We've made it here in time! We are in Omaha, Nebraska to attend the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway. This annual meeting has become a pilgrimage for investors and is also known as "Woodstock for Capitalists". Warren Buffett, the 79 year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway is known far and wide for his thoughts on investing. And being the 3rd richest man in the world he probably knows what he is talking about.
With a few days to spare, we went free-wheeling:
Day 1 in "Berkyville" - Scoping out our surroundings
Day 1 in "Berkyville" - Scoping out our surroundings
Checked out our campground at Haworth City Park in Bellevue, Nebraska. A beautiful park along the Missouri River with over a hundred campsites, picnic areas, playgrounds, fishing pond, athletic fields, a marina, and miles of paved hiking/biking trails. The caretaker said that 3 weeks ago the water on the Missouri rose so high that the campground was within 8" of being flooded. He had kept our phone number close in case he had to call and tell us to go elsewhere. But, thankfully, all is well. All the trees are greening up and the grass is tall. Spring is here.
We scoped out the drive to the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha where the annual meeting will be held. Route is direct. Parking is very close. Yahoo! Checked out the weather forecast for May 1: clear, sunny and warm! Just what we need!
We scoped out the drive to the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha where the annual meeting will be held. Route is direct. Parking is very close. Yahoo! Checked out the weather forecast for May 1: clear, sunny and warm! Just what we need!
We drove through other campgrounds that we'd decided not to use. One was very wet and the other very remote. Our park is great. There is a caretaker on duty, making it pretty secure.
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Day 2 in Berkyville - Stopped at Buffett's haunts
Drove around his neighborhood. Think we found his house. A little girl with a lemonade stand was selling a glass for "$1,000 (for) Billionaires, $100 (for) Millionaires, 50 cents (for) New Class "B" Shareholders". What a kick.
Borsheim's and Nebraska Furniture Mart are owned by Berkshire Hathaway so we opted to go explore them.
First Borsheim's:
This is said long and slow in a very sexy voice --- "Bor sheim's". An elegant place. They hosted a cocktail party the night before the annual meeting. (We were aghast! Sending out-of-town visitors out on the roads after free drinks! Egads!) Borsheim's folks were happy. One artisan was bragging about the sale of 2 pieces of his jewelry. One for $17,000 and the other for $7,985. Ah, well! And there was a ring on display for $35,000. He was hoping that someone just might slip it on and not be able to get it off! These items seemed well above our allowance. But Borsheim's has a gift shop and we looked around and admired all there. $3500 for a glass frog. $8900 for a set of three 8" high horses. Hmm. It was nice to look at.
This is said long and slow in a very sexy voice --- "Bor sheim's". An elegant place. They hosted a cocktail party the night before the annual meeting. (We were aghast! Sending out-of-town visitors out on the roads after free drinks! Egads!) Borsheim's folks were happy. One artisan was bragging about the sale of 2 pieces of his jewelry. One for $17,000 and the other for $7,985. Ah, well! And there was a ring on display for $35,000. He was hoping that someone just might slip it on and not be able to get it off! These items seemed well above our allowance. But Borsheim's has a gift shop and we looked around and admired all there. $3500 for a glass frog. $8900 for a set of three 8" high horses. Hmm. It was nice to look at.
Next the Nebraska Furniture Mart with a 450,000 sq ft showroom and 500,000 sq ft distribution center on 77 acres. We counted 6 sales buildings but only checked out one of them: The Appliance and Electronics showroom. We'd put it on par with a Fry's Electronics. It was huge.
Last stop for the day: Gorat's Steakhouse
Warren (we can call him by his first name now, can't we?) stops by Gorat's regularly and orders a Cherry Coke and a T-bone. We wanted to taste an original Omaha steak and we weren't disappointed. Dean had a Cherry Coke ala Warren. But we decided only billionaires ordered the T-bone at $30. We each enjoyed a thick sirloin.
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Day 3 in Berkyville - We tried to figure out where Nebraska ends and Iowa starts. Every time the Missouri River has changed course in history it has confused the line between these two states. Just north of Omaha and located in a now-landlocked river oxbow is the town of Carter Lake, Iowa. But it's across the Missouri from the rest of Iowa and surrounded by Nebraska.
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We crossed the river into Iowa and headed north to Desoto National Wildlife Refuge to learn about the steamer Bertrand which was located on the east side of the Missouri but is in Nebraska. Fascinating story on the one of the steamships that plied the Missouri in the 1800's. (see The Steamboat Bertrand blog entry)
