We joined folks from Laramie, Green River, Lusk, Rawlins,
Saratoga, Encampment, Medicine Bow, Chicago and Sun Valley at an event at an even
more obscure place in Wyoming recently.
Does the name
Elk Mountain mean anything to you?
To a wintertime
traveler on Interstate 80, the name Elk Mountain conjures up fearsome, scary
images.
That location
in winter (which can occur from September to May) on this road is also where
16,000 semi-trailer trucks a day go blasting along kicking up swirling snow and
seemingly ignoring wintertime driving conditions.
There is a
kinder, gentler side of the Elk Mountain area that has been attracting some
attention lately.
The historic
Elk Mountain Inn was built in 1905 and offers a wonderful dining and sleeping
experience that is worth traveling some distance to enjoy. It is the
centerpiece of the population 191 town of Elk Mountain.
We were there
as part of the Carbon County United Way gala fund-raiser.
We enjoyed a
six-course meal served up by gourmet chef and hotelier Susan Prescott-Havers. We spent the night in the Nellie Tayloe Ross
room, which was wonderfully decorated.
Earlier in
Susan’s town, we had a great burger (claimed to be one of the best in Wyoming)
and a tasty chicken sandwich called The Nancy at the Elk Mountain Trading
Co. It is operated by Ken and Nancy
Casner. Ken is also known as the “angry
man from Elk Mountain.” A perennial but
unsuccessful political candidate, he is never short of an opinion!
Wyoming is
full of wonderful small boutique hotels and bed-and-breakfast places that cater
to the discerning traveler. Along the
Lincoln Highway are the Nagel Mansion in Cheyenne, the Virginian in Medicine
Bow and the Hotel Wolf in Saratoga to name just a few in that neck of the
woods.
When I quizzed
some of my friends of their favorite places, here is the list that resulted:
Gillette
attorney and Speaker of the Wyoming House, Tom Lubnau, votes for the TA Ranch south
of Buffalo, where the Johnson County War ended. It is operated as a Bed and
Breakfast and guest ranch. Lubnau says
the barn still has bullet holes from that famous Johnson County war which can
be viewed from the inside.
While
discussing Buffalo, Jim and Mary Hicks took us to the Busy Bee Café, famous for
the Craig Johnson books and the TV show Longmire. It is part of the Occidental Hotel, which is
a magnificently restored building in the heart of downtown.
Jonathon
Downing, head of the Wyoming Mining Association and Dave Kellogg of Lander,
also touted the Occidental. Downing says that Teddy Roosevelt stayed there and
that it is haunted.
Historian Phil
Roberts of Laramie touted the restored Plaza Hotel in Hot Springs State Park in
Thermopolis. He just led a University of
Wyoming faculty tour of the Big Horn Basin guided by Milton Ontiveroz. Roberts, who knows something about old things,
thought the owners had done a great job of restoring a classic old place. One
of my favorites in Thermopolis is the Wrangler Café.
Up in Dubois, we found Mom’s Café
next to the Wind River to be excellent.
Nancy and I
had a great breakfast at the Devils Tower View overlooking the nation’s first
national monument. While on that trip
last week we also scratched off my bucket list Keyhole Reservoir and Pine
Haven. Neat places. Very green, yet.
While in
northeast Wyoming we had great food at the Prime Rib in Gillette and also good
eats and beverages at the Prairie Fire Brewery.
Wyoming Catholic College President
Kevin Roberts touts the Lytle Creek B&B near the Tower operated by a deacon
Kim Carroll and his wife Dee.
UW Journalism
head Ken Smith touts Su Casa in Sinclair and Rose’s Lariat in Rawlins. Clay
James likes Turpin Meadow ranch 15 miles east of Moran and Brooks Lake Lodge
farther up Togwotee Pass.
Dave Raynolds
gets around and his favorites include the Chamberlin Inn in Cody, the Irma
Hotel in the same town and of course, the Miners Delight Inn in Atlantic City
southwest of Lander.
Lander’s
Gannett Grille was recently featured in the New
York Times and credited with serving up one of the best hamburgers the
writer had ever tasted. And he touted that it was made of native Wyoming beef.
This list is
just a small sampling of hidden gems. In Wyoming, email me your favorite places
and why and we will include them in a future column.
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