Go West Old Man – Deadwood, SD – 2012

After our down day, Bev decided it was time for a little shopping and gambling so on a clear coolish day, we headed to Deadwood, with a drive through Sturgis – home of the annual giant motorcycle rally.  I cannot even imagine hundreds of thousands of people in this small town.

Then it was on to Deadwood, which seems to be mostly a gambling town, but with the in-town casinos small and in the old buildings - no comparison to the huge Harrah’s places we’re used to.  This is the main street which is being very well rejuvinated.

We found a parking garage so we could leave the dogs in the shaded car and headed for The Midnight Star, which is owned by Kevin Costner.  Unlike most casinos, the sign was so small, it was hard to find without an address.

It is very small with only a few machines on the ground floor, two gaming tables on the next level, and a sports bar and restaurant above these.  This is a caption from their website – “See the extravagance of an era gone by.  The Midnight Star, with etched glass, hand-rubbed wood, and polished brass, reflects the opulence of Deadwood during the turn of the century.”  It was beautiful as seen in a couple of shots from their website.

It was small but still effective at relieving us of a little cash.

For our last day in the area, Bev wanted to go back to Deadwood for a longer visit - our third trip into the Black Hills area.  When we got home the last time, I’d read up on some things and realized we’d missed some of The Midnight Star so we wanted to see it all this time.

We began doing a little gambling at the Bodega then headed up to The Midnight Star for lunch at Diamond Lil’s Bar and Grille located above the casino.  Costner owns the building which has the casino on the ground floor and mezzanine, Diamond Lil’s on the next floor and Jake’s Fine Food and Drink on the top floor.

Diamond Lil’s was adorned with posters and clothes from many of his movie roles (did you see the ones I've shown?) and upon entering you are greeted by a beautiful bar – the whole building appears to have been redone to replicate the Deadwood gold rush heydays as are many others in town.

Many of the menu items are named for movies, roles, etc. and Bev ordered the Mr. Brooks Killer Cajun Burger (beef) and I had the Butch Haynes Mexi Burger (buffalo) with some other burger options being the Postman…, Frank Farmer’s Patty Melt, and the Elliot Ness Burger – all beef or buffalo.

We both thought they were very good with lots of good spices and mine was perfectly cooked – both meals were sided with spicy fries which were also very good.  Here’s a shot of mine.

After lunch, we went down to the casino for a second time and added a little more cash to Costner’s fortune, then headed back to the RV to make preparations for the next day’s departure to Cheyenne, WY.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/7 & 9/9/12 event dates