Visiting the Wild Western Town of Deadwood and Flying from Rapid City, South Dakota, to New York City

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Visiting the Wild Western Town of Deadwood and Flying from Rapid City, South Dakota, to New York City

After the thrill of going to bed in the Best Western Plus motel with the Northern Lights still playing in the skies above the prairie, we awoke to a very calm and very sunny day. Our flight would leave from the airport at Rapid City, South Dakota, at 2.00 pm which meant that we needed to be at the airport at 12 noon for our flight to New York City. Since we had the morning free, we decided to make the most of it and make a quick dash to the Western frontier town of Deadwood, right after we finished breakfast and checked out.

Breakfast at the Best Western Plus Motel:

As we discovered at ‘The King’s Inn’ at Cody, Wyoming, so too here in this hotel in South Dakota, breakfast was a regal repast. There was a large breakfast buffet from which we could choose to have all sorts of things including a hot breakfast. Llew and I ordered a Cheese Omelet each and ate it with sausages. I also had a Southern-style breakfast—gravy with biscuits (which are more like savory cheese scones). Both were just delicious and with decaff coffee, they would keep us going until lunch-time (in Chicago).

Off to Deadwood:

With breakfast done, we got into our car and began the 45 minute drive to Deadwood along a highway that was not too clogged with traffic, fortunately. As soon as we arrived in the Town, we parked our car in a public parking lot and went straight to the large sign that proclaimed our entry into this once-thriving town: “Deadwood, Main Street,” it said. That done, we crossed the street and went into the Visitor’s Center to pick up maps and inquire as to how we could best spent the two hours at our disposal.

A very helpful clerk told us to stroll down Main Street, get a feel of the town that is very well-preserved and then take a drive to Mount Moriah Cemetery to see the most famous graves there. And that was what we did.

Exploring Deadwood:

A word about why and how Deadwood attained prominence: During the mid-19th century, in the midst of the Gold Rush that brought thousands of prospectors flooding across the American plains as they made their slow and torturous way towards California (and from there on to Alaska), gold was actually found in some parts. The Black Hills that surround Rapid City and Deadwood did contain gold reserves. Naturally, these settlements acquired rapid prosperity as secondary businesses also flourished to feed the needs of the settlers who flocked to these parts.

Deadwood has changed little since its Gold Rush heyday. There is still a well-defined Main Street lined on both sides by shops, grocery stores, restaurants, hotels and, of course, a side-business of the days of prospecting was prostitution—so there are brothels on this strip too. All of the shops are geared to entice tourists inside and sport all the trapping of 19th century antiquity from signs in latter-day scripts as well as shop windows with antique merchandise. As these Hills produce something called Black Hills Gold, I was keen to buy a pendant or locket to match a pair of ear-rings I owned and a matching bracelet that a friend had once presented me. The locket or pendant would complete my set. I was, therefore, keen to buy one. However, there was only one jewelery store in Deadwood that dealt in high-end jewelry and I was lucky to find just one pendant that would match the pieces I already owned. Lew decided to buy it for me as a wedding anniversary present—as it would be coming up within the next week. Armed with that purchase, we made our way out.

Main Street is also the venue of the famous Saloon No. 10 where Deadwood’s most famous son was killed. If Cody, Wyoming, is synonymous with the name of Wild Bill (William) ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody, so too Deadwood is known for a certain gentleman named James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickock. He was a surveyor by profession during the days when chuck wagons carrying settlers crossed the prairie. He would provide warnings of any dangers ahead to these pioneers—mainly in the form of hostile Native American tribes. As time went by, he also grew into a successful gambler and card sharp. He was associated with a woman named Martha Jane Burke aka Calamity Jane (although there is no evidence that they were romantically involved). On August 2, 1876, Wild Bill Hickock was killed in Saloon No. 10 by Jack McCall. He was buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery, just a few minutes outside of the town’s boundaries. We entered the Saloon and were delighted to find that it retains its 19th century ambience to the T with every single one of its fitments still in place including the massive oakwood and glass bar. We continued our walk to the end of the street and then crossed to get to the other side to take in the atmosphere there. Finally, with just an hour before we needed to begin our return drive to the airport, we walked briskly back to our car to drive in it to the Cemetery which we found just ten minutes later.

Visiting Mount Moriah Cemetery:

Busloads of tourists come up to Mount Moriah Cemetery—packed especially with people for whom Wild West lore is a passion. We had just fifteen minutes there and were directed by the lady selling tickets ($3 each) to the two graves that are the biggest tourist draws—those of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane. Although there is no evidence of anything other than professional associations between them, Jane, who died on August 1, 1903, ie. a good quarter century after Wild Bill had expressed a dying wish: “Bury Me Beside Wild Bill.” Her wishes were honored and visitors to his grave automatically show their respect to her’s as well. In this interesting way, she has attained the same notoriety as he has!

With this visit done and photographs clicked, we hurried to our car to begin the drive back to Rapid City airport which would take us approximately one hour. We also needed to return our rental car at the Budget Car Rental office—so we needed to give ourselves adequate time.

We arrived at the airport on schedule and went through the formalities of retuning our car. We then checked in our large bags and went to the gate for our American Airlines First Class flight to New York City via Chicago. Once the flight took off, we were offered drinks of our choice. Llew had red wine, I had a gin and tonic—to celebrate the end of Phase Two of our travels and a very successful Great American Road Adventure. Two hours later, we were touching down at Chicago, but were very hungry. We had enough time during our layover to go out in search of lunch and it was at Rick Bayliss’s Frontera (Mexican) restaurant that we decided to share an order of Fully Loaded Nachos which were actually quite delicious with wonderful guacamole, black beans, etc. Our meal eaten, we went to our gate and boarded the flight for the second leg of our journey to Kennedy Airport.

Travel from New York City to Connecticut:

It was about 9.00 pm by the time we touched down at Kennedy airport. As we had an enormous amount of luggage, and had another car to rent from Budget, Llew left me at the carousel to pick up our baggage and took the Air Train to get to the Car Rental offices at Federal Circle. I picked up a cart and loaded our baggage on to it and then made my way outside the airport to the Passenger Pick-Up area where Llew would arrive, half an hour later, in another rental car to get us to Connecticut where we would be spending the next few days.

Our journey along the highways to Connecticut were uneventful but packed with nostalgia for both of us as we were now in our habitual neck of the woods taking such highways as the Belt Parkway, the Cross Island Parkway and the Throgs Neck Bridge before getting on to the I-95 to Connecticut. We were stuck in terrible traffic along the way as there was a whole of construction going on. Meanwhile, we were in phone contact with our friends, Bonnie and Art, with whom we’d be spending the next four nights. They were well aware that we’d probably reach them well after midnight, but they were pleased to know that we were safe, even if delayed.

About 90 minutes later, we had passed our own home on Pequot Avenue and were thrilled to lay eyes on it again. The village of Southport was dead to the world, of course, when we passed through its familiar landmarks—the two churches and the village center—and soon we were at our friends’ home. We were very warmly greeted and welcomed by the two of them and shown up to the beautifully-decorated guest room where we would spend the next few days. It was fabulous to see our friends again and we looked forward to the good times that lay in store with them as we would go through all our doctors’ appointments in our former stomping ground.

It was not long after that we simply crashed and called it a night.

Until tomorrow, cheerio…