A Place Called Jackson Hole

Wow.  The big 2-6!  Not 26-years old.  Hopefully you know by now that I'm WAY over that.  Well, not WAY, but . . . maybe way with lower case letters. 26 years married!  What?  Okay, I guess that means it's WAY.  But, whatever.

We were planning to head to Lake Powell with the kids for the week to celebrate our anniversary and enjoy the last rays of summer before everyone headed back to school.  Unfortunately, our kids are grownups now - with jobs - and couldn't get the time off.  Poor saps.

So, Dave and I headed off by ourselves.  That's the good thing about having grown up children. You can leave without them and no one will call the authorities.  Still going to Lake Powell was an option for about a minute.  Then we contemplated all of the places we could go!  Oh!  San Francisco . . . Seattle . . . South Carolina . . . Arizona . . . Santa Fe.  We thought about a trip to Maryland.  (That's another post.)  We settled on Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a LONG (yes, with capital letters) time family favorite.  In fact, we've probably been here at least four or five times since we've been married.  I believe that ranks it our second most visited location - second only to . . . you guessed it, Lake Powell.

We left mid-day on Saturday, and drove through Soda Springs and up the east side of the Teton range, arriving in Jackson at about 5:30.  Along the way we had the fortune of finding an overlook for the Big Kahuna and Lunch Counter rapids.  It was so fun to watch others doing what we had done twice in the past, running the river and screaming with excitement as they headed toward and then hit the giant river waves.  There were even some really brave (or crazy) guys on boogie boards and surfboards who took their turn.

The hotel we picked was the Wyoming Inn, which I may or may not choose again.  Don't get me wrong, it was very beautiful, with well-appointed rooms, a nice fitness center (which we did not use), a restaurant that served breakfast (which we used once), and that’s about it.  It was quiet, had good parking, and was close to town.  But, we wished it had some better dining choices, a pool or, at least, a hot tub, and balconies or patios.  C’est la vie. 

Our first evening, we walked into town – what seemed a very long 1.2 miles – and did our favorite thing:  Restaurant Hopping.  We first stopped at Bin22 for tapas and a glass of wine.  Okay, 2 glasses of wine.  I found a new favorite:  Pansa Blanca.  We also enjoyed house pulled mozzarella with oyster mushrooms, saba vinegar, parmesan and chives, Gulf shrimp with an amazing sauce of garlic, piquillo pepper, butter and white wine, and Lomo, a Spanish dry cured pork tenderloin.  (**sing this**) A-maze-ing!! 

After appetizers, we wandered around the town square, stopping in galleries, trinket shops, and a fun store selling liquors, vinegars, and spices.  I loved seeing the iconic antler arches, which are on each corner of the little park at the center of town.  We decided we’d better have a “real” dinner, so we started walking back toward our hotel, having no luck whatsoever finding a place that was still open.  On a Saturday night at 10:00 ~ What?  We felt like we were still in Utah!  After a harrowing walk down the wrong side of the street, which didn’t have a sidewalk or any lights, we finally hit Sidewinders Tavern and had a really crappy experience (patio is closed, drinks sucked, the worst music playing so loud we could hardly talk, picked a delicious menu item only to find out they were only serving pizza because they closed in 15 minutes), that was redeemed by a delicious pie with mushrooms, spinach, and bacon.  Thankfully, the restaurant was across the street from our hotel, so we were quickly back ‘home’ for a wonderful night sleep.

Sunday was our anniversary and, having woken up first, I went down to the restaurant and got some breakfast and coffee to bring back to our room.  It was yummy.  I won’t bore you anymore with food.  Well, I will, just not with that food.  When we finally headed out, we drove into Grand Teton National Park.  Of course, we were stopped by bison-watchers.  In fact, we were stopped by idiots who decided it was a great idea to go through the fence and walk within 50 feet of a herd of the most ginormous, scary, horned creatures imaginable.  They are incredible animals. 

Next we drove to the Jackson Lake Lodge, which has the most breathtaking view of the Teton range.  Between the lodge and the mountains is a vast marshy meadow, and we were treated to seeing a beautiful female moose, slowly meandering through the grass.  A little fox even ran through the patio area of the Blue Heron Lounge where we were sitting and, you guessed it, eating.  I won’t bore you with that food either since it was a step above movie-theater nachos, but the Teton Breeze and Mountain Mojitos were delish.

We tried to head back toward our hotel early enough to catch an art & antique show that was going on just next door, but we arrived 20 minutes late.  Alas.  We were actually glad to go back to the hotel and sneak in a nap before we got ready for dinner.  Yes.  More food.  Come on, though.  What else is there on vacation?

I didn’t know it, but Dave had made a reservation at The Blue Lion, voted the best meal in Jackson, about a week before we came.  Which is funny, because the day before we had been reading through the Dining in Jackson magazine-lette thingy in the room, and I was going on and on about how yummy it sounded, reading him all the stuff on the menu.  He was very nonchalant, saying it sounded good and maybe we should try it out.  Haha.  Sneaky duck.  Having tried the whole let’s-walk-into-town-it-will-be-fun thing yesterday, we opted for the free START bus, which we realized is the only way we will be going anywhere the rest of the trip.

The Blue Lion lived up to its reputation.  Okay, time to bore you with more food.  I had an amazing macadamia nut crusted halibut that sat on top of a mouthwatering mango-lime buerre blanc, and Dave tried the house specialty, rack of lamb.  We brought a bottle of wine, Red Thriller, from a winery we had gone to in Utah, Kiler Grove, another of my favorites.  There was a solo acoustic guitarist playing old rock classics, which was a lot of fun, and the service was absolutely top-notch.  Definite win! 

We decided to walk around a little after dinner (and lunch, and breakfast, and dinner – sheesh, do we ever stop eating??), checking out Teton Village at night, which was happening considering it was Sunday!  We’re definitely not in Utah anymore.  Of course we had to round out our evening with more food, making a quick stop at Haagen Dazs. Why not, right? Because who knew they had Caramel Cone?  I had no idea that was my absolute favorite ice cream.

Right?  I know.

The bus stop was just a block away – they’re all a block away, no matter where you are – so we grabbed the next ride and headed back to our hotel for a relatively early evening.  Two late nights in a row are hard when you’re WAY over 26.

Our second full day, we headed into Yellowstone National Park, which we were somewhat surprised was quite a ways away.  But, as we drove, we enjoyed some absolutely awe-inspiring scenery including, of course, the Grand Tetons, sulphur pots, Lewis Falls and Lewis Lake, Jackson Lake, and the Grand Canyon of Wyoming.  The best views, though, were a massive bull elk grazing just along the side of the road and a pair of baby deer being carefully watched by what appeared to be their big brother crossing the road in front of us. 

I'm sorry, what?  Dude.  You might want to turn around.

Oh yeah, and some people who stopped to look got arrested for DUI and having drugs, so that was attracting almost as many lookie loos as the elk.

We made one wrong turn to Artist’s Point, which was serendipitous, as we were treated to this view of the Upper Yellowstone Falls.

 

Once we figured out where we were envisioning – the brink of the Lower Falls – we got back on the road and drove a little further to a very busy trailhead with a very vocal raven.  We relived a hike that we did when I was very pregnant with Sarah, 22 years ago, ending up at the very top of where the Yellowstone River plunges over 300 feet, twice the height of Niagra Falls.  The trail was a strenuous ³/₈-mile on the way down and closer to 38 miles on the way up, dropping over 600 feet from peak to base, with well-groomed but un-railed switchbacks.  I was verbally concerned that there were no rails, and was shocked by the number of adults running or walking haphazardly and children walking unattended.  But, the view was incomparable and the photos certainly do not do justice to the thunderous roar, soft mist, and sheer grandeur of the falls themselves.  

Lost in translation - her pants say "Boy" all over them. Not "Boys", just "Boy".  :)

We were saddened to read reports later in the day that an 8-year old girl had lost her footing and fallen to her death the day before we were there.  Poor baby.  Having just been there, it was really heart-wrenching to picture the joy of the vacation and the awe that the family must have been experiencing during this adventure, only to have their world crash down with more strength and weight than the waterfall held when the lost their beloved daughter.  Her name was Zahra Allahyari.  Rest in peace, sweet angel.

After our hike, we started the nearly 2½-hour drive back to Jackson Hole, and were so irritated when traffic started slowing.  The joke had become, when the cars started to line up, Dave would say ‘Get your camera ready, there’s wildlife!’  It was usually bison.  But this time, there were four grizzly bears (!!!) sharing, well sharing as well as grizzly bears can, a bison carcass and a patient coyote waiting his turn for a bite.  They were very far away, probably ½ mile or more, but a nice ranger who was there to monitor the bears’ activity and keep the public safe (from the bears and each other) lent us his binoculars.  It was so incredible, especially having seen several varieties of bears stuffed in the various lodges and galleries and realizing how huge and majestic they are. 

Yes, they're hard to see in the pictures.  I'm sorry that the ranger's binoculars won't help you.  But, they're the little brown dots that look kind of like, well, brown dots.

The evening was rounded out at a super fun local spot called Eleanor’s, which you get to by walking through a liquor store!  Funny.  We had tried to go there the night before, but their kitchen had closed (thus resulting in our ill-fated trip to the Sidewinder for nothing but pizza).  Anyway, the bar was really cute, the music was great, and the food was amazing.  In fact, although I never ended up eating it, I loved my dinner so much that I took ‘home’ leftovers.  The best part, though, was a funny cocktail they had called 1.21 Gigawatts, which was the amount of power required to operate the DeLorean time machine on Back to the Future.  We told the bar tender that he needed to add a Flux  Capacitor!

Our third day was spent wandering around downtown Jackson Hole, enjoying several galleries, knick-knack shops, and eclectic specialty stores.  Despite a much cooler and slightly rainy day, we loved seeing the variety of talents decorating the area, including photography, bronze, wood, and ceramic sculpture, mosaics, oil, watercolor, and graphite artwork, crafts, and jarred and bagged homemade delicacies.  We were thoroughly impressed.  Huckleberries are huge here, and we found just about every type of huckleberry thing you could imagine – syrup, vodka, pancake mix, candy, ice cream, and jam.  After quite the decision-making process and stopping at several different restaurants to view the menus, we settled on Café Genevieve for a delightful bite on the patio.  I had a delicious grilled cheese sandwich with tomatoes, avocado and bacon, served with homemade tomato soup, and Dave had a great looking Ruben sandwich with a thick slab of pastrami.  YUMM!!!! 

We headed back to the room for a little while to give our WAY over 26-year old legs and feet a well-deserved rest.  I swung into a used book store adjacent to our hotel and found copies of 3 out of 4 books in a series I’ve been wanting, The Cousins’ War, including the prequel, which I didn’t even know existed!  The first of the series, The White Queen, launched a Stars Network series that I watched over the winter and loved.  I’m so excited!  I’ll have to keep my eyes out for the last one of the series back at home.

When we were finally ready to eat . . . AGAIN (Well, not really.  We’d developed this cumulative state of fullness, but it was dinner time so, when in Rome.) . . . we reviewed some Dining in Jackson magazines that we found in the room and settled on Lift, a local spot at the bottom of the Snow King ski lift, and were not disappointed.  Want to hear about it?  Okay!  Dave got the chicken-fried steak special with Cajun gravy and homemade mashed potatoes, and I loved my grilled salmon with lemon-caper beurre blanc, au gratin potatoes, and sautéed squash & peppers.  The best part was a yummy margarita (I don’t usually like those), made with orange juice!  I’ve never had one like that before, and it was scrumptious.  Lift is a hidden gem, and we’re so glad we took a chance.   We were glad to head back to the room relatively early and enjoy some down time after our couple of very busy days!  I was pretty sure that cumulative-fullness I had developed that would last me for about four days. 

We were so sad to wake up on our last full day in Jackson Hole!  The plan was to head back into Grand Tetons to find some viewpoints for pictures, find a great creek for some fishing and shoreline reading, and find the last of our souvenirs, and we managed to do all of the above!  Although it was raining off and on throughout the day, the views were nonetheless breathtaking, the fishing was predictable (one bite, none caught), and the reading was relaxing.  Midway through the afternoon, I left Dave to try and find the elusive trout he’d been searching for, and went back to the Jackson Lake Lodge for a snack.  I know.  Don’t judge. 

On the way back, we say another herd of bison – or perhaps it was the same one, who knows – but this time, the babies were closer to the road and I managed to snap some photos.  They were so cute!  I was still amazed at how stupid people were to get so ridiculously close, especially when these huge beasts were guarding babies!  Crazy!! 

When we got back into town, we went to a cute farmer’s market that Jackson hosts every Wednesday in the summer.  There was live music, lots of fresh produce, homemade jam and fresh cheese, and beautiful handmade jewelry.  It was fun.  

We relaxed (and dried out) at the hotel for a bit before making a return trip to two of our vacation favorites, Bin 22 and Eleanor’s, for appetizer, cocktails, and dinner.  Needless to say, I’m even more stuffed than I ever thought I could be and it was worth every bite.

Now we’re heading to bed on our last night, grateful for a wonderful trip and glad to be going home to our kiddos tomorrow. It’s been a fabulous vacation.  Thanks, Jackson Hole!

And, also, I'm really fat now.  Thanks, Jackson Hole.  Sheesh.