In May I went to Rapid City, South Dakota and had a wonderful time. Whooo. I’m sure some of my regular readers are saying,  “This is the woman who thrives on visiting remote places in Japan, countries like Uzbekistan or cites in Eastern Europe no one can pronounce like try Ljubljana.

 I spent three days in the middle part of our country on the edge of the Black Hills.  I learned that the Black Hills are a rectangle of about 50 by 100 miles. They are a beautiful part of our country.  

I also learned that there is a lot to do there. Yep. Some of it might be touristy….and it could be very hot and crowded mid summer, but we ventured forth in May, sometimes wearing puffer jackets to see what we could see.  It was perfect. 

Why go there?  We have a good friend, very familiar with the area who sits on the Crazy Horse Board of Directors who invited us.  More about that later. A future blog post. 

So, what was it like?   

First, it was flat and felt dry to me. Not like the vegetation we have in Michigan. At least not in May. And windy. Omg, I was almost blown over multiple times trying to capture the presidential sculptures on the street corners of Rapid City. 

The city proudly has sculptures of the presidents installed on street corners. It was fun and interesting to see how each president was portrayed when I wasn’t holding on to my hat.  

What else was fun and interesting to see?  The Firehouse Grill. It was a great spot for burgers. We ate at a couple of excellent restaurants,. And I got a real kick out of “Art Alley.” Truly an alley. Art of the people. And a couple of funny stores.  

We stayed in a hotel almost 100 years old with Native American sculptures, interesting ceilings  where breakfast was served in an Irish pub with a slot machine at the back.  It seemed perfectly normal. 

I got a kick out of this light from the prohibition era.  I’m not sure why this was part of a Western Hotel but it was….. 

It also had a Starbucks with a Chubby Chipmunk retail area but more about that later, too. Interestingly, the hotel had a rather swishy roof top restaurant.  Lots of variety. 

We didn’t actually spend a lot of time in Rapid City, instead we ventured out and about. 

Sturgis

First stop was Sturgis, the site of the mammoth Motorcycle gathering held in August.  We didn’t go to that obviously but we did go to a wonderful Motorcycle Museum.  Really interesting.  I have no desire to ride one of these monsters, but it was fun to see all the different models and designs, posters about history and even a wonderful video portraying the festivities in August. Now I don’t need to go there.  

Deadwood

Then we went on to Deadwood. You got it.  That’s the name. The highlights of this western town were the museum, the resort with the casino where I had a buffalo burger and yep, Chubby Chipmunk Chocolate.

The museum was what you might expect. Relics from life in this area when gold was discovered and a lot of Indian Lore. Bissell made the collection.  So did a rare two headed calf.   The resort amused me. I don’t go to Casinos so it was fun to see.  My friend won $35 on a 50 cent bet, showing me how the slot machines worked.  

But the best.  Chubby Chipmunk Chocolate. 

Turns out it is locally owned and its claim to fame besides being delicious is that it was part of a gift bag at the Oscars one year. Chocolate of celebrities.  

We visited the tiny hole in a wall factory replete with chipmunk statues and made choices for our after lunch treat and enjoyed hearing the stories. My favorite was that a speciality is  chocolate dipped Girl Scout Cookies.  As a former Girl Scout I loved that.  

My friend spent his winnings to treat us all.  

Well, that’s it for today.  Come back to read about Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, the Badlands and, my my, Wall Drug.  Lots to learn about an area I didn’t have to travel around to the other side of the world to see.