Don and Cathy Pracheil have truly gone the distance – 50 U.S. capitols, countless memories and a completed bucket list item.
The Pracheils grew up in Crete and have lived in Seward for the past 23 years. Don became a maintenance man for the grounds crew at the Nebraska State Capitol in 1980, and Cathy worked there for a couple of years before moving to the Nebraska State Office Building after it opened.
The Pracheils said, as farm kids, they did not vacation much during their younger years. So, when they married 50 years ago, they prioritized travel. They were always intrigued by state capitols, especially after working at Lincoln’s, and visited them whenever they went to capital cities.
When available, they took the capitols’ guided tours.
A couple of years ago, they realized they had seen almost every state capitol in the country. So, they made it a bucket list goal to go to all of them. They planned vacations to the few states with capitols that they had not yet seen, and they took advantage of the opportunity to explore the cities and any nearby national parks while they were there, too.
The couple crossed the final state capitols, Washington and Oregon, off their list last June. Cathy said George Washington’s head was prominent throughout the Washington State Capitol – even on the doorknobs.
Cathy said she enjoyed weighing how the other state capitol buildings stacked up next to Nebraska’s, which is commonly regarded as one of the best capitol buildings in the United States. It features impressive architecture and many references to Native Americans and pioneers. While working at Nebraska’s capitol, Don learned that even when the building was modified, no one could throw away any of its original materials.
Several of the capitols that were built within the last half-century do not have the carvings and statues that more intricate buildings possess. Some of them look more like office buildings, Cathy said.
However, others have stunning features.
For example, sculptors carved animals and vegetation from New York into the railing of a staircase, known as the “Million Dollar Staircase,” in the New York State Capitol. When they ran out of ideas, they began carving their children’s faces into it, as well.
Texas’s capitol is surrounded by many monuments, and the New Mexico State Capitol building has a strong Spanish influence. In South Carolina, six bronze stars mark spots on the capitol building with visible marks where cannonballs hit its walls during the Civil War.
Cathy said she loved learning at every place they went. They saw and heard many fascinating tidbits of information at each capitol, several of which stand out.
“You kind of learned about the history everywhere you are,” Don said.
President James Polk is buried at the Tennessee State Capitol, and the Alaska State Capitol has a piece of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in the shape of Alaska on display.
When they crossed all the capitols off their list, they took a moment to reflect on all the places they have been– an accomplishment that was decades in the making.
“It was a good feeling, and we came home very proud of our own capitol,” Cathy said.
