Sick on the road
Head colds are annoying and tiresome in the best of circumstances. On a family road trip, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a head cold going through our big family was a serious downer!
This is part of an ongoing series about our family road trip from Oregon to Georgia. To start at the beginning, click here.
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Table of Contents
We had taken turns fighting it since a couple of days before the trip—Mom and Dad had it first, then the littles started catching it. Ugh.
This review is from Mom (Jenn). For a teen’s perspective on Fort Cody Trading Post, scroll down to read our daughter “Burro’s” review!
We knew it wasn’t COVID, since the four oldest family members had all had the vaccinations already. So we started on our road trip anyway, knowing the cold would be cleared up before we were in close contact with anyone outside our household.
(This is a non-sponsored review, and Fort Cody was not notified that we would be reviewing their attraction. As always, all opinions are our own.)
Slow startup
Sunday morning, Day 4 of our trip found us dragging ourselves out of bed at our hotel in North Platte Nebraska. We had seen the 50-foot Buffalo Bill Cody cutout on our way to our hotel the night before, and after checking Fort Cody Trading Post out on Roadtrippers, we decided to stop there before making our way east.
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We were desperate for coffee and breakfast, and, O Happy Day! Right across the street from Fort Cody was a Dunkin’ Donuts.
The whole world had the same idea apparently, because Dunkin’ Donuts was jam-packed. Brian took the kids over to ride the Sinclair dinosaur with a saddle and take pictures, while our currently sickest kids sat in the van and helped me.
Donuts and caffeine obtained, we parked in the Fort Cody lot to eat and wake up a bit before exploring.
This is THE PLACE for your Western photo ops, folks! Fort Cody is set up like a real old fort from the outside, with two-story high palisades all around and towers on either end. From above the entrance, stuffed soldiers are shooting at people in all sorts of goofy positions!
There is also a giant postcard out front, so we got our boys to stand still for a pic while the rest of us finished our donuts.
Super Souvenir Store
Inside is a giant store of Old Western knick-knacks, toys, tongue-in-cheek souvenirs and authentic Indigenous art pieces for sale.
We wandered happily through the wares, enjoying the great variety—there was something to please everyone. Intermixed with all this fun stuff are several history displays: a two-headed calf, Buffalo Bill Memorabilia, and other true history exhibits.
The highlight of these displays is the miniature Wild West Show, which plays every half hour. The mini Show was a labor of love by one man who handcrafted every tiny piece and then set them up to run along with his model train set. We all loved watching it and walking around to see the little dioramas being acted out in each spot.
It’s easy to see that the proprietors have worked hard to make this MORE than just a souvenir shop. Plaques and informational posters throughout made it easy to pick up a little history, as well as pick up the fun stuff like coonskin caps, pop rifles, antler beer top openers and so on. Our kids mostly came away with a new appreciation for how fun and interesting the Wild West was… I think. 🙂
Out Back
Out in the back of the store is a huge open lawn and stage. We turned the kids loose to run back there for half an hour while Brian and I nursed our coffees. Everything in the back yard area can be touched and climbed on, so our kids did just that!
Our girls got on stage to practice our newly-learned line dance (Cotton-eye Joe) just for fun. The boys clambered up into actual abandoned covered wagons, and onto a metal bison, and into a demo teepee.
It was a great spot to run off some energy before climbing into the van for the day’s drive.
Fort Cody has a great selection of books on scholarly subjects of Western history— we could have easily bought a dozen fascinating titles. It was getting late though, so we piled everyone back in and it was on the road again!
Burro’s Review of Fort Cody Trading Post
“Fort Cody- Western-Lover Wonderland!”
Fort Cody is a pretty cool place. It has a history section, a mind-blowing gift shop, and an enormous outdoor area!!
Okay, spoiler alert: When you walk in, the first thing you’re gonna see is the gift shop. Now, you may be thinking, “Oh, no big deal, lots of places have you enter/exit through the gift shop!” But seriously, 95% of the indoor part is gift shop.
Bring your wallet, ‘cause this is the Western gift shop to end all Western gift shops. They’ve got fuzzy jackalope money banks, archery sets, genuine Native American dolls, and everything Western you could want.
Parent Note: the bathrooms are just inside the gift shop.
The history section is awesome! History lovers, be warned- it’s rather small. ☹️ It has a stuffed two-headed calf, some Native American clothing, a little bit about Bill Cody’s life and occupations, and best of all, a model of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
Miniature Wild West Show
Hang on to your hats, though, because this just gets cooler! THE SHOW HAS TINY HAND-PAINTED FIGURINES, AND EVERY 15 MINUTES, YOU GET TO WATCH THE WILD WEST SHOW FOR YOURSELF!!!!!! It’s like time-traveling!!
The show stays on for a full 3 mins, which may not seem like much, but the display is set up so you can watch different parts just by turning from one side to another. They have Annie Oakley and everything!
The outdoor area is arguably the best part. There’s a HUGE space, lots of grass, and historical replicas of covered wagons, teepees, and a wooden jail cell, all of which your jittery kids can climb all over and around. It’s fenced in by a replica of a pointy-stake-fence-thing, like all the forts in the movies have!
The area also has some small wildlife, the kind in a pond or backyard. When I was there, I found a toad. SO COOL!
The front decorations are pretty funny, and the statues outside the entrance (bear, buffalo, replica cannon) are perfect for climbing and for pics. They didn’t have any signs saying don’t touch, so why not?
Have fun, and make sure you get a picture by the giant cutout!”
😊-Burro
Our next stop was the Sod House Museum in Gothenburg, NE.
© Copyright 2021 Jennifer D. Warren
Fort Cody sounds like a fun tourist trap for all ages. Would love to know a lot about the history, so sadly that’s the smaller part.
Hoping to update this post with more of the history at a later point – thanks for stopping by!
Fort Cody looks and sounds like a great roadside attraction. And what an epic road trip!
Epic is right!
Ahh, Roadtrippers is awesome! This sounds like a fun roadside stop! That arrow in the butt is hilarious, haha.
Yes! Roadtrippers is the best!
Looks like it might be worth a stop in Fort Cody just for the gift store!
It’s a seriously excellent selection!
I’ve never been to Nebraska, interesting road trip find!
Interesting is right!