The last time we were in this area we did all the touristy
things, on a tight schedule. I don't think we even stopped in the town of Rapid City . Saturday
morning we took the one hour city trolley tour, noting places that we wanted to
come back to later… like Dinosaur Park (they have a lot of dinosaurs around
here), the Stavkirke Chapel, and the 43 life-size bronze statues of all the U.S. Presidents.
For lunch we found a local restaurant, Millstone Family
Restaurant, advertised on the campground map. I ordered a burger and asked if
they had sweet tea. The waitress looked confused… finally saying that they had
raspberry tea and plain brewed tea. Buddy asked (just for fun) if
they had grits. Once again the look, but she recovered quickly and said they
offered them a few years ago during the Sturgis motorcycle rally (because a lot
of Southerners come to that) but no one ordered them.
We noticed folks coming and going, everyone seemed to know
everyone else. There was a lot of seniors (they offer a senior discount for
those over 60… I know not long now!) We asked the waitress if mostly locals or
tourists came here. She confirmed mostly locals, saying that a lot of them come
daily. There is a group that sit at the counter, they catch up on all the
latest, and call themselves Counter Intelligence.
