It’s like totally normal to spontaneously plan to drive 7 hours from home for a weekend vacation TWICE within three weeks, right?
I mean, our crew clearly OOZES normal. So “normal” we did.
Yep. We went to the Black Hills on a whim for a quick family getaway before school started, and then spent a weekend at home, and then decided to take another trip out to the Hills for adults only the following weekend.
We are not normal. We be crazy.
But crazy can be fun!
We decided a little sooner than the day of (like last time), but it wasn’t much sooner - maybe a couple of days? We just needed to confirm that our children would be taken care of while we were away, and the rest of the details would work themselves out.
And so they did. We left home that Friday afternoon around 4:00, and by-passed the scenic route. We drove up through Yankton, grabbed Taco Johns, and found our way to the Interstate as quickly as possible.
We drove and drove until we made it to Chamberlain, SD. I MADE Jake stop so we could see the Dignity Statue. We didn’t stop on the trip with the kids, and I was determined to see the statue. It looked like it would be really neat. And it was. It was so pretty. And the view at the rest-stop overlooking the Missouri River was stunning. As I had mentioned in our first post about the Black Hills, we had visited the Chamberlain area to scope out a potential summer vacation. That view moved it up another notch. We shall see!
So I did crochet along the way – I made a hat with a heart on it. And when I put the little pompom on the top and modeled it for Jake, the pompom fell apart. Jake conveniently captured that moment. I think I was speaking with a really weird accent – I like to do that. Sorry.
Anyway….we stopped for a quick pit-stop at Wall Drug, and then drove through Rapid City, Sturgis, and then wound through the familiar hills to our hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton Deadwood at Cadillac Jack's, innnnnnnnn…..Deadwood! Woop! Woop!
One of Jake’s good friends and his wife were going to be in Deadwood the same weekend. So when we arrived and managed to figure out which elevator to take, we found them at the casino in our hotel…before we even checked in! Did I mention it was probably about midnight at this point, and everyone but ME was prepared to stay awake. Is anyone surprised?
So we checked in, dropped our stuff off in our room (which was okay – the hotel was totally updated, but was all gray/black/white/red…a little too gray/black/white/red for my taste, but nice just the same!), freshened up just a little (because I really didn’t think we were going to do anything, and thought "Why exert effort to look nice when you're just going to go to sleep?"), and then went back downstairs to find our friends.
On the gaming floor, I heard, “Cocktails!” “Who wants a cocktail?!” Ugh. This was not going to be a short evening...I was starting to regret not "getting ready". So I’m not really even sure what happened until we left the casino. I think we found a really terrible glass of wine for me. And I think we wandered around our casino for a bit. I was so tired, and I really needed to catch a second wind. So did I?
Well, when we decided to walk downtown, and it was like 50°, and I was wearing shorts and sandals, I certainly did. I was by far the shortest of the group, but I was definitely the fastest. I didn’t realize that my comrades were struggling. I just knew I was cold, and there would be warmth in one of the bars “downtown”. But finally someone mentioned something about my speed, and I said, “Too bad. I’m cold.” And kept on keeping on. And then my sandal broke. Karma? I dunno. But luckily my sandal had two straps, and one still held. It still made it awkward to speed walk, but I was determined.
That’s when we happened upon Saloon #10 Bar. Our friends thought we needed to go to this particular Honky Tonk bar. Let me remind you, we were in the middle of Covid-19. So…hesitantly, I walked in. And to walk into a packed bar was….bizarre! But no one was wearing masks. Everyone was having fun. There was a live band and slot machines, poker tables, and saw dust on the floor. And we even found a John Wayne machine.
And it was so late. But we hung out there and scoped out the whiskey selection, and chatted.
While we visited, I noticed the vintage Bud Light signage behind our table and spotted him – Pat Sajak. During my bachelorette party many moons before, I had sworn that a sign at one of the bars we visited looked like Pat Sajak, and no one else in my group agreed. But this was before cellphones had cameras so I did NOT get a picture. But that evening in Deadwood was a different story. So I grabbed my smart phone and excitedly got a picture – so happy I would get to share it with my girlfriends.
Well…that picture turned out…terribly. It’s like I wasn’t supposed to get a picture. But I googled “Bud Light Advertising Retro Guy,” and found this…BAM. I told you it’s Pat Sajak. I am NOT crazy. ;)
Then we made our way to our next stop, Silverado casino. This was apparently our friend’s favorite casino in Deadwood. It was fine, I suppose. But I’m not the biggest gambler. I don’t like playing card games because I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t have the patience to sit there and wait for my turn while other people go. I can sit at a slot machine and mindlessly push a button, but it’s so hard when I think about how many pairs of shoes I could have purchased for the amount I just lost! And it’s just as hard to just sit there and pay attention at a table when I'm not actually playing. ANYWAY….we were there for a bit – teasing our friend’s wife about her “boyfriend” (aka – A former high school classmate who happens to work there. Rumor has it, he’s the nicest guy, married, and probably has no idea they refer to him as her “boyfriend”.).
And then, and it’s a little fuzzy – I don’t know how we got back to the hotel. No – it wasn’t that there were too many cocktails. It’s that I was SO unbelievably tired – I can picture us taking a taxi back AND walking back. Did I walk back with my broken sandal? Did we leave our friends that night? I DO NOT KNOW. But we stayed up until….3:00 or something. We came back to the room and watched some stupid Adam Sandler movie…again…so fuzzy, I can’t even remember what it was. Oh my gosh – we got pizza in the casino, too. So it’s sort of starting to come back to me…here’s what happened – we took a taxi with the other couple back to the hotel, and we left them at one of the tables, got ourselves some pizza, and ate it up in the room while we watched that horrible movie that I can’t even remember. Wow. That was ridiculous, and it was SO late. But we each had our own bed! Lol. When you wait until the last minute to book a room, the King Suites aren’t always available – so we settled for a room with two queen beds…and it was mighty nice to sleep like a starfish without consequence!
But up and at ‘em bright and early. No recollection of what time it was, but I’m sure it was before 9:00, right? Like, I think so for sure. So Jake did what he does when we're on vacation at a casino, and he went to the casino floor while I got ready. I had packed a cute little t-shirt dress from MSquared and an extra pair of sandals for the weekend…thank goodness…so I at least had something decent to wear. I tossed my broken sandals in the trash and strapped on my strappy - not appropriate for walking 12 miles - sandals, fixed my hair, put on my make-up, and was ready for the day!
A Starbucks in our hotel got us started, and we crossed the street to get to the walking path that would lead us downtown.
It was such a nice little walking path. The surrounding landscape was so pretty, and there was a little babbling brook and the cutest little yellow flowers, I ever did see. (I found out what they were called if you’re wondering – Tansy). And Jake saw fish in the water. We were having the best morning ever. It doesn’t take much to have a great time when you decide that’s what you’ll have.
We went to the Franklin Hotel (supposedly haunted), put our name on the wait list for breakfast at Legends Steakhouse on the bottom floor, and explored the old-fashioned casino. Very Old West. So charming.
We finally went downstairs to our table, and I decided it was just adorable. The antiqued smoked mirrors on the wall next to our booth, the stone walls, the dark wood bar and accents were so classic. Maybe it would be a good look for our basement remodel (someday…looking to be sooner rather than later…but that’s a different story!)
We ordered Bloody Mary’s, and our usual breakfast – Jake with his bacon and eggs and hashbrowns and toast, and my order of something sinfully decadent…was it French Toast? Pretty sure it most certainly was. When I know I’m going to be walking a ton, indulging in a blood sugar rising breakfast isn’t super concerning. ;) And it was great. So good. All of it.
After our breakfast, we explored the area in the daylight. Walked past the shops (Jake claims I wouldn’t let him stop at the first souvenir shop because he wanted to get a sticker for the garage fridge. I did NOT NOT let him go into the shop. I just didn’t know he wanted to go in until AFTER we had already walked past it, and it became a “Jake thing”…all day.). But we walked and walked and walked, and explored all of the casinos-looking for the Oompa Loompa machines we had a blast on when we were in Las Vegas, and walked past the best t-shirt I had seen in awhile. I really regret not getting it…I won’t tell anyone what it was, but it was good.
So that was fun, but like…is that why we came all this way? To just walk around the casinos? Uh....no!
We walked back to our hotel, freshened up (because seriously…we walked forever). We needed something to do. So we did some googling to find something that we could do that we wouldn’t necessarily be able to do if the kids were with us…okay. No brainer. Winery.
We grabbed some iced coffees for a quick lift-me-up, and drove to Hill City. It wasn’t particularly close, but it was a winery, and the road was just beautiful. I didn’t mind spending the noon hour driving through scenery like that!
The Prairie Berry Winery is just outside of Hill City, and sits right off of the highway. It was perfect. It was packed. Apparently, it is customary to host a bachelorette party in the Black Hills. We saw many brides-to-be the night before at the bars, and even more at the winery. Covid isn’t going to stop these ladies!
We decided to order a light/late lunch and a wine flight for each of us and sit outside enjoy the scenery. A charcuterie and cheese board and the recommended flights were great choices. Like so lovely. SO lovely. What a perfect afternoon.
We waited a while before we went back inside the shop to pick out some wine to take home with us (Did you know you can find this wine in Sioux City, IA??). Not really as special as I had first thought, but buying wine from the actual location it’s made at probably is special, right?
Then we went for a little drive….thinking that we might try to take a detour here or there, and then remembered…we had seen a sign on the highway for Silver City, and I had thought it sounded like a really neat place, and thought it would be great to get a Silver City t-shirt. Souvenir bay-bay!
So we set-off on a mission to find this charming city.
We drove on the most winding steep road EVER for like ten minutes to what felt like the absolute middle of nowhere, and then…our GPS said we were there.
Where?
Silver City.
But it was like a house…well, more than one, but like one road with a couple of cross roads. Four houses? We turned down one of the gravel roads in this amazing tourist destination, and quickly reached a dead-end. One of the homesteaders was outside tarping his boat, and smiled kindly at us as we attempted to turn around. It was like he knew something we didn’t. Like maybe there was no way out of this town, and there sure as heck wasn’t a t-shirt to buy. “Hey, Mister! Do you have an old t-shirt? Can you get it? Do you have a marker? Can you write Silver City on it, please? Thank you!”
We made it out of the town…we had to go back the way we came…like ALL the way back the way we came…there was a giant mountain between us and our next destination….Rochford. It surely couldn’t be as disappointing or as horror-stricken as Silver City. But how do you get there?
By a gravel road that the county doesn’t maintain.
Thankfully that road was wide and actually well-maintained. Apparently logging is a big industry in the Hills. Who knew?! And the roads were ready for the loggers.
But we made it to this second little town that started out much more promising than Silver City. They had a newer volunteer fire department building to the right as we entered…and as we kept traveling down the highway that goes through the town and begins to curve around, we almost drove right into a bar that sits smack dab in the middle of the curve on the edge of the highway (Okay – we really didn’t almost run into the bar, but I just want you to understand HOW close this bar is to the edge of this highway, and how you COULD drive right into it if you missed the curve. It has HAD to happen, right?). And of course, sitting on the front porch of the bar were some locals in rocking chairs….really welcoming. Definitely NOT creepy AT ALL. Ha! More like…let’s just keep going. We are NOT stopping here.
So down the highway we went…stopping briefly at the quarry in Lead...and then we found our way back to Deadwood. Spearfish was just too far and we had planned to meet our friends for dinner at the Franklin Hotel at Legends.
We naturally found our friends on the gaming floor as soon as we returned to the hotel. I asked if I looked okay enough for dinner, and they were all like “sure,” so I went upstairs and changed. Just kidding – I just put on a little bit of eye shadow….ooh la la la!
Then we took a cab to the restaurant area…just in time for the shoot out! What? Yah, there was a very scripted gun fight in the street. Only Jake cared, so we went up to the hotel to go to the restaurant (Legends Steakhouse again), and noticed a sign that said the restaurant was closed because of Covid.
Uh?
Jake and I had just eaten breakfast at this same restaurant that morning. What happened in less than 8 hours?? Had we acquired Covid while enjoying our French Toast and Bloody Marys?
Well, more importantly than why the restaurant was closed, where the heck were we going to have dinner? I was STARVING!
We decided on a restaurant that was down the street…at Saloon 10, (again – we’re really expanding our horizons!) called Deadwood Social Club Restaurant. But Jake had to watch the gun fight first. O.M.G.
As we took the entrance to the restaurant, we saw Wild Bill Hickok…or the actor who PLAYS Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood on Main Street. ;) A local celebrity. How exciting?
We went into the building and walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor. It was like walking into a brothel (if I had ever been in one – which I have NOT), but that’s what I pictured. Very old-timey. We put our name in with the waitress, and we were going to have to wait for a bit, so our friend gave his number to the hostess, I think, and we decided to enjoy our wait at Gold Dust casino.
More cocktails! Ugh. We watched the guys play Texas Hold ‘em. That’s probably NOT what they were playing, but it’s easier to make things up about those irritating details. Fortunately it wasn’t too long and our friend got the call that our table was ready. We headed back to the restaurant, and we got to eat outside on the outdoor patio. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS evening!
We ordered more….cocktails…I actually ordered wine. Please….for the love of all that is good and right in the world…just give me a decent glass of wine. And so they did. Our waiter was so…I dunno. Was he a ghost? He kind of gave me the creeps, but he was so animated and said words weird…like “Thuh-ree” instead of “Three”. He was really nice, but there was just something about him….I’m terribly untrusting of specters. Anyway…
I know I ordered the ribeye steak, loaded baked potato and a side salad with Rrrrranch Dressing. Did Jake order the Mahi Mahi? Or Seared Tuna? Probably. Sounds like something he would do in South Dakota. Everything was okay. It wasn’t superb, but the wine was divine, the weather was perfect, and the company and conversation were refreshing.
After dinner, we headed to the Silverado Casino again. Again. Really exploring Deadwood’s night life! We ran into our friend’s “boyfriend” and asked him why Legends was closed – I guess it wasn’t because anyone was sick – it was because they didn’t want anyone TO get sick because “Deadwood Jam” was coming up – whatever that was – and they wanted to limit exposure to their staff so they could be open for that big weekend.
Okay. So we didn’t eat a Covid sandwich at breakfast. That was a relief!
We hung out at the casino for awhile, but I was ready to go back. We had to get up early and head home. So Jake and I bid our friends farewell, and we walked back to the casino. Some of my favorite parts of any vacation are the walks. Just walking with my hubby. We could do that anywhere. But I think that’s why everywhere we vacation is always a great time. We always find time for a walkabout or two to just take in the scenery and enjoy each other's company.
So…we went back to the hotel and started getting our things together and hit the sack so we could get up halfway early to get a head start on the 7 hour drive home.
The next morning we probably grabbed some Starbucks on our way out of the casino and bid farewell to Deadwood, South Dakota.
Another successful adventure!
Comments