Wyoming Adventure: Cody and Meeteetse

Cody, Wyoming ... where everyone's favorite cowboy, Buffalo Bill Cody, called home.

When we pulled into Cody after a long day wandering around Yellowstone, we drove right past this huge rodeo ground.  I guess it was the beginning of their Rodeo Days or something of that nature.  It looked pretty interesting, but we were pretty beat and opted to order a pizza and relax at our hotel.  Very exciting, right?

The next morning, we rolled into town.  Cody had the feel of an old town that had been gussied up a bit; given a new coat of paint and a shoe shining.  Not so much a tourist trap, but welcoming to the occasional out-of-towner.  A place where you could buy leather gun holsters, cowboy boots, lasso's and a Davey Crockett coon skin cap.  You could also go to the Buffalo Bill museum.

We did none of the above, but we did see a giant rifle and ate at the Irma Hotel, which was built by Buffalo Bill and named for his daughter.  The dining room is a large hall with an old fashioned tin metal roof that truly conjures up a picture in your mind of the real old west.  I debated ordering the Rocky Mountain Oysters, but I began to conjure up in my mind a bull sans his sack.  Instead we went with a few of their sandwiches.  Alison rolled with the BLT and I opted for a fried chicken sandwich.  Both excellent and both served with their delicious home-style potatoes.

This photo is very patriotic.

The front of the Irma.

There were lots of cool neon signs throughout town, this was the one outside the Irma.

The dining hall at the Irma.

Alison's BLT and A.

Bob's fried chicken sandwich.

After hanging out in Cody, it was time to head toward Worland where we were going to meet some of Alison's family.  Along the highway, there is a little town we came across called Meeteetse.  Calling it a 'little town' is quite an understatement.  I think the entire town consists of an old auto repair shop, the cowboy chocolatier shop (which we later found out is famous) and two bars.  Of course, we had to wet our whistles after a fifteen minute drive in no traffic at the Cowboy Bar and Cafe.

The building that houses the bar looks like a movie set at Knott's Berry Farm. Except for there are salty locals inside taking shots of Fireball instead of kids hopped up on funnel cake.  In addition to the interesting patrons, the inside of the bar also consists of an array of decorations that appear as if they haven't been moved in years. The beer was cold and we had a couple before heading on down the road to Worland where we saw some real cowboys.

The Cowboy Bar and the highway.

Looks like something from a movie set, right?

Pretty awesome signage.

Guns double as doorhandles.

I wish I was there right now.

I plan on taking interior design notes from this place.

This was the bar next door.  They had a drive-up window.

Alison wound up in jail, we couldn't afford bail.

Next stop was Worland where we met the family for a reunion.  There were a lot of people and I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but by the end of my three days hanging out with the family I think I had a handle on all of the names and relationships.

To say we drank a bits is an understatement.  The beer (American) flowed freely and everyone had a grand ol' time.  Highlights included a Roping exhibition, hanging out a bar called Gooses', driving ATV's in the middle of nowhere, fishin', porch sittin', happy hour by the crick (how you pronounce creek in Wyoming) and just being awesome.

Here's a few pictures from the mini-rodeo put on by the Bower family.

Eddie Spaghetti enjoying some rodeo snacks.

Cowboy Bob looking like he knows a thing or two about horsing around.

This is the skull of a bull that gored one of Alison's relatives.

Supposedly we ate the meat from that very bull one evening.

If you're into checking out more pictures from our trip, you can go here.

Next stop - Lusk, Wyoming.

Cruisin' Claremont

Our friend Sean has been living in the IE, Pomona, CA. to be specific, for a while now and we've made a handful of visits out to see him over the years.  This time around we were asked to travel inland to see folk singer, Slaid Cleaves, perform as well as check out some local eateries and watering holes.

Sean lives really close to the Pomona-Claremont border, which worked out to be very convenient because the show we were going to see was taking place in Claremont.  We took the short walk into Claremont and looked around for a place to stuff our faces.

Claremont has a really nice feel to it with a good amount of eateries, boutique shops and bars.  Since there is a handful of colleges in the area, it seems like the perfect place for an overworked student or 9-5er to go out and let off a bit of steam.

After wandering through the area we found ourselves at Eureka!, a burger place whose tag line is 'Gourmet Burgers & Craft Beer'.  They had us at burger and beer, thus we settled in and started the evening.

Eureka! was pretty busy, which is a good sign, so we headed over to the bar while waiting for our table to become available.  Upon taking a seat at the bar, in front of a plethora of very interesting beer taps, we were handed a quite lengthy drink menu that consisted of all craft beers and even some whiskeys.

Al and I had to think for a few minutes on what would be best to whet our whistles, but we quickly spotted a beer that is brewed close to our hometown in Palos Verdes, called Blonde #5.

The first one was quite delicious, so we had to make sure that it held up a second time around.  After we were seated outside, it was time to make it two Johnny...two!

The second one was almost better than the first.

The appetizer list looked like a treasure trove of goodies, and it was hard to make a selection, but when in doubt it is always wise to  roll with the corn dogs.  Eureka! had Lollipop Corn dogs with a Spicy Mustard Porter sauce and a Cheddar IPA sauce.  The dogs and sauces were all delicious and made for a perfect primer for the burger goodness that was soon to arrive at our table.

I had the LuLu Burger which was a brilliant combination of ground lamb and ground beef mixed with diced onion and cilantro and topped with melted brie cheese.  Under the patty was a nice bed of lettuce, tomato and onion.  The kicker was the sweet mint aioli.  I can't say I've had a burger quite like it before.

Sean had the Cowboy Burger which was a burger topped with onion rings, bacon, cheddar cheese and barbeque sauce.  Alison had some burger, but between lettuce instead of bread, so we will forego a picture for that one.

After dinner we went up the street to the Folk Music Center to check out Slaid Cleaves perform.  The Folk Music Center was pretty cool, especially for someone like me who freaks out on stringed instruments.  When not a venue, the joint is an instrument shop with all kinds of stringed treats (not cheese, instruments).  The walls of this place had every stringed instrument imaginable and I will definitely need to make a trip back to further investigate.

Slaid Cleaves' performance was two sets of him playing some pretty insightful songs that ranged the gamut from quitting drinking, to the death of a legendary logger to a perspective on the way people are treating each other under the guise of religion. There was even a song about the Horseshoe Lounge in Austin, TX., which we tend to imbibe at in a couple of weeks... stay tuned!  In between playing he shared stories, which shed light on the song he was setting up.  He played two sets, which went rather quick, but made for an entertaining evening.

Here's a couple of videos we took at the show:

Everette - http://youtu.be/e_F0KsJrMxs

Wishbones - http://youtu.be/bnDaK6NKwFk

Drinkin' Days - http://youtu.be/aSdEQhvzJyg

Afterwards, we went out to a local watering hole and knocked back a few cold ones and some peanuts.  One made you thirsty, then the second made you hungry and that's pretty much how the night continued.  I'm glad I had the big beer.