A brief review of Hill City

For a small town Hill City is packed with boutiques, art galleries, and even a winery. Spending time in Hill City conjures up an image of a block from downtown Boulder, Colorado somehow getting sucked up in a tornado ala The Wizard of Oz and plopping down in the Black Hills. The Alpine Inn is a great place to eat. They have a contemporary menu during the day, and at night they serve only two things: Big steak or little steak.

The various art galleries are all pretty interesting, but most of the works are far out of my price range. (Keep in mind I'm a full time college student who works part time.) The John Crane gallery is here, and I could probably spend an entire afternoon looking at the various pastoral renderings of Black Hills locations, some real, some imagined, some long gone.

When I was working as a photographer for KNBN television outside of Rapid City I remember attending a Harry Potter Convention in one of the buildings right off downtown as well. It was pretty amusing to see a bunch of children all dressed up as little wizards.

Recently, my parents and I went to Prarieberry Winery, a family owned winery that has been making wines in South Dakota for over a century. I tried a few tastes (5) of the different wines they have available. I bought a bottle of the Black Currant, which was really tasty, but a little too sweet for my liking. Next time I'll go for a less sweet variety.

Something I kick myself for everytime I visit Hill City is not riding the Black Hills Central Railroad, more commonly known as "the 1880 train." Everyone I've spoken to who has ridden it tells me it's quite a blast.

There are also plenty of appealing restaurants I've not yet had the pleasure of patronizing. There is also a geology museum home to Stan, one of the most complete T-Rex fossils ever discovered, found right here in the Black Hills.