1. The one finger wave. The friendly “hand on steering wheel just going to raise the index finger to say hello” wave. It’s Nebraska’s signature.
2. Watching Night of the Twisters as a kid and forever being terrified of tornados. And Grand Island.
3. Boasting about how the Henry Doorly Zoo is the best zoo in the world. Because IT IS.
4. Blaming the humidity on everything. Why is the door sticking? The humidity. Why won’t my computer turn on? The humidity. Why is my life a mess? The humidity.
5. Personalized license plates featuring your favorite Husker coaches and players…. Totally normal.
6. Talking about how much Omaha has grown out west. But seriously, remember when that church used to be the start of Omaha?
7. Better yet, what if someday Omaha and Lincoln really do connect? Want to have a great dinner convo? Just start right here and watch where it takes you.
8. Calling “pop” pop. Because that’s what it is.
9. Adding an “r” in words that don’t have an r. Like “I’m going to warsh my clothes.” Or is that just my dad?
10. Eating ranch with everything. “Can I have a side of ranch with my ranch please?”
11. Reminiscing about Peony Park.
12. Driving by the “National Museum of Roller Skating” in Lincoln and thinking to yourself, I really need to go there someday.
13. Always wondering why Rock ‘N’ Roll Runza disappeared. It’s just not right.
14. Sharing photos of hail on Facebook. And snow. And clouds. And temperatures in your car with a clever caption like “If you don’t like the weather in Nebraska, wait an hour.” Classic.
15. Driving on the interstate between Omaha and Lincoln and wondering who’s lucky enough to attend service in the glass church on the hill. Or does anyone at all?
16. Discussing how high the corn is this year.
17. Understanding the beauty of tator-tot casserole.
18. Having a love affair with Dorthy Lynch.
19. Passing by Boys Town and wondering if boys really still farm in those fields.
20. Enjoying a long summer night when there’s still light in the sky until almost 9:30 p.m.
21. Tubing and drinking down the Niobrara.
22. Snacking on rhubarb- celery’s flamboyant cousin who is pretty much only eaten by people in Nebraska during the summer.
A lot of people may leave Nebraska, but even more come back. Because as we all know, home is where the T.O. is.
See something I forgot? Add it below in the comment section!
"Warsh" your clothes? I thought that was just Pittsburgh thing!
I love rhubarb and am not from Nebraska but my mom actually makes a delicious ( I know crazy) rhubarb cake!
We are from California and make Strawberry Rhubarb pie every year! We love it!
Seriously! I've always wondered who attended that glass church! I even took the Grenta exit once just to see if I could find it! But I turned down the wrong road and never made my way there.
I think that's one of those historical places that 'you can't get there from here'. I've tried a couple of directions out there and never had found it. All I can do is 'see it out there' from my windshield :/
There's a side road off of highway 31 if you continue driving past the Flying J towards Schramm Park. Weird to get to, but seeing the interior makes it worth all the work. And it's usually open to the public!
The Glass Church is a Catholic Church! It is called Holy Family Shrine and they only have mass on Saturdays because it is a place of pilgrimage. You have to turn on Pflug road to get there, it's a dirt road. If you have not been you should! Its super cool! There is even a fountain that goes from outside into the church!
I've been to it many times, if you can read a sign then you can get to it.
Steph Lynn lets hang! You seem so fun I can't handle it!
OK, WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER!? 😀
That church is a great place to go; very peaceful. But most of the time, if you follow the signs, you end up in a time-space loop and spend five years driving around in one circle. Very dangerous.
Yes! Pop should always be called pop!! This list is hilarious and spot on:)
I grew up in Nebraska and refuse to say 'pop.' it's SODA.
It's whatever people want to say. Keep killing life Steph! You're a hoot!
I grew up and still live in Nebraska and all i ever hear is pop so I dont know what part you're talking about
I grew up calling all pop Coke, no matter what kind it was.
TAYLOR, OMG I LOVE YOU.
I grew up in Nebraska and I call it soda
sounds a lot of things that happen in Alabama too!
As a born and raised rural Illinoisian, there are some definite crossovers here! My favorites include the one finger wave and rhubarb too!
I grew up in Northern Ohio before I moved to KC and I have done a lot of these things. Pop should be pop end of story.
My friend from Maryland does the "add an r" thing too! warsh my clothes, I lagh every time. I think its cute! i love how accents sound. lol i'm from Ore-gon.
I take exception to the rhubarb one. Because I'm from Cali, have never BEEN to Nebraska, and Strawberry Rhubarb pie is my favorite. Unless you mean that you just eat plain rhubarb. In which case, Nebraska can have that one because ew.
we eat rhubarb like celery. as well as put it in treats (cakes, pies, etc) and other dishes. dont knock it till ya try it!
Yep, take a stalk and dip it in sugar… instant (and best) sweet tart!
When I was a kid, my mom jumped a fence into my neighbor's back yard and cut down some of their (she said) wild rhubarb, which (she said) they didn't use and wouldn't mind us having, because she was a friend of the woman who lived there. (I don't know…I was a kid.) We ate it raw, on the spot. She also took some to cook. That wasn't the first (or last) time I ate raw rhubarb. Just the most memorable, because I always wondered…
We used to play hide and go seek in Dee Ewoldt's family's rhubarb patch. Lots of fun there. And of yes, we did also eat some.
Oh man, I thought "warsh" was a Pennsylvania thing – there are far too many people around here that say that! And lots of people here say things like "crick" instead of creek. Someone explain that, please!
Plain rhubarb! If you were lucky enough to get a small cup of sugar to dip it in…yummy!
Plain rhubarb! If you were lucky enough to get a small cup of sugar to dip it in…yummy!
Plain rhubarb! If you were lucky enough to get a small cup of sugar to dip it in…yummy!
I've never been to nebraska but i can certainly picture all of this. Especially the r's inserted, the one finger wave and the tater tot casserole.
I absolutely love this!!! And yeah, why the heck did Rock N' Roll Runza disappear??
A lot of these are very similar to Texas! The wave on highways (especially when driving through small towns), weather changing in an hour, humidity, tornadoes & floating the river. My father-in-law says "warsh" and I've never heard anyone else say that before I met him. He did spend some time up north after college, so maybe that's where he picked it up.
Kool-Aid was invented in Nebraska also!!
You forgot eating your chili with Cinnamon Rolls
YES!!!!!
I live in Texas now, and people think that I'm crazy when I mention chili and cinnamon rolls. I mean, Texas chili doesn't even have kidney beans. Who are they to judge Nebraskans?
Mmm…I didn't realize that was a Nebraska thing, but I guess it is.
I mention this to my friends in Omaha and they have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm from the country and we always had this for lunch at school.
Chili, cinnamon rolls and carrot and celery sticks were a very common lunch at school!
Chili, cinnamon rolls and carrot and celery sticks were a very common lunch at school!
but only the true nebraskans know that kool aid was invented in cambridge nebraska before they moved to hastings nebraska 😉
Hastings! We need something in there about Fisher Fountain.
The glass church is a Catholic shrine, "Holy Family Shrine", devoted to Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. I attended Mass there recently, it is very beautiful! Mass at 10AM Saturdays.
I live in Oregon now, but was born and raised in Nebraska. Runza's, Dorothy Lynch, chili and cinnamon rolls……. casseroles….. cool whip in most desserts…..and jello is a salad most of the time……and a green salad…..was lime jello. lol At my Mother's funeral a couple years ago……my daughter took pictures of the food table buffet for the family AFTER the funeral………she counted 17 or 18 jello salads…….
it pisses me off when people from nebraska say "soda" (just saying it in my head as i typed it pissed me off) lol
Great article!
I flippin' love this because once a Nebraska girl, always a Nebraska girl. I honestly think my entire family does the one finger "Hey Oh" even when we aren't driving. No wonder people look at us funny, but that could be the fact we are always in red. Twister to this day terrifies me, but when you're born in Nebraska and raised in the midwest you know that tornados are blood thirsty evil cloud spawns. Slightly dramatic unless you've spent time cowering in a basement.
Brooke
Most of this stuff is far from Nebraska specific and some of it is flat wrong.
Um….none of it is wrong
You seriously don't know the answer to 19?
Thanks for not leaving just 1, but 2 awesome comments! You stewed about it and didn't get it all the first time so decided to leave another right? Classic. I like you!
See what ya Did there 😉
Most of you miss the point on the rhubarb. In Nebraska people like to eat rhubarb raw. They also like it cooked, but people LOVE to eat it raw.
UGH, Nebraska is dumb. I grew up there, left and will never go back. And the Huskers suck.
I have a feeling you're a lot of fun to be around! And just wondering why someone who hates Nebraska so much would read a post all about it?
Taylor you amuse me haha loving all your comments …Steph you hate nebraska so much yet you keep commenting on a post ALL about Nebraska..hmmm
23. Getting all nostalgic, reading posts about your childhood home, then trying to rile people up by saying it sucks.
I read it out of curiosity, a friend from Lincoln posted it. And I'm lots of fun, smart ass.
I didn't say you weren't.
Anyone who says Nebraska is dumb, has never taken the time or made an effort to find its awesomeness. There is plenty, I assure you.
You forgot chasing the storms when they do come through! Everyone hop in the truck this is gonna be a good one!
Never knew about the finger wave growing up in Omaha, but my wife's family are farmers near McCook and the first time we went to visit them, she gave me notice beforehand (since I was driving) so that I would be prepared to finger wave at people and not be rude by snubbing them.
You're missing out if you've never had a Berry Pepper from Creighton NE
Roaring when you pass the large dinosaur on the side of the road. Looking for the York water tower as a landmark. Saying the names of the towns in a funny voice when you pass them. (Examples: "Friend," and "Milford.")
I lived in York growing up so it warms my heart knowing other people look for the York water tower.
Nebraska is the only place where a Pontiac Grand Am is still considered to be a cool car. Well, to be fair, I think Iowans still think they're cool, too.
1. Stopping in at Ole's in Paxton when driving by on 80.
2. When you KNOW the best burger in the world comes from Stella's in Bellevue.
3. Not just tubing but tanking
4. "Sneaking" booze into Memorial Stadium… They never check
5. Getting irritated with people when they pronounce towns like Kearney, Beatrice, and Hooper wrong
6. If you have ever had to tell an out-of-stater that yes, we have electricity and plumbing and no, we don't ride horses to school
7. If you have ever felt a resentment towards the state of Iowa, simply because it is Iowa
8. Knowing from the time you can read that Pioneer Village is in Minden
9. Referring to Memorial Stadium as 90,000 of your "closest friends"
10. Knowing wherever you go if you run into someone from Nebraska you will probably know someone in common
1. When returning to Nebraska, you have to include a stop at Runza.
2. Toadstool Park!
3. The amazing sight and sounds of hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes converging on the Platte between Grand Island and Kearney each spring.
4. Red vs Green is a common argument among farm kids. If you are a farm kid, you know what that refers to.
5. Detassling corn and walking beans are a good way to earn some money in the summer.
6. You are no longer surprised where the Bob Kerry Bridge takes you (or shall I say, doesn't take you).
7. The crop report is on the radio.
8. Box elder bugs are called democrats.
Where is the Valentino pizza???? Before they had many locations in the state we used to line up outside the door of the "old" Val's on 33rd and Holdrege at 3:00 to wait for them to open the doors at 4:00. It was worth the wait!
First jobs I ever had: Arby's, Shopko, Valentino's. 😀
A lot of these are just like us folks born in Iowa!!! I try to say wash now cause my son kept after me when I said warsh!! Grew up just about 90 miles east of Omaha so that might h a 've something to do with it! Live in Omaha now.
A lot of these are just like us folks born in Iowa!!! I try to say wash now cause my son kept after me when I said warsh!! Grew up just about 90 miles east of Omaha so that might h a 've something to do with it! Live in Omaha now.
Okay, your last post led me to this one so I hope I'm not super weird to comment on it. My husband and I spent almost 2 years in Omaha after he graduated college. I'm new to your blog so I had no idea you were from Nebraska and not Chicago! We liked living in Omaha, but I don't think we could have ever stayed there. We always felt like such outsiders. Mostly because we weren't Husker fans haha. I literally just wanted to buy a red shirt and say OK I'M IN! Everyone made fun of how I talked (long o's) but I remember the first time I heard the added 'r' thing and was so confused. My boss was telling me how to "warsh" my ugg boots, and how I could just throw them in the "warsher"…and I remember thinking, "..why is she talking that way" haha. I thought maybe that was an Iowa thing. And I was super confused about the cinnamon rolls and chili thing, but such a great combo! We're originally from Michigan so a lot was the same though..we say "pop", eat ranch with everything, and the weather was about the same. OH, and I still talk about the Henry Doorly Zoo to everyone! It is THE BEST!! I would go back to visit just to go to the zoo and get a runza!
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Calling the ice cream man the ding ding man. Calling a plastic bag a sack.