Day 38 - Thursday - on track for Keystone

Day 38 - Thursday - on track for Keystone

Vicky and I love railroads.  Many years ago we spent a vacation traveling from one short tine to another throughout the state of Colorado.  So when we found there was a steam train excursion in the Black Hills, of course we had to do it.  If you know the musical "Cats" you know there was a railway cat named Scrimbleshanks.  We decided that neither Quill nor Cosette would appreciate his job, so we left them at home while we drove over to Hill City, the starting point for the 1880 Train.

They do have an 1880 steam engine on display near the parking lot, but the steam engine that pulled us today was built in 1928,  This didn't detract from the pleasure of the trip, and the coaches on the train probably do date from about 1880.  We're both old enough to remember steam trains, and I in particular used to love getting soot in my eyes by hanging out of the window when I was a kid. (Really!) 

On this trip - a one hour (one way) journey to Keystone (the closest town to Mt. Rushmore) we were told to keep our bodies inside the train since we came very close to rocks and trees.  The ride began with a climb up a grade of between 4 and 6%, once of the steepest railroad grades in the country.  We all breathed a figurative sigh of relief when we got to the top, knowing we wouldn't have to push the train.  (that did happen in the early days of railroading).

We saw beautiful scenery, including Black Elk Peak (aka Harney Peak, which at 7242 feet is the highest mountain between the Rockies and the Swiss Alps).  Apparently you can climb it, but in our case that's not going to happen.  We also saw deer and learned a lot about the rail line, originally built for mining operations and abandoned by the Burlington Northern in the 1980's.

We arrived safely in Keystone and although we could have had a 15 minute layover and returned immediately we chose to stay for a while and take a later train back.  It didn't take us long to discover that the main street was a mass of tourist gift shops and eating places.  There is a Gutzon Borglum museum but I was advised by the lady in the train station that we wouldn't learn anything from it that we hadn't already discovered at Mt. Rushmore, so we gave it a miss.

We did do lunch - I was surprised to find a restaurant serving Cornish Pasties and even more surprised to find they were really good.  If you've never had one, a pasty is a "pocket" of pastry filled with meat and possibly vegetables.  Workers in Cornwall England and apparently miners in the Black Hills used to take them for lunch - they are tasty, substantial and easily portable.

We'd picked up a brochure about a walking tour and set off to work off our lunch and learn about the history of Keystone.  Once away from the touristy main street we discovered old buildings, some lovingly preserved, and signs and photographs showing us how the town developed.  we say a one room schoolhouse where a teacher taught 40 students in 1894-1895.  Our thought was it would be difficult to get 41 people into that building, let alone conduct classes.  As Vicky put it, with that many people crammed in at least it would be warm in winter!  We also saw a general store opened in 1895 and still operating today, and a gold mine - now a tourist attraction but originally a working mine.

Another mine, named the "Holy Terror" in honor of the owner's wife after she gave him a hard time, was referenced on a lot of the signs, although the mien itself was a little out of town.  a small brook runs down what was originally the main street and it was a pleasant surprise to find this delightful small town just around the corner from the tourist trap.

Soon it was time to board the train for the return trip - much the same scenery but now we were sitting on the other side.  We did see more deer and I got to watch them hitch up the engine, a thrill you never outgrow!  So now we're back in Hill City with some time to kill before a specially planned dinner.

Unlike Keystone, Hill City has a thriving culture, with art galleries, co-op stores run by local artists and a lot of stores that provided excellent browsing as well as conversations with some interesting people.  We had no trouble walking around and exploring the town until the Alpine Inn opened for dinner.

This is a unique restaurant.  Apart from one vegetarian option, the only item on the menu is filet mignon, with a baked potato, Texas toast and a lettuce wedge.  It comes in 2 sizes - 6oz for $11.95 and 9oz for $13.95.  Although we normally limit ourselves to about 4oz of meat we both ordered the large steak and brought half of it home.  That will be tomorrow's dinner.  These prices are really low for a filet so we weren't sure what to expect, but the meat was tender, juicy and served just as we ordered it.  Couldn't have been better at twice the price.  Since I can never make up my mind what to order from a menu I was in heaven here - nothing to choose!

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....and then the dessert menu arrived - 3 pages of it.  I was able to ignore my usual favorite crème brule and get it down to 2 choices - a raspberry-white chocolate mousse or huckleberry ice cream with raspberries and whipped cream.  The waitress suggested adding hot fudge to the latter so that'[s what I did.  Vicky ordered the mousse so I was able to try that too.  Both were sinful but wonderful.  A perfect end to a perfect day.  Even the weather ignored the forecast for thunderstorms and gave us sun and warmth.