If you designed a town as a tribute to the American cowboy it would look like Lemmon. The little city straddling the border of the two Dakotas has just 1,200 citizens but it seems 10 times that size on days when there’s a rodeo or a cattle auction. Even on a slow day, Lemmon looks like a cowboy capital — thought nobody there would claim the title because real cowboys don’t brag.
Category: cvb-top
Our Favorite Eats
We discover many family restaurants, bars and bistros in our travels across South Dakota. Sadly, many are struggling due to the 2020 pandemic. Some have closed forever, some temporarily. Stu and DeeAnn Surma (pictured) of Java closed their D&D Delights Cafe when several COVID cases arose in their little town of 100, but they hope to reopen soon.
Before the pandemic, we compiled a list of staff favorites. Fortunately most of the establishments are still open. We share it now as a timely reminder of how lucky we are to have such folks. They always appreciate your support, but these days it is a godsend. Most serve to-go orders, and all are concerned about keeping you safe and healthy so patronize them as you can.
Use this as a starter list. Part of the fun is discovering your own favorites … just be sure to share them with us!
- POTATOES BRUL…, a favorite of regulars at Vermillion’s Cafe BrulÈ, features diced and broiled potatoes in a creamy cheese sauce.
- A TASTEE with fries and a black raspberry malt at Tastee Treet, a fast-food dinosaur still going strong in downtown Yankton. What’s a Tastee? A tavern, of course — or a loose meat sandwich, a sloppy joe or a Maid-Rite.
- ROAST DUCK at Czeckers in Yankton, with all the Eastern European trimmings — dumplings, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and a kolache for dessert. Duck is featured Friday nights and roast beef on Saturdays.
- BEAN SOUP at the now-closed Fanny Horner’s in Mitchell. Jon and Janice Airhart were given the recipe by a customer called Slim in the 1980s. Fanny’s was also famous for sour cream pie.
- CHILI FRIES (or enjoy cook Dorothy Berg’s famous chili a la carte) at Joe’s Cafe in Alexandria. Dorothy has been at the grill for 24 years.
- CHISLIC at Meridian Corner, at the junction of Highways 18 and 81 south of Freeman. Hutchinson County is where the cubed and seasoned meat-on-a-stick tradition first arrived from Russia.
- TABOULI at Sanaa’s 8th Street Gourmet in Sioux Falls. Tabouli is a Mediterranean salad made of parsley and bulgur wheat — healthy, tasty and fresh.
- SAMBUSA at Lalibela, an Ethiopian restaurant in Sioux Falls. The triangular pastry is stuffed with beef, chicken or lentils along with sautÈed onions, peppers and spices. (Also try the vegetarian sampler!)
- A BURGER from Nick’s Hamburger Shop in Brookings. They’ve been deep fried and sold by the bag since 1929.
- IRISH BOXTY (a potato pancake with steak or chicken) at Dempsey’s brewpub in Watertown. Wiener schnitzel and spaetzle are also popular.
- BROASTED CHICKEN at the Palm Garden Cafe in Aberdeen. The recipe dates back to 1932 when the cafe was founded. Though closed for decades, the popular eatery on Highway 12 reopened a few years ago. CLOSED BY COVID.
- REUBEN SANDWICH (sauerkraut & corned beef on rye) at the Dakota Cafe in Hosmer. Knoephla soup — a specialty of the cook, JoAnne Gisi, who grew up with German cuisine — was their Thursday special. CLOSED.
- GERMAN FRY SAUSAGE and cheese buttons, was served Thursdays at Dakota Jo’s in Tolstoy before it closed, but the sausage is still available at Kauk’s Meat Market in Eureka.
- ROAST BEEF with real mashed potatoes at D&D Delights in Java — or enjoy the German sausage with sauerkraut and real mashed potatoes. CLOSED TEMPORARILY BY COVID.
- PRAIRIE DOG MOUND, a concoction of fried potatoes, onions, bacon and cheese topped with eggs at the Prairie Dog Cafe in McLaughlin. CLOSED.
- STEAK TIPS at Sparky’s in Isabel, where the chef serves more than seven tons of beef a year in a town of 300. Ryan Maher and his crew cut their own meat, marinate the marshmallow-size tips overnight and serve them with a salad bar, potato and Texas toast.
- MOUSSAKA at the Bay Leaf Cafe in Spearfish, made with grass-fed lamb from nearby Wyoming. Bay Leaf, a resurrected 19th century wood hotel, was one of the state’s most interesting eateries. Moussaka is a lasagna-like dish of lamb with eggplant rather than noodles. CLOSED.
- BUFFALO RAVIOLI at the Deadwood Social Club. Pasta stuffed with buffalo sausage and topped with three cheeses and a homemade red sauce. The Deadwood Social Club occupies the second floor of the historic Saloon No. 10, where locals re-enact the killing of Wild Bill Hickok every afternoon.
- PHO at the Saigon restaurant in Rapid City. Pho is a noodle soup with beef, chicken or the authentic Vietnamese version of beef meatballs. CLOSED
- TAMALES wrapped in cornhusks at the unpretentious little brown shack on E. North Street in Rapid City called Sabor a Mexico.
- WALNUT PIE at Desperados on Hill City’s main street. CLOSED FOR WINTER.
- BREAKFAST BURRITO at Baker’s in Custer. Eggs, sausage, hash browns, salsa and cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla and topped with homemade green chile sauce. CLOSED FOR THE SEASON.
- CHOCOLATE DOUGHNUTS at Wall Drug. Or should we use the singular”doughnut” because one is plenty, especially if you just finished the buffalo burger.
- HOT ROAST BEEF at any of South Dakota’s livestock auction barns, because you dare not serve average beef to ranchers. Fort Pierre, Burke and Sisseton are a few favorites.
- STRAWBERRY PIE, the standard at Al’s Oasis in Oacoma for decades, is still available in season but Chef Donnie Dominiack now bakes a lemon cream cheese pie that regular diners can’t resist.
- THE BIG MIKE at Manolis, a quaint grocery store, tavern and sandwich shop in Huron that will celebrate its 100th year in 2025. The Big Mike is a toasted bagel with ham, pepper jack and cream cheese.
Glacial Lakes in Winter
South Dakota’s Glacial Lakes country is perfect for day trips this winter. More than a hundred lakes — plus sloughs, wetlands, ponds and rivers — combine to create a scenic and unspoiled countryside rich with wildlife and waterfowl, friendly farm towns and numerous opportunities to enjoy nature.
Melting glaciers shaped this prairie pothole country 20,000 years ago. The lakes are so numerous that some remain unnamed. Most have grown in size and depth over the last 25 years. Bitter Lake, once little more than a shallow slough, is now the state’s largest natural lake; it is encroaching on Waubay Lake and other bodies of water to create an ocean-less, inland sea.
In this winter of the pandemic, we are all looking for new outdoor sights and experiences. Winter serenity and solitude has always been a trademark of the unspoiled Glacial Lakes region.
Here are 10 suggestions, organized by county, on how you might explore the Glacial Lakes. Some are auto drives, others offer winter hikes that could be compromised by the amount of snow on the ground. However, this list only scratches the surface so don’t hesitate to roam the lake country. You’ll discover many surprises, and they’ll all be good.
BROOKINGS COUNTY — The 135-acre Dakota Nature Park (at the corner of 22nd Avenue and 32nd Street South) lies in the southeastern corner of Brookings. Gravel mining led to formation of ponds and wetlands, and a restored prairie now grows atop the old landfill mound. A portion of the Allyn Frerichs Trail System — named for the city’s longtime parks and rec director who passed away in 2014 — skirts the north edge of the park, while a network of paths weave around the wetlands, prairies and trees.
BROWN COUNTY — Take a trip to Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Though the classic 15-mile auto tour is closed in winter due to hunting and snow conditions, other roads remain open on the perimeter of the refuge. Explore the gravel roads that lead north and south from Highway 10. The snow geese are gone, but you’ll see other waterfowl, eagles and the Arctic’s snowy owls. Deer, pheasant and coyotes are also common. Sand Lake rose from the dust of the Great Depression to become one of the world’s most important wildlife sanctuaries. It is 30 miles northeast of Aberdeen.
CODINGTON COUNTY — Just southwest of Watertown is Pelican Lake. An observation tower near an inlet on the lake’s south side provides a sweeping view of the water, its namesake birds, the prairie and Watertown’s skyline. The Observation Tower Trail is a three-quarters of a mile hike through the woods and winter grasses. A longer jaunt, the Pelican Prairie Trail, gently meanders 5.2 miles.
DAY COUNTY– Explore the trails of Waubay National Wildlife Refuge, situated in the very heart of the Prairie Pothole landscape. Scientists say the region produces 50 percent of the continent’s waterfowl. Trails range from a few hundred feet to a mile, and jaunt around an island that houses the refuge headquarters. However, the public facilities are closed in winter.
DEUEL COUNTY — Visit 12-acre Ulven Park, which occupies a point on the eastern shore of Clear Lake. The frogs and toads, noisy in summer, are now hibernating so they’ll not interrupt the serenity of the park’s half-mile hiking trail.
EDMUNDS COUNTY — Shake Maza Trail at Mina Lake (between Ipswich and Aberdeen) is a short walk that explores the flora, fauna and other features at one of the first man-made lakes in northeast South Dakota. Shake Maza is a Native term meaning”shaped like a horseshoe,” which describes the 850-acre lake, ringed by picturesque cabins and homes.
GRANT COUNTY — This fascinating region is one of the USA’s five continental divides. Lake Traverse flows west to the Hudson Bay and Big Stone Lake flows south to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the best winter trails are at Hartford Beach State Park — a tree-filled, rocky shoreline north of Milbank that is quite unlike anything else in the Glacial Lakes. Signage in the park will direct you to several easy trails.
HAND COUNTY — Hike the Pheasant Run Trail at Lake Louise, 14 miles northwest of Miller. Beginning at the trailhead in the main campground, the dirt and grass trail meanders 3.2 miles around the south side of Lake Louise, which was created by damming the south fork of Wolf Creek in 1932. More than three dozen informational plaques identify trees and plants found along the way, though leaf identification will be challenging in December and January.
LAKE COUNTY — Wander the trails of Lake Herman State Park, which occupies a peninsula on the east side of Lake Herman, just west of Madison. A cabin built by pioneer Herman Luce in about 1870 stands along the 1.25-mile Luce Adventure Trail, which encircles Herman Pond. Connecting trails include the Abbott Trail (1.1 miles) and the Pioneer Nature Trail (.4 miles). All are easy walking.
MOODY COUNTY — Much of the prairie pothole region drains into the Big Sioux River, and the waterway starts to change its personality as it reaches Flandreau and Dell Rapids. Hike Red Rock Trail in Dell Rapids, where you can enjoy a closeup view of the famous rose quartzite that underlies the region.
Eight Over Seven
Our Black Hills are gentle mountains. You don’t need ropes, axes and harnesses to tackle even our highest peaks. And most are climbable even in winter — especially in a mild winter like we’ve enjoyed thus far in 2020.
South Dakota has eight peaks that stand 7,000 feet or taller in elevation. Rapid City journalist Seth Tupper wrote about them in 2017, and his reports seem to have inspired a new challenge for hikers, bikers and runners to do all eight.
Erick Sykora of Rapid City took it a step or two further. After months of careful planning and preparation, he hustled to the top of all eight peaks in a single day — a 15-hour day. Here’s the complete account, first published in our Sept/Oct 2020 issue, of how he did it.
Most of us are more apt to tackle the peaks one at a time. If you climb in winter, remember that the days are short this time of year, and some deep canyons can be very dark at high noon. The weather can change quickly at higher elevations. And the frost-freeze cycle that occurs from temperature swings may cause slippery conditions, especially on granite slopes.
But those are precautions, not prohibitions. With common sense and weather-watching, mountain climbing can be a safe and fun four-season activity in the Black Hills.
©Paul Horsted/paulhorsted.com
©Paul Horsted/paulhorsted.com
Huron’s Marvelous Murals
Artists have brightened and enlightened the streets of Huron with nearly two dozen murals that illustrate the history and heritage of a city that has developed into one of the American West’s most farm-oriented communities.
Huron is home to both the Farm Bureau and Farmers Union organizations. The South Dakota State Fair, held in Huron since 1905, has developed as one of the nation’s best agricultural fairs. The state’s federal USDA offices are headquartered there, and two of South Dakota’s major livestock auction barns.
That ag heritage has inspired much of the city’s street art. Murals depict pioneer settlers, the legacy of the fair, agrarian politics, the great ’82 Land Rush in the James River valley and pheasant hunting. However, other themes are also represented; a 2002 mural honors the USA’s healing from the 9/11 disaster.
Looking for a windshield art tour? The marvelous murals of Huron are worth the trip. Visit each one and take a selfie by your favorite. Grab a sandwich to go at Manolis Grocery (actually a funky and wonderful old-style bistro that dates to 1921). See the 40-foot fiberglass pheasant on the east side of town along Highway 14.
All things you can only do in Huron.
