My daughter and I, plus the grand boys, set out Friday morning for the long journey over to Iowa.  A trip that takes about 40 minutes in bad traffic!  We had told the boys we were doing something but hadn’t told them what.  A mad dash to Casey’s for doughnuts in the car for them and we were off.

At the Mid America Center our tickets to Beyond Van Gogh were for 11:00 and 11:30 as I had bought them at two different times so we were wondering if we were going to have trouble getting in but no, I just showed them the reservation and we waited for the appointed time.

Upon entering you are faced with large posters for your reading pleasure that tells of Van Gogh’s life thru letters that he wrote to his brother Theo.  Very telling words.  One after another they are so worth reading.  

The boys even enjoyed reading them and they still didn’t know what they were in for.  Well neither did we!

After the posters we entered a room of waterfalls and sky.  I place for quiet.  A place of peace.  Then you transition to the next room where you are surrounded by the beauty and genius of the man.  All the walls, standing installations, and the floor are an ever changing movement of art.  

Fade to black bleed to the next.  I found my oldest grand boy laying on the floor just taking it all in.  There are no chairs only a few benches so you are free to move around the room.  The room was large and the images monumental and so impactful. I felt myself just breathing and relaxing into the moment.  I wondered about the tragedy of this man that created such beautiful images.  I wondered about the genius of the contemporary graphic designers that put this “show” together.  The music and choreography, what kind of creative minds that could figure out how to make sense of all the varying images, and meld them into a whole.  At times it brought tears to my eyes but mostly it just made me smile, made me relax and I found myself wishing that I could spend the entire day just watching the ever changing play of color.

I took lots of pictures and found myself watching thru my iPhone.  No that will never do, enjoy the moment.  When I went to edit the images like the ghost of Van Gogh they are gone.  I don’t know what happened but the magic will just have to remain magic.

Though the tickets were a bit pricey and the show approximately one hour although you are allowed to linger,  the investment was sooo worth it.  You can’t think of anything else, you just enjoy.

After, we went in search of lunch.  We didn’t want the same old same old after such an extraordinary experience.  We thought about the Old Market but remembered the College World Series is still going on.  Nope that won’t work.  We meandered a bit and ended up in Aksarben Village in Omaha and ate at Herbe Sainte.  New to me with a bit of New Orleans and cajun flair it did feel a bit like we were on vacation, if only for an hour or two.  The food was great and interesting with a bit of bite to it.  But all was good the boys who are both pretty picky eaters enjoyed it.  Then a wander down to Jones Bros Cupcakes for cupcakes and ice cream to top of the day.

Grand boy number 2 said “Nanna this was the best day ever”.  I said, “I thought the Polar Express day was the best day ever?”  He said, “Well… that was a good one too!”  We decided that it was wonderful that life can present you with multiple Best Day Evers!!!

Thanks for stopping!

Shelley