On my third trip to Kansas City I had a weekend of downtime to figure out fun plans and adventures to undertake. I consider my geography to be pretty good but it wasn’t until I glanced at the map Saturday night to realize that Nebraska was just a stones throw away! My mind whirled with an itinerary to undertake 8 hours later. Falls City was only about 90 minutes away but had no thrift stores open on Sunday. The next stop I could find was about 30 min north of there in a tiny town called Shubert. The plan was set – I was ready to go!
I called around 9pm hoping to get some confirmation via the voice mail greeting (if they had one!) stating the hours, or at least confirming this was an open business. 4 hours in the car is leaning toward high stakes. But a voice caught me off guard – a woman answered the phone. I apologized for calling so late and she confirmed they would indeed be open.
The shop is at the end of a largely deserted downtown strip. One of the only other functioning businesses looks to be the post office. The first part of the store is in the ‘house’, which is a small area with a few nooks to investigate. I was greeted by a friendly woman as I entered. I admitted I was the dolt ringing her line so late and she only laughed and said her sister often calls her in the evenings as well.
She told me the giant wooden building attached to the house was a functioning lumber business until 2003. She said the building was constructed around 1910. It had a large mezzanine that went around the sides of the building and a stairwell that led you up there.
And thank goodness, it was here in this building that I did find some records. Alas there wasn’t much worth buying but I’ll take the well earned checkmark!
I did end up purchasing a small juice glass from a Best Western in Bakersfield CA, probably circa 1960s. She wanted only $2 (it was not priced) but I insisted she accept a fin. We had a wonderful conversation about Pyrex and other glassware and cookware.
When I went back outside to my car the silence made my ears ring on this very cold day in a very quiet town. My first and maybe my last trip to Nebraska. I got some Runzas in Falls City on the way back and made it back to KC before dusk – a day well spent!
STATE #42 VISITED!
