Hello friends and Hivians. I know it's been awhile since I have last made a post. Not something I wanted to do and I hope to get my writing mojo back on a more consistent basis. Anyways lets move on to what my son and I did this past Sunday.
We vent to the 78th Annual Omaha International Boat, Sports & Travel Show which was scheduled for February 19–22, 2026, at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. I usually try to go this thing every year but I missed the one last year. I've been to it numerous times over the last 25 years or so.
Prices seem to go up on everything no different for this event. Parking was $10 and the cost to get in the door each was $12. It was $8 and $10 the last time I went.
The firat thing we did was check out some of the boats. A lot of them were dream boats to me because of the price tags. The ranged as low as $20,000 all the way to more than $100,000.
I look at them for fishing purposes not necassurly for entetaining guest. Doing this does cut down the prices on some of them. Not going to lie, some of the luxury things on some look really relaxing and fun but a tremdous price tag comes along with it. I do like the pontoon style boats as they allow a lot of space to do things. One doesn't feel as cramped when you have a few people with you.
Our next stop was primarily my sons fault. There was a tremendous pleasant smell in the air. His nose eventually led us to it. It was a vendor selling roasted, caramelized and coated assortment of nuts. They also sold numerous flavors of fudge. My son bought 1/2 pound of fudge. He chose pumpkin pie and cappuccino flavors. The cappuccino flavor I liked. I also sampled some chocolate walnut which was good but I wasnt spending $12 for some to take with me.
Next up was walking and checking out various booths. This is really the reason I like to attend this show so often. It gives me fishing intel, ideas where to visit and things to do. I collect a lot of fishing related reading materials at these type of events not even close to the amount showed above. I left with a filled bag that consisted of over 30 magazines, pamplets and flyers. I learned of some new fishing locations particularly for trout that I didn't know existed that are within 200 miles.
This years show didnt really have a lot tackle for sale like years past. So my wallet didn't take a hit. I did run into a booth that had a nice selection of custom made rods. I own over 30 rods of my own, probably don't need to add to that right now. Plus these were pretty expensive. One of the booths had a fish display of taxidermermy. Cool to see and that practice has come a long ways over the years. There is no need to bring your caught fish carcus to have one done. Just pictures and measurements is really all you need to get a realistice replica of your catch. I don't have any personally and dont plan to I got plenty of memories in my phone's gallery! There was one exhibit booth that blew my mind. Let me share!
Alright when i seen a T.V. showing a steam engine with some passenger cars crossing a bridge over a river at one of the booths I thougnt what is this? I learned they give affordable train rides to the public. Also they have a train museum there as well. To make things even better its only 150 miles away from me. New to me, didn't know this place existed. I want to geek out and tell you more but this will be something I will share with you in either May or June. I grabbed one each of all the freebies on the table. This will be a little two day trip. Soon I will start to plan, super stoked about it. Next up was checking out some RVs and campers.
This years show had numerous campers but not so many RVs. I was talking to one of the salesman and the reason for this is the RVs take a lot of space and they don't typically sell too many at shows. Also they tend to be very expensive especially when you get into the larger Class A models. I seen the cheepiest camper for $10,000 and the most expensive I believe was a a RV at $250,000. The $10,000 camper met all my requirements. Which is heating and A/C, small bathroom, bunks to sleep in, small lounge to eat, and tiny kitchen. Perfect for a mobile setup for 2 persons. Plus you don't need a huge truck to pull it. Let me show you a few of the layouts in some of the campers.
Campers and RVs can really be a home on wheels. In my younger years some were really tiny and didn't have all the luxury items they do today. I remember seeing a lot of pop-up campers in the back of truck beds. Today's versions can house guests up to a dozen or so. My opinion is most could probably buy a nice camper for under $30,000 and it will meet and satisfy most. If you take care of them and want to upgrade at some point the things hold value well. My sister has sold three campers and each time she has came out of them on the profit side. Will I buy one? Well not now maybe in a few years. I have no problem still with popping up a tent. There was probably 30+ campers and I walked inside a majority of them due to my son being so curious. It was fun but my back was defintely feeling it. The rest of our time at the show we check out some of the othet activities.
After spending a lot of time checking out campers we walked to other areas where we hadn't ventured to yet. An assortment of things to see like motorcycles, scooters, jet skies and ATVs. Seen some commercial lawn mowers and tractors which I wondered why they were here as I didn't really feel they were a theme of the show. After that we briefly checked out a little trout pool that no one was having any luck at, a little kid achery range and some caged animals.
This year's show was missing somethings that had been in previous ones. Usually they have a speaker or two who gives a presentation on hunting or fishing or an act of something for entertainment. It wasn't the best of the shows I've been too but it was still fun and useful. I was grateful to spend the vast majority of the day with my son. Being almost 20 its not always easy to get him to hang out with me most of the day.
To wrap up our time together we hit up a restaurant after we left the show called, The Buck Snort. A local bar and grill known for there an assortment of different sandwiches and burgers. We started out with some pretzel bites with some queso dip. There were about 20 bites in total but they were almost all tore up before I took a picture, haha.
For our dinner, I got waffle fries and the Chipotle Burger which included lettuce, tomato, american cheese, bacon, and crunchy french onions topped with chipotle sauce. A very good burger indeed and the waffle fries were made perfectly. My son also got waffle fries but got the Boom Boom Pow Burger which included two pieces of Texas toast, american cheese, swiss cheese, bacon, fried egg, topped with boom boom sauce. Not going to lie I wish I would have got this one instead.
Well this wraps up most of what I did on Sunday. I hope all is well with all of you, thanks for reading. Take care and stay safe. Until next time!