The Alpine Inn

Today we drove about 45 minutes to Hill City to meet with my first cousin and his wife. We met at the very popular Alpine Inn for lunch. My cousin is from NE and they drove here to participate in the Crazy horse Volks march. They have done this for several years and very much enjoy the walk/climb. I have climbed the mountain a few times myself but not in the past few years. Maybe next year!

This is Hill City as we were coming into town from the North. You can see this city is already busy with tourists. This is a popular tourist area deep in the Black Hills. There are many shops, ice cream shops, and history of Crazy Horse mountain and archeology digs, arts and crafts.

The people were everywhere. Later in summer they have horse and buggy scenic rides. I love listening to the clatter of the horse hooves on the pavement.

This is my first cousin on my dads side. We had a very good visit, shared some photo's, memories and family talk .

We don't get to spend much time with them anymore since they live about 9 hours away. About 26 years ago,when we were still in the military, we lived about an hour away from them, so we enjoyed seeing them often . It was great to get acquainted with him, his two brothers and his parents, my Uncle Walter and Aunt Marge. My Aunt and Uncle have since past on to heaven. I am glad that we can remain in contact with so many of my cousins. Family is a special gift from God.

The Alpine Inn used to be a booming hotel back in the late 1800's when the Hill City area was packed with gold miners. The Alpine Inn today is a German style Restaurant and Fine European Lodge. They serve German food for lunch and for dinner/supper, a very nice steak meal. It is always packed with people and often one has to wait for a table. It is always decorated so nicely with many blooming hanging plants. I have included a web site for the Alpine Inn if you want to read more about the history and the currant restaurant.

http://alpineinnhillcity.com/default.htm

OK, so I just had to take a close up picture of one of the hanging planters. They are just so full and beautiful and stay so nice and full all summer long. We also enjoyed the beautiful drive to and from Hill City on such a nice 70 degree day.