High Plains Drifters

Presidents? I'm guessing the real money was made with Black & Yellow trivia of any variety.

buffetbuster


See, now Alpine Inn would have been a much more interesting place to have had lunch.  Too bad I didn't know about it ahead of time.  How about that dessert menu!

Thanks for info Vapor1967 and welcome to Roadfood!

 
HOLY MOLY!!!  I can't remember EVER seeing a better dessert menu.  Even an anti-dessert guy like me would have to order several items.
 
Vapor1967, Great first post.  Thanks and welcome.

buffetbuster -  I'm surprised you missed the Alpine Inn.  Its been endorsed on the board by Stephen Rushmore.

I assume you missed the Museum of the Black Hills Institute while in Hill City.  It is in the next block north of the Bumpin Buffalo on the same side of the street (in the same block as the Alpine Inn).  It is a pretty small museum, but among other things, it has the skeleton of T.rex Stan (and is the original home of the T.rex Sue which is now in the Field Museum in Chicago)  http://www.bhigr.com/museum/

buffetbuster


Although, trying to get a photo of just yourself with it in the background can be very frustrating,

because there is just so many other people trying to accomplish the same thing.

I don't want to crush any illusions buffetbuster, but you are only the second most photogenic person in this picture (if we don't count the four stone heads in the distance).

Roz and I were there a few years ago.  We also saw Crazy Horse which was very entertaining.
 
We also saw the beautiful Mountain goats at both of the facilities.  Beautiful white animals and apparently were very tame as we were very close to get pics.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I hope you found Mt. Rushmore and the badlands breathtaking, I do every time. I visited with the proprietor of the Colonial House today and told him of your ordering whiff, I chalked it up to possible food fatigue. You did salvage the deal with sweet potato fries and your beautiful sour cream raisin pie. The boss man did wonder aloud why you didn't order buffalo something? The walleye strips were a nice touch though, you nailed that! Did you get your pie on at the Robbinsdale bowling or the purple pie place in Custer? I am breathlessly awaiting the rest of your report! For what its worth, I am preparing a pork shoulder for the Weber on Sunday, would go great with sour cream raisin or almond cream pie! Happy travels.
Jealous regards, Paintman

Sorry to tell you this paintman, but I am out of town for the weekend, so the next segment won't be until Monday.  You will be happy to see we did make it to both places you mentioned.

That makes for a very long weekend indeed! Perhaps I will spend the hours trying to figure out how to post a picture of the pork shoulder to this website.
Anxiously,
Paintman
P.S. where are your travels taking you now? You are certainly eating while on the road.

I have to say, as we continue along with this report, that this one is one of your best.I usually cant wait for the food-but I now also wait for the beautiful scenery you are sharing-none of which I have ever seen. I have not traveled by road west of the Mississippi, and you have opened the western U.S. to me. Thanks, BB.

I agree Ann! This is one part of the country I've not been to. Wonderful report buffetbuster! Thanks for taking us along!

Sundancer:  I was wondering whether we'd hear anything about mountain goats!  (They're really antelopes, not goats.)
 
They are my absolute favorite animal in the wild -- and they are especially easy to spot in Glacier National Park in Montana.  They can be seen all over the park, but the BEST place to see them is up at Sperry Chalet (an old Great Northern Rail tourist backcountry lodge), but you have to hike or ride horseback to get there -- no vehicles of any kind allowed.  The first time we hiked up there, two goats literally came up to greet us, and on a hike to the glacier the next morning, a yearling goat settled down right next to us as we were resting on the grass. 

JRPfeff--it's almost an unintentional photobomb.  It's like he's hanging out with the little girl from Little Miss Sunshine in an awkward moment.

LOL!

Great call Nancypalooza, I can almost hear Superfreak in the background.

JRPfeff

buffetbuster


Although, trying to get a photo of just yourself with it in the background can be very frustrating,

because there is just so many other people trying to accomplish the same thing.

I don't want to crush any illusions buffetbuster, but you are only the second most photogenic person in this picture (if we don't count the four stone heads in the distance).

Are you saying that BB needs a set of graffiti-print capri pants?
 
Brad

Brad-
Can you really imagine them selling pants like those in my size?  I'm just surprised you were able to describe the capris so well.  You either have daughters or you do all your clothes shopping at Juicy Couture!
 
paintman-
We were attending a family reunion in northern Delaware.  Of course, this gave me a chance to visit a couple of spots in the area and in Philly. 
 
Tony Luke's?  Still fantastic!
 
6star-
Yes, we did miss the Museum of the Black Hills.  The day we visited Hill City was so packed, there was no way to get anything else.  Too bad, since it sounds like a great little museum.

Wednesday June 15, 2011 cont. 
 
On the way from Hill City to Jewel Cave National Monument, you pass right by the Purple Pie Place.  Hey, who am I to turn down an extra pie stop!  The actual name of the restaurant

seems to be something different, but everyone just calls it Purple Pie Place


for obvious reasons.
 
If I remember correctly, they did have regular food, but all those in line were ordering pie and ice cream.  Once again, I got lucky, since sour cream raisin pie was their cream pie of the day,

which makes me think it isn't always on the menu.  The pie

had just the right consistency, the proper sour/sweet balance and plenty of raisins.  But, I have to deduct points for it having a whipped topping instead of meringue and once again, there was a strong cinnamon flavor.  Overall a good slice of pie, but the one at Colonial House was clearly better.
 
Johnny's piece of blackberry pie

was superb!  Just loaded with fresh, real blackberries, it was still warm from the oven.  The crust on top was very flaky, while the bottom crust had soaked up so much of the fruit juice, Johnny compared it to a cobbler.  To drink with his pie, Johnny downed a big glass of milk.

 
We certainly considered another slice of pie each, but decided to try the ice cream instead,

both of us ordering a flavor that is impossible to find back home, huckleberry. 

The flavor of the huckleberry was maybe a little too subtle, but I did like that it stayed hard for a long time, despite how hot it was.
 
Purple Pie Place
19 Mount Rushmore Road
Custer, SD
605-673-4070   
 
Once we reached Jewel Cave National Monument,

we were in for a disappointment.  You needed to have reservations ahead of time for the different tours.  We have been to Mammoth and Carlsbad National Parks before and didn't need reservations, so this surprised us.  The only opening was on the Discovery Tour, which only lasts 20 minutes long.  All you do is go down the elevator and stand on a platform, while the park ranger gives a short talk.  You don't even get to see any stalactites or stalagmites!  Not wanting to come away completely empty-handed, we took the quick tour.  Sorry, this

is the only photo inside the cave that turned out worth posting.  Our ranger, with the awesome name of Vance Fire Thunder was a real pro and made the time here very interesting.
 
While we were waiting for the tour, we rested in the little seating area.  In the middle, they had a cement block attached to the ground. 

This was actually a test to see if you could go on one of the advanced tours.  It is too small to read, but it says, "This block is your ticket to adventure.  By squeezing through you qualify for Jewel Cave National Monument's Spelunking Tour!  This tour is an off trail introduction to safe, fun caving.  The block is 8 1/2 inches high and 24 inches wide - the size of the smallest passage of the tour.  Give it a try!" 
 
So, I gave it a try! 

No, I don't think I am going to make it.  Any further and it would have taken the jaws of life to get me back out.  I showed this to my 110 lb. girlfriend and she didn't think she could squeeze through.   Who else can go on the tour besides kids?

 
We started our drive back towards Rapid City.
 
Much more to come.....

I'd have waited for those little stalactites to get out of the darn picture.

Are you sure they aren't stalagmites?

Could be one of each.

A couple of other recommendations while you are there.  Firehouse brewery in downtown for good beer and pub grub.  High end meal at the Corn Exchange.  Fiords Icecream if it still exists.  There was also a bar up in the little town of Rochford near Deerfield Lake in the central hills.  Great burgers, $1 beer, and the most interesting graffiti on the latrine walls I've ever seen anywhere.  The owners covered the walls with quotes from famous authors, poets, and philosophers.  Very cool!  I should mention that I grew up in Rapid City - left in 1985 - but return there pretty often to visit family.
 

Buffetbuster 
  
I'm glad you had the opportunity to try Chislic-  
I was under the impression it was an Eastern South Dakota specialty so I'm surprised you found it as far west as you did. 
Traditionally it's prepared with lamb versus beef, but I'm sure the beef version was probably just as good. 
seems you had better luck finding sour cream raisin pie than I had. and I was IN sour cream raisin pie territory

I went to Merrimac Caves outside of St.Louis, and learned" stalagtites stick to the ceiling", "stalagmites might make it to the ceiling"a wonderful way to remember....

Did a quick check.  The place in Rochford is still there - Moonshine Gulch Saloon!

WJ-
I wasn't aware that chislic is normally made of lamb.  With the way it is prepared, it is undoubtedly delicious with lamb, also.  And while I was able to find a lot of sour cream raisin pie, only one of them would be what Roadfooders typically think of as sour cream raisin pie.  I am a fan of cinnamon, but not in SCR pie.

Wednesday June 15, 2011 cont.
 
On the way back to Rapid City, we stopped at the Crazy Horse Memorial.  Here

is the view of the mountain carving from the visitor's center.  You can pay extra to get closer to the memorial, but since we had already paid once just to get into the place, we weren't feeling it.  It really is impressive size wise and no doubt it will be spectacular when they are done.  But, man, do they have a long way to go!  Here is the model of what it will look like,

with the mountain in the background.
 
The best thing about the visit here was the young Native Americans doing traditional dances in brightly colored attire. 



Very enjoyable!
 
Back in Rapid City, we headed straight for Robbinsdale Bowling Alley Cafe. 


If you remember, we stopped in the night before for dessert, but they were out of pie.  And since we found the place so charming, in a Roadfood sort of way, we made this our dinner destination for the night.  Once again, we had good pie karma going on, since I was able to snag the last slice of chocolate pie.  The only other pie left was pumpkin, which was good since Johnny is a fan.
 
We both started our meals with a cup of the chili. 

The waitress asked if we wanted cheese, onion and tomato on the chili.  We said yes to the cheese and onion.  I don't ever remember being asked about tomato before.  Unfortunately, the chili was too thin for our taste and Johnny thought it could use some hot sauce to spice it up.
 
For his entree, Johnny chose one of the specials, Mary's homemade chicken fried steak.  

It was very tender, with a nice light breading.  He would of preferred a white gravy to the brown gravy that came with it, but still he liked his dinner.  On the side, those fries are American fries.  You are probably thinking that is what they call french fries here, but they also have french fries on the menu.  American fries seem to be a cross between home fries and short steak fries. 
 
I went with the Big Leo.  If they think enough of the sandwich to give it a special name, that I am willing to try it. 

Although the sandwich was fine, it was light on the ham and cheese and heavy on the toppings.  The too hard cheese balls were awful.
 
Finally, it was pie time, as we had to endure the pies sitting in front of us for a good 30 minutes plus.  My chocolate pie

was rich and very chocolatey, with an impressive flaky crust.  Johnny thought his pie

was not as dense as you see most pumpkin pies, but still had good pumpkin flavor.
 
Although there were some missteps, we still recommend Robbinsdale Bowling Alley Cafe and much of that is for the atmosphere.  What Roadfooder wouldn't appreciate eating his or her meal to the sound of crashing ten pins,


especially since the lanes were directly behind our backs at the counter?  And not only is this place a bowling alley/cafe, but it is also a bar and a casino, but we never ventured over to the other side of the building.  Our waitress was very nice, but she spoke so softly, I had to constantly ask her to repeat herself.  We also enjoyed the interaction between the waitress and a regular, especially when they were discussing another regular who never tips and always complains about the food, yet eats there all the time.  I'm, sure just about every restaurant has one of those to deal with.
 
Robbinsdale Bowling Alley Cafe
805 E. Saint Patrick Street
Rapid City, SD
605-342-7271 
  
Once back downtown, I took some time to check out some things out I had been wanting to photograph.  Rapid City has a project called City of Presidents in which they have statues of presidents on street corners.  This must make giving directions more fun, as in, "Okay, you go straight and make a ralph at Ike, drive a couple blocks and hang a Looie at Lincoln."  The presidents are all in different poses.  Harry Truman is holding the Chicago Tribune, which famously declared him an election loser. 

George Washington has a sword, to highlight his military career. 

Ronald Reagan is dressed in Western clothes. 

A very casual Jimmy Carter is apparently waving to his neighbor in the front yard. 

Gerald Ford gets a dog. 

Bill Clinton looks like a stand-up comedian. 

James Madison is either very mad or very determined. 

And since he was ill for the entire one month he was in office, William Henry Harrison gets to sit down.

 
At this point, it had been a very long day, so we settled in for the night.
 
Much more to come.....

ann peeples


I went to Merrimac Caves outside of St.Louis, and learned" stalagtites stick to the ceiling", "stalagmites might make it to the ceiling"a wonderful way to remember....

 
The way I learned which was which was from a guide at Luray Caverns about a million years ago - - - think of a circus acrobat with an 'insect' problem....  The "mites" climb up and the "tights" come down for easier scratching...... 
 
 

.....And then there are the mitey-tites (columns).

Those president statues are all pretty good.  Bill Clinton does look like a standup comedian.