Music permeated the chilly air as we walked the sidewalks of downtown Gothenburg, Nebraska. The music being pumped into the streets was unexpected in a small town along Interstate 80, 245 miles west of Omaha and 298 miles east of Denver.
February 18, and not even 10 degrees, and we were heading to Stories, a Gathering Place. If we were a little startled by the outdoor music in Gothenburg, we were pleasantly surprised by this coffee shop.
Warm and brightly lit, while the pavement was void of people, inside this large space, things were hopping. I immediately ran into a line that went to the door, a large group of women were meeting in the main room, and people on their laptops were in the room next door.
Stories was filled with life, and decorated with books, quotes from books, art with books–books, books, and more books. This coffee shop is a bibliophile’s dream. Ryan and I were bitten by the book bug as kids, so we loved Stories. We ended up there for coffee twice during our visit to Gothenburg.
As most of you know, I love small towns. I grew up in a town of 5,000 where milk cows outnumbered humans 10 to one. I made that number up, but there were a lot of milk cows, more than 5,000!
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Gothenburg is a small town. With a population of just 3,400, I have little doubt that some of the kids growing up here are just like me when I was growing up. I wanted out! I wanted to live in a big city. Then I realized, once I got out into the world, how awesome it had been to grow up in a small town. In fact, if I had had children, I would have wanted them to have a similar small town upbringing.
I was in Gothenburg to spread my HeidiTown Consulting message of Love Where You Live. I’d been talking to the Gothenburg Chamber of Commerce for nearly a year, and they liked my message. They liked it so much that Love Where You Live became their 2025 campaign, and I was there to kick it off.
I’ve never been so proud.
I’ve been tanking in Nebraska since 2020. Every year, I organize a group of our friends, and we take over a small motel in downtown North Platte, which is only about 30 minutes from Gothenburg. So, I am familiar with the area.
What is Tanking in Nebraska?
As some regular readers know, I’ve been heading out to Nebraska for birding since 2019. I sincerely like Nebraska and think it is rather underrated when it comes to tourism, especially if you like Americana because the state has got that in spades. And bird nerds need to put the state on your list (if it’s not already) for the Sandhill Cranes and Prairie Chickens.
Dancing Fighting in North Plate, Nebraska: Praire Chicken Tour
You can headquarter in Gothenburg while looking for Sandhill Cranes, which migrate through here by the hundreds of thousands from February to April. While a few had arrived in mid-February during our visit, it was too cold to go out (plus, when temps are like this, they huddle together and are often very hard to find).
In mid-February much of the United States was in a deep freeze (including Colorado). While we were in Gothenburg, it never got over 9 degrees, and one morning we woke up to 17 below 0.
Happily, we were in a short-term rental that was dog friendly (the only dog-friendly short-term rental in Gothenburg). Thankfully, our 1930 bungalow had a fenced yard because walking the dog or walking the block and a half to downtown was out of the question. Brrr.
Gothenburg is a charming town, even in the snow. The quaint downtown is surrounded by Victorian mansions shaded by tall trees that line the streets. Then there are the cute little bungalows from the 30s, like the one we were staying in, and those brick midcentury homes from the 50s and 60s.
The newest homes are on the outskirts of the town, as is the famous Wild Horse Golf Club, consistently rated one of the top 100 public courses in the country. Of course, it was covered in bright white snow while we were there.
Gothenburg is not short on museums because it’s not short on history. Named after Gothenburg, Sweden, it was founded by Germans and Swedes. The high school mascot is The Swede, and the logo looks like a Viking warrior, albeit with horns like the Minnesota Vikings’ logo.
There are fun stories in Gothenburg, like the one about how Lake Helen was built for irrigation and to bring electricity to nearby factories, which meant the town had electricity by 1892, making it one of the first connected communities in western Nebraska. Today, the lake serves as a place for the community to play, picnic, fish, frisbee golf, and more.
Our trip was for my HeidiTown Consulting presentation at the 2025 Chamber & GIC Annual Awards. A fantastic experience—not only did I get to spread the message of Love Where You Live from a theater stage, but got an introduction to all the amazing people and businesses in Gothenburg.
The setting was the Sun Theatre, which was opened in Gothenburg in 1909 as an opera house. Today, it is used frequently, which makes me so happy! Often, historic theaters are abandoned, but not the Sun Theatre. There is always something going on here, including first-run movies on the weekends for just $5. If you live in or near Gothenburg, go and show your support!
The first night, we ate at The Good Life, which isn’t new to us. We used to go as a tanking group to the one in North Platte, until it closed last year. The food is dependably good, and here’s an interesting note. We do not have salad bars in Colorado and yet, they seem to exist all over Nebraska! This is a fun option that we readily take advantage of any time it’s an option, and it is at The Good Life.
Another shout out goes to the family-owned Fresh Seasons Market. We ducked in after dinner for breakfast supplies. We got eggs for half of what they cost in Colorado, and I can’t stop telling everyone. Gothenburg is lucky to have such an excellent grocery store. Fresh Seasons Market supplied the cheese from the awards event and the spread was unbelievable.
By the way, Gothenburg has one of those intangible assets I speak about in my presentation: friendliness. And it’s noticeable. From a group of diners at Jill’s Fika Cafe who enthusiastically greeted us as we walked in, to everyone we ran into around town (including the helpful lady at the salon, Pixie). I’m not going to explain the salon bit, but unexpected hair things happened on this trip. It was just another reminder that “Nebraska nice” is real, and should be celebrated.
If you love golf, bird watching or enjoy visiting the small towns along the Lincoln Highway, Gothenburg, Nebraska, is the place for you. There may not be raging nightlife, but there’s history, nature and big hearts, and that’s worth a lot in this world.
For more information about Gothenburg, Nebraska, go to GothenburgDelivers.com. And to learn about the brilliant way this community tackled the issue of childcare, go to GothenburgImpactCenter.com.
