Revisiting The Most Unlikely Place

LEWELLEN, Neb. (KOLN) - At The Most Unlikely Place, you are bound to find food on the menu that is out of the ordinary. The gallery, coffee shop and café has been on the cutting edge of food service and customer service in the Garden County town of Lewellen for years.

Gluten-free or vegan dishes are a part what the business offers. “We like to serve healthy choice meals,” said Cynthia Miller, owner of The Most Unlikely Place. “We don’t have a grill for example. We have wonderful meat dishes, but we don’t grill our meat. And we have desserts. We are a coffee shop. I love to make cappuccinos and frappuccinos and all of those. We serve what the big old coffee shops serve, but better and cheaper.”

While the coffee shop and café are big draws, the art gallery brings in visitors, too. It features the work of Cynthia Miller’s husband, Dennis, and his siblings, Jean Jensen and Rex Miller. “Dennis’s original idea for this building had to do with art,” said Jean Jensen. “We were all artists, and he said we need someplace to hang our art. Get it out of our closets, and somewhere in the public. That’s how it started.”

The art gallery grew from there. The siblings admit their art is inspired by life in western Nebraska. “Lighting, the seasons, the coming and going of nature, and that’s the largest inspiration for my art work,” Jensen said. “Dennis has done so many paintings of the old river bridge. It’s a pretty amazing area... lots of nature.” The Miller family members are the regular featured artists at The Most Unlikely Place, but every month, there is also a featured artist.

The art on the walls is for purchase. “We like to say that we are a place to lift the spirit and fill the soul,” Miller said.

Art and food is not the only draw. “We have a lovely gift shop that people enjoy,” said Miller. “We have cards that are from all of our featured artists, we have jewelry, books from local authors.”

At The Most Unlikely Place, you are also quite likely to hear some music. Dan Dobson plays during the first Saturday of every month when the business is open for the season. “I play music from the big band era all they way up to country and western, and rock up to the 80′s,” said Dobson. “My piano has the harmony parts with it, so I produce a reasonably full sound.”

Dobson said it’s fun to meet the people who come in. “This is probably the only place where you get a waltz alert,” Dobson said. “Every Saturday when I play, the owners will come in and do a waltz. Cynthia and Dennis will come out and dance, and it’s really fun to do.”

The last Saturday evening of the month, there is a house band. The business is also a jumping off point for other businesses. It’s where people have learned about a home business called Dances of Cranes, operated by Mary Randall. Cranes are familiar visitors to Lewellen in the early spring. “With Dances of Cranes, we take people out very early in the morning to watch the cranes come up from their roosting area on the river,” Randall said. “And even our cranes are special. They are the greater Sandhill crane, they are larger than the cranes that go through the central flyway. This flyway is the ancient flyway.”

If you’re looking to book a trip to see the Sandhill cranes, or if you want to see some local art, hear some good music, or enjoy satisfying food and coffee, then stop at The Most Unlikely Place. The business is open May through September, Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“It’s very unique,” Dan Dobson said. “You are not going to find another place like this.”

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