Last year my family and I took the opportunity to explore some of our state with the Nebraska Passport. We really enjoyed seeing different sites and discovering businesses throughout the state. We were able to visit 39 of the 70 passport stops and had a great time doing it.

So, I was excited on Wednesday when my Nebraska Passport came in the mail. I had forgotten I’d signed up for it with all of the COVID business and it was a welcome distraction.

The Nebraska Passport is a program put on by the Nebraska Tourism Commission to highlight great attractions in the state. For the past 11 years different businesses and sites in the state apply to be a passport stop and the selected spots get added to the passport.

It’s really easy to participate in. You just go to nebraskapassport.com and sign up for them to send you a passport. It is free to get the passport, but some places you will have to pay to visit. Once you have your passport, you will have the list and description of the 70 passport stops for 2020. Then all you have to do is plan some trips to go out and get exploring this state.

The stops vary between restaurants and breweries/wineries to art to state parks and historical markers to boutiques and so much more. There is a little bit of something for everyone and there are stops all over the state.

If you are weary about having to go into places and getting to close to people, there are several outdoor stops that require very little interaction with others. The Nebraska Passport also has an app so you can get a digital stamp when you are in the location of the stop.

The booklet said the program was available May 23-October 31, so my family used the nice day on Saturday to get to two of the stops and get our digital stamps. I did notice later that the app said it runs from June 1-October 31, but the app stamped my passport and we enjoyed our outing. If anything those stops may not be counted for prizes, but I’m okay with that.

COVID may limit some of the stops we make this year, but I plan to get to all of the outdoor stops we can this summer and hope we can safely visit some other places too.

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