Bassett Lodge and Range Cafe, Nebraska

My lunch at the Range Cafe in Bassett Nebraska, is a good example of why I enjoy traveling to small towns, and why I am determined to visit every county in the United States at least once in my lifetime. While driving across the sandhills of north-central Nebraska I stopped at mid-day in this small town of 743 people to look for a place to eat. Downtown on Main Street, the Range Cafe looked like the best choice in town. Walking in the front door was like stepping back in time. The building and the business date back to the late 1800s, and they look little changed since that time except for a few modern touches like air conditioning and electric lights. I seriously doubt if the place had seen any major remodeling for 50 years.

The service was friendly, the food was very good, and as I was finishing my meal an elderly gentleman came up to my table and asked if I were a traveling man. Obviously they don't get many tourists in Bassett. We talked for a while, he told me he was a cattle rancher and the owner of the cafe and the adjoining lodge. He offered to show me around. The lodge was a fascinating place, like a living page-out-of-time. In fact, he showed me an actual page - an 1880's newspaper he had recently found in one of the walls of the hotel. On the paper was a note scribbled by one of the builders of the hotel who had placed it in the wall to be found more than a century later.

As my host and I chatted I learned much of the history of the Nebraska Sandhills country, and of the ups and downs of the cattle industry. Bassett, Nebraska and this extraordinary friendly gentleman (I didn't even get his name) offered me one of those magical travel moments, the memory of which I will always treasure.

I had the lunch special: Two bratwurst links, mashed potatoes with gravy, buttered corn-on-the-cob, green beans, a trip to the salad bar, and iced tea, all for only $5.50.