Mems 🚤

Happy Friday Ledgers,

It is Memorial Day Weekend. This is your friendly reminder that O Street, from Friday till Sunday, is owned and operated by the souped-up Honda Accords and a group of 50 people riding tiny motorcycles. Our advice, delay that trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods ‘til next week or find another route to get where you’re going.

In this week’s issue:

• Urban Park: South Haymarket Park has some updates.

• What To Do: Classic Memorial Day

• Sportz: “I’m a man, I’m 40”

• Neighborhood Watch: Lake home, just in time for summer.

Have a great holiday weekend, ya’ll. And enjoy that extra day off. 🙌

- Landon

URBAN PARK

More green space, please. 🌳

We complained, and it appears Lincoln listened. A major gripe about living in Lincoln, especially downtown, is the total lack of usable green space. The city, which refuses to let buildings rise taller than its Capitol, has been slow to incorporate greenspace in high-density areas. Well, not anymore.

The Lincoln South Haymarket Park project, slated to open in 2026, is set to be a massive achievement for the city. This new development aims to extend the city's livability and enhance the quality of life for downtown residents and employees of businesses working in the Haymarket area.

Park Highlights… Here's a sneak peek at what we can look forward to in the new park, which will start construction next year.

• Skatepark: Perfect for those who like to shred and show off their skills.

• Public Hearth: Which we’ll assume to be a fancy way to say covered seating area or bandstand.

• Dog Park: Where your dog can sniff, sh**, and play.

• Outdoor Bench Seating: Plenty of spots to sit, relax, and people-watch.

• Expansive Greens: Open spaces for picnics, yoga, or just lying down and soaking up the sun.

• Water Features: Adding a touch of tranquility and a fun play area for kids.

The latest… There have been a few updates to the project. Here’s the latest:

• Bigger Skate Park: The updated plans included a larger skate park (a big win for skaters who have had limited options for years)

• Updated Parking: Local tech company J.A. Woollam Co. has come into a land exchange agreement with the city based on some changes from the original plans

• New Endowment: As part of the land exchange, the city will establish a $100,000 endowment to maintain the greenspace north of the Woollam building, which will not include any park activities.

📌 Why It Matters
Well-designed and maintained greenspaces bring communities together. They can also invite new economic development and revitalize aging or underutilized spaces. Lincoln South Haymarket Park is not just a park—it promises a more vibrant and connected downtown.

WHAT TO DO

Classic Memorial Day. 🇺🇸

We’ll bring in the unofficial kickoff to summer in style. Get ice in that cooler, cause it’s about to heat up.

🏄‍♀️ Paddle Boarding
If you’ve ever seen the paddle board at Costco and thought “I could get into that”, tonight is your night. You’ll kick off the weekend on the water with a date night to Holmes Lake for sunset guided paddleboard tours. Test out a new activity (with someone else’s gear), and take in some of Lincoln's best views. End your night with a nearby (A) beer at Pour, (B) ice cream from Scoops, or (C) both. The rest of the weekend will be filled with friends and family, so spend quality time with your partner (or yourself if you roll solo).

🚙 Big Car Gal/Guy
Saturday is for the car enthusiast. You’ll check out the Wheel Hub Live hosted by Speedway Motors and the Museum of American Speed. You’ll spend an hour or two browsing the endless rows of classic and custom cars. When done, you’ll head over to Sun Valley Lanes and sit out in the shade while your friends play cornhole.

🍑 Produce
Sleep in a little on Sunday; you have nowhere to be. If you’re a morning person, get up on time, make some coffee, and turn on the Monaco Grand Prix starting at 8:00 AM (we are obsessed with F1 here at TLL). After rising like the bread dough we are (slow and a bit lumpy), we’ll go grab some fresh peaches from the fruit truck at Boomgaars (yes, you read that correctly). Sunday afternoon, you’ll text some of your favorite people and do a picnic at Branched Oak. You’ll wear sandals and put your toes in the sand.

🇺🇸 Bonus: Memorial Day
It’s easy to get swept up in a weekend of activities and lose the thread of why we have Memorial Day in the first place. If you have even an hour this weekend, try to stop by a cemetery and pay your respects.

SPORTZ

Sporting headlines from around the capital.

• 🏐 Volleyball: Omaha Supernovas won the first Pro Volleyball Federation championship.

• 🎳 Bowling: NU bowler Jillian Martin won “The Masters” equivalent of women’s pro bowling this week and became the youngest winner ever.

• ⚾️ Baseball: Huskers take on Ohio State today at 2:00 PM in the Big Ten Tournament

• 🏈 Football: Friday night Husker games are complicating high school football traditions.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

1330 Pelican Bay Pl, Lincoln, NE 68528

Lake home just in time for summer. 🚣

We’re bringing you a lake house in the capital in honor of the holiday weekend. Located on Capitol Beach, this Spanish-inspired home will make you the go-to home for summer fun, with plenty of space for your party to sprawl and a driveway inspired by a 90s Californian mansion.

Here’s what your day would have looked like if you owned this place already.

• 6:00 AM - Wake up, put on your goggles and trunks, and get some early morning distance swimming in.

• 7:30 AM - Head into work, or skip it. You’re a Water Person now.

• 12:00 PM - Lunch break on the back deck, let the dog out, toss the ball and let him swim a little.

• 5:30 PM - Back at home, prep for a grill out with friends in the Nebraskan golden hour.

• 7:00 PM - Dinner served waterfront as night begins to take its shape.

• 7:45 PM - Quick trip around the lake with the boat (pontoon, of course).

• 8:45 PM - Friends head out, giving you some quiet time before bed.

• 9:30 PM - Read outside in your comfy chair while listening to the sounds of the water with a glass of wine.

• 11:30 PM - Bedtime, fall asleep with the windows open.

The Details:

• 4 beds, 3 baths

• 2,800 sq/ft

• Built in 1996

• A mandatory weekly trip from the mosquito squad

❤️ KEEP: The Spanish roof, the rooftop deck, the columns, the doorstep tile, the French doors leading into the kitchen, and the views.

🗑️ TOSS: The little balcony above the front door (go big or go home), the white exposed ceiling beams (darken these up a bit), the bedroom carpets, the interior doors, and the mini-seating area to the left of the back porch.

CHECKLIST

The to-do list for A Players.

• Don’t forget the condiments; you’ll need some for your grilling. Yes, the 6 bottles of mustard in your fridge are expired.

• Trim the hedges. Here’s a quick tutorial for boxwoods.

• Swap out the batteries in your smoke alarms. While you’re at it, make sure you’ve got a fire extinguisher on lock for when the Grill Master is a up few tall boys in & down significantly in attention span.

• Bathe your vacuum cleaner. Here’s how. 

• Give your kayak a spray down and get it ready for the weekend.

HEADLINES

More news from around the capital.

• Voice: Lincoln native Bryan Oleson came in third in the voice final results.

• Callback: Lincoln Masonic raises $19k to cover lunch debts at LPS

• Beer Olympics: Bierhaus to host beer olympics this weekend.

🐯 Weekly Wildcard:
One headline (or post) we never saw coming.

• The Lebron James of Baking: Pound Middle School Head Baker retires a legend, has reportedly baked over 100,000 cinnamon rolls.