Go West Old Man – Hill City, SD – 2012

After the morning in Deadwood, we headed about 40 miles south to Hill City which is full of shops carrying nice merchandise, artwork, etc.  In route, we crossed the Pactola dam, whose waters were beautiful against the brown grass and green trees.  You can see the impact of the drought as the water level was down several feet at a time when lakes are generally full.

Based upon the recommendation of Greenback friend Russ, who was in Hill City a few weeks ago, we went to the highly rated Desperados Cowboy Restaurant for lunch – they seem to have only a Facebook page. 

We were greeted by owner Dan who remembered Russ and his daughter Cynthia and gave us a little history of the place.  It is the oldest hand-hewn commercial building in South Dakota.

 I had the bison burger cooked medium rare with beans and Bev had the nachos which were made with their homemade jalapeno/cheese tortilla chips.  My burger was perfectly cooked and delicious and while Bev thought the nachos could have been spicier, she enjoyed them – I could have made a meal of just the plain chips.

After lunch, Bev hit a few stores while I tended the pups and people watched.  Hill City has obviously trandformed itself into a tourist destination.

This shot cracked me up - read both signs. 

A lady was doing a tasting for several local wineries and sold in the shotp next door, so we had to sample a little. 

Then as we headed out of town, we saw this place and, based upon the Naked Winery name, had to stop.

Bev did a wine tasting and I did the same with beer.

It was run by a real character and in spite of his saying some of the wine was made there, all we bought came from the Naked Winery & Orgasmic Wine Company in Hood River, Oregon, so I suppose it is a franchise.  The wine was pricy but very good, so Bev left with six bottles while I bought two 6-packs of my favorite beers.

Then we took the beautiful drive along US-16 through the hills and back to Rapid City and after a big lunch, for supper we just cooked up some chargrilled shrimp on the little Weber Smoky Joe grill and enjoyed them with no sides.  They got olive oil and Zatarains Blackening Seasoning (only Cajun we had) then a baste of garlic butter while cooking.

They were delicious and I’m glad we omitted sides so I could eat more shrimp.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

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

Larry

9/7/12 event date