we were heading to Omaha for a few days before I continue on to Des Moines, IA for the LWMS convention. We have been through Omaha once before, but never explored the area. We did go to watch an Angels vs Royals AAA affiliate teams play a game at Rosenblatt Stadium before it was torn down to make more room for the zoo. Other than that, it is a new city to us. Thus I decided to do some research and find some fun things to do while we are in the area.  While a few charge a small fee, many of them are free. I look forward to our trip and creating posts about our adventures. Continue reading “Omaha, Nebraska – My Top 7 Things on Our to-do List”

Devils Tower National Monument – Devils Tower, Wyoming

Devils TowerIn June of 2015 we took a road trip to visit the North Dakota and South Dakota State Capitols. While on the way, we took a side trip to see Devils Tower in Wyoming. It was quite fascinating to see. It is located above the Belle Fourche River and is actually part of the Black Hills. The tower is igneous and rises dramatically 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet above sea level.
The monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres, and interestingly enough, was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt.

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