A high and dry, wild and wet, majestic history medley – RTW 2018

[JohnM]

I had thought of eating locally at the nearby ‘family’ restaurant (which is actually quite reasonable by LOTFAP standards) and having a quiet night in posting today’s activities. But after the grossly, morbidly obese women (one of whom was wearing a Fitbit - like, lady, WTF?- just look in the goddam mirror ) chowing down like there was no tomorrow at the adjacent table last night, that thought evaporated.

I chose to walk about 2 km or so into the centre of Rapid City to scope The Wine Cellar resto. Wow! What a find! French bistro in the mid west of LOTFAP - there’s an oxymoron.

A tidy wine list, arranged by variety, including some D’Arenburg and the inevitable Moly Dooker in the Shiraz selection. But I’m in LOTFAP, so Zinfandel catches my eye.

Very good, but I’ve had better - the magnificent range at Turley always comes to mind.

The food was excellent, with some novel twists. The appetiser I chose was bleu cheese stuffed dates, chargrilled and drizzled with spiced cider reduction. Just a great palate-enlivener, and a great way to kick off the wine. Off to a flying start .

Then filet mignon (sans bacon) with gorgonzola sauce, cauliflower mashed potato and grilled vegetables. Just great. The cauli/mash had a hefty spark of cayenne pepper which worked extremely well .

Now, I am almost never a dessert eater - especially anything sweet. But often “I’ll take a look.” Hmmm..., ‘House churned vanilla bean icecream with olive oil and sea salt’ piques the senses. Let’s do it. Phwoar! - great choice .

Got talking to Christy, the lovely owner, as the night wound down (I was late in and last to leave). She worked in SFO, so she digs it - but I didn’t get to ask how she came to end up in Rapid City South Dakota pushing somewhat uphill.

(A tip she gave me, for anyone going to Beverly Hills, she recommends a little place called The Ivy which apparently is tucked amongst the style shops.)

Anyway, damn glad I walked downtown to very nicely round out my exploration of S & N Dakota. Tomorrow I’ll beeline the 700 clicks to DEN, overnight there (and post from a great day today) and head to MIA on Saturday morning. Methinks a Margarita or two on South Beach is coming up on Saturday night .

 

[drron]

Didn't I say you can get some really good restaurants in the boonies.

 

[VPS]

But you have to admit the dross far outweighs the good ones and sometimes you can't find a good one in a small town

 

[JohnM]

Didn't I say you can get some really good restaurants in the boonies.

You did indeed.

Christy didn’t start the restaurant but picked up the theme when she bought it a few years back. She’s a very good front-of-house person (but not all over you sucking for a tip like in so many restaurants here) and she has a well-trained chef who apparently has family links in the region that make him happy to stay. There was, as I initimated, a sense that she recognised it was a tough gig when most Americans just want quantity and then whinge on Trip Advisor that the serves were small and the cost high.

Her costs must be pretty high with linen tablecloths and napkins and it is not a big place by LOTFAP standards. BTW, on that note, the lamps on the side wall are holders for real candles, for an even more cosy feel. A class act.

 

[JohnM]

But you have to admit the dross far outweighs the good ones and sometimes you can't find a good one in a small town

Good ones are certainly rare, especially in small towns out in the boonies. Rapid City is a big place and there is an enormous tourist traffic here with people going to Mt Rushmore.

Mt Rushmore (up next) is probably the most shrine-like attraction in the country for Americans. The patriotic fervour reaches a crescendo there. I imagine it attracts a vast cross-section of society, which would give Christy some catchment.

 

[JohnM]

So, back in S Dakota yesterday, the first order of business was Mt Rushmore before it became a zoo.

There is no two ways about it, this is a monumental achievement. As I said, it is truly an American shrine.

The Avenue of the Flags displays all states’ flags with the date of entry to the union engraved on the column. The 15 minute video (running in two theatres) is very informative about the construction and is overlayed with a resounding patriotic fervour in the commentary. The museum display shows the one-twelfth models for the sculptors (1 inch translating to 1 foot on the mountain) and posters describe the history, rationale and construction methods and duration (1927-1941).

Certainly something worth seeing, IMO.

 

[JohnM]

After Mt Rushmore, I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon mooching around nearby Custer State Park in the Black Hills. It’s noted for its ‘needle’ rock formations.



The ‘needle’s eye’.



There were a few narrow tunnels on the road.



A big fella.

 

[JohnM]

Then it was a run over into Wyoming to visit Devil’s Tower. Something that’s been on my list for a while but a long way from the W parts I’ve visited several times before.

Spectacular! I walked the trail around the base to get different perspectives. No doubt @RooFlyer can give us chapter and verse on how it formed , but my theory is that it was an alien concrete pour disrupted by a wildcat CFMEU strike .

 

[JohnM]

Nice butte on the way to Devil’s Tower.



Cute fawns while walking the Devil’s Tower trail.



Prairie dog town with animals more habituated to humans than at Theodore Roosevelt NP, so I could get close enough for reasonable phone pics.







That wraps up the main reason for this week - exploring the Dakotas and nearby areas. I’m now back at DEN with a flight to MIA for an overnight stop there before heading to JFK for an overnight stop on Sunday.

Monday it will be AA1 JFK-LAX on the A321T to connect to a QR flight to DOH, overnight DOH and then up to DME on Wednesday.

 

[RooFlyer]

Fabulous pics of devils tower - columnar jointing of a basaltic volcanic plug.

 

[drron]

So you missed Crazy Horse mountain?
70 years and still not complete.A little Gaudiesque.
Controversial but the US should be reminded of the story of Crazy Horse.

 

[JessicaTam]

Fabulous pics of devils tower - columnar jointing of a basaltic volcanic plug.

I thought it was built by Steven Spielberg?

 

[JohnM]

Fabulous pics of devils tower - columnar jointing of a basaltic volcanic plug.

Well, maybe...

 

[JohnM]

So you missed Crazy Horse mountain?
70 years and still not complete.A little Gaudiesque.
Controversial but the US should be reminded of the story of Crazy Horse.

No, I didn’t get to that.

 

[RooFlyer]

Meh. There's a fourth. Take your pick.
Why have a laccolith when you can have a maar?

 

[JohnM]

Meh. There's a fourth. Take your pick.
Why have a laccolith when you can have a maar?

Has anyone ever suggested that you may have too much time on your hands?

 

[JohnM]

Admiral’s Club concourse A at DEN. Like B, nice enough but again fairly small.

Unlike B, the view is internal, over the concourse and under the main atrium.

 

[love_the_life]

Funny but the Canberra Times app had an article on Devil’s Rock in the travel section today.

 

[JohnM]

Ubered from MIA to South Beach tonight for a stroll amongst the typically entertaining S Beach scene and get a light meal and a couple of glasses of wine at a sidewalk table on Ocean Drive while taking in the eye candy and the cruising vehicles.

Saw my first Bentley Bentayga and the usual array of coupes, but the scene was nothing like a few years ago when I arrived on the weekend of a massive hip-hop festival and all the pushers, pimps and music producers were really strutting the goods in pimped vehicles.

The massive coughtails were well evident. Aaahhh, gotta love LOTFAP in Miami .

 

[JohnM]

AA Flagship Lounge MIA.

That’s better...