Friday, October 14, 2016

South Dakota Road Trip - Day 2

An early start today on a bright and beautiful morning.  After the complimentary breakfast at the hotel (omelettes, sausage, biscuit, cereal, banana, juice, coffee - you know I'm not much of a breakfast eater but on vacation I love a big breakfast to start the day) we checked out and were on the road at 8am.

Oh, what a beautiful morning!
Yes, I know that's from the musical Oklahama!; as soon as they make a musical called Kansas! you be sure to let me know.
Kansas sand hills and sky, sky, sky
Just beautiful, but...
...when did we get on this pink road?
Oh.  I guess it started here.
One of the best parts of the trip - had to be careful not to trip while looking up all the time.
Sunflowers
A flock of birds over a field of sunflowers.  Really pleased how this came out considering I took it through the window of the moving car - it's my current desktop.
Look at that blue!  Shame we don't have sky like this anywhere near the Dallas/Ft. Worth area - it's usually a washed-out pale blue melting to a dirty white haze near the horizon.  See below for comparison.
The local Texas sky.  So glad our state leaders fight clean air measures every chance they get  :(

Approaching our destination.  Here's a look at the projected weather for the week.
Welcome to downtown Rapid City, SD.  We'll be staying 2 nights in a suite at the historic (opened July 1, 1928), allegedly haunted,  Hotel Alex Johnson before moving on to Custer State Park.
Our accommodation awaits
The lobby.  Look closer and you'll see what look like swastikas on the inside of the chandelier.  These marks can also be found in other areas.  As the hotel notes, Native American symbols were used throughout the hotel, and "Although one of the symbols look suspiciously similar to a Swastika, it’s actually an ancient symbol that means the “four sacred corners of the earth,” that was adopted by the Native Americans several centuries ago."
Registration
We had a 2-room suite joined by a common bathroom.  Here's what our room looked like.
And here's the bathroom with the door into the other bedroom


After we got checked in and got situated it was time to eat (and drink), and there was only one choice for our first night - the Firehouse Brewing Co.

Firehouse Brewing Co., right around the corner from the hotel

Todd and I had fond memories from our last visit:  in addition to good food, they also had on tap an out-of-this-world apple cider.  We knew they had a rotating beer menu, but had no idea if this was just a seasonal offering or a regular item.  It had been 3 years - would they by chance happen to have it again while we're here?  Yes!  "Teacher's Pet" is on the board (with a 5% ABV) - so excited!

Exterior
Another angle
Interior shot from near our table upstairs
After accidentally receiving two huge mounds of (amazing) garlic mashed potatoes:  "Shirley, hold those up - yep, right there.  Perfect."  *click*...*giggle*
Mom's having a good time too
Bacon-wrapped pork medallions with bleu cheese, green beans and rice pilaf...and 3 cold Teacher's Pet apple ciders.  I can go home now.  But first, a stop in the gift shop for a t-shirt and hat.
After dinner we walked around downtown a little bit before turning in.  All the stores were closed, so we just window-shopped.  Everyone really liked this great heavily-textured painting by Maya Eventov and the Prairie Edge Trading Co. & Gallery.  If only there was a way to split the cost and ownership...

Next post:  Badlands Nation Park, Wall Drug, and Tally's Silver Spoon.  Stay tuned!

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