1. Lucky Bucket Brewery
City: La Vista, NE
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (402) 763-8868
Address: 11941 Centennial Rd.
Description: Nebraska is right on trend when it comes to the recent explosion of craft breweries and pre-prohibition drinks. Lucky Bucket Brewery is the state’s newest offering in the genre, and its first three beers have become amazingly popular locally and are being distributed through Nebraska and Iowa.A pre-prohibition-style Lager was its first beer, and the additive-free brew is both light and malty. Its India pale ale is created in a unique four-barrel stainless steel tank and has a hint of aromatic oils. Its third beer, Certified Evil, is complex and smooth and includes both molasses and honey in the brew. The brewery is working on its first batches of distilled spirits, and plans to eventually offer Nebraska-made vodka. Tours are available on a regular schedule: Thurs from 4 to 7 p.m. and Sat from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tours start at regular intervals and last about 45 minutes.
2. Cabela’S
City: La Vista, NE
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (402) 861-4800
Address: 12730 Westport Pkwy.
Description: A Nebraska shopping icon if there is one, Cabela’s outdoor store isn’t just a hunting, fishing, and wooly sock purchasing mecca, it’s a statewide institution that many people count among the top tourist attractions. An Omaha-area outpost opened its doors in 2006 and spurred development along one of the southwestern-most parts of the city. The store encompasses close to 130,000 square feet of space, and much of it is devoted to museum-quality displays of animals. Trophy animals, like deer, bears, and big cats, sit next to big horn sheep, small mammals, and aquariums teeming with fish. The stuffed animals are displayed not in cases, but on realistic re-creations of their natural habitats. An indoor archery range rounds out the visitor experience. The La Vista Cabela’s is one of three in Nebraska, and the eastern Nebraska location also has a restaurant that offers wild game entrees and more traditional fare for lunch or dinner. Elk, wild boar, bison, ostrich, and venison all have a spot on the menu. All Cabela’s locations have semi and RV parking outside, and the La Vista location also has a horse corral. Live bait is sold in the store, and a dog kennel is located on-site.