A few months back I made a trip to Gothenburg for work. I drove and it took about 15 hours. Let me tell you something. The cliché’s you hear about that area it true. For hundreds of miles all I saw was flat ground, corn fields and grain silos.
Gothenburg is located on highway 80 and it looks to be a route for people traveling between Denver and Omaha.
A brief history. I had to look it up. It was established in 1881 and named after Gothenburg Sweden. As you can imagine, there is a strong Swedish heritage in the area. The city was a Pony Express stop and had a railroad station back in the day..
I spent the time staying at the Comfort Suites. It was a nice place compared to others I have been in. I can tell you the place was packed every night. For a free breakfast it was better than OK. The funny thing about the place. It has a Tesla docking station across the street. Each night I saw at least one plugged in. Just thought it was funny because it is the middle of nowhere and the locals pretty much drive trucks. The only complaint I had was the front desk staff. They seemed to be not happy. They never greeted anyone or acknowledged you as you walked in or leaving. They just sat there stone faced. The rest of the staff were very friendly.
Points of interest: I arrived Sunday so I could prepare for the week of work. Decided to look around to see if there was anything interesting to see. My partner and I headed east on 80 towards Kearney. We did find the Classic Car Collection located on the side of the Cabela’s building. I really enjoyed this place. Spent hours drooling over the cars and trucks.
I wish I had more few time because I did find many places to see. Gothenburg Pony Express, Sod House, and Gothenburg Historical Museums.
Since this was a work trip, I had the free breakfast, ate out of my cooler for lunch and most times had dinner out.
While working people kept telling us we needed to try the Runza. Had not clue what they were talking about. Apparently this is a Swedish sandwich. It is a shredded beef sandwich with onions and all the fixins. It was pretty good. I had the regular Runza and to me it tasted similar to White Castle.
One day we were hungry and too tired to have a sit-down dinner so we gave Godfather’s pizza a try. Well it’s not like the original from years ago. It is located in a gas station. We watched them make it. It was hot and filled the void but that was about it. Why is it so hard to find a great pizzas anymore?
We tried Lisa’s Kitchen in Gothenburg. Asian food, very small place. When we arrived, we were the only ones there. At first we were worried, but they have a strong take out clientele. Lisa who owns the restaurant was very friendly and the only one there. My partner mentioned his favorite Asian dish to her and she made it for him. The food was very good. It was good enough to go back again.
Not a fan of McDonalds, we decided to head east 20 miles and found Dairy Queen in Cozad. The $5 meal did the trick. While there we needed more supplies and found Walmart in Lexington. Not a fan of them, but that was the only thing available. Did I mention corn fields earlier?
Our last night there we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We found Kyoto in Kearney We were impressed. The chef did a pretty good job preparing our dinner.
Make sure you save a little space for dessert. They make tempera ice cream. From what I understand they pour cream mix on a cold plate charged with liquid nitrogen. Man was it good!
If I am back in the area again, I will make time to see the area. It seems to have some interesting places to visit. But don’t go during the winter. The have railroad crossing gates on the entrances. Seems the highway closes when it snows.