One of the best vacation luxuries is taking a long, hot guilt-free shower or bath whenever you want to. Whether staying in a hotel, motel, B&B, top-of-the-line resort, a rustic log cabin – or even at many campgrounds – you don’t have to hurry up, you aren’t using up all the hot water, you aren’t [...]

During the first week of May, the Black Hills Film Festival will show 60 films from across the U.S. and beyond. Six South Dakota-based films were nominated for “Best” in several of the festival’s categories. All show why film festivals are springing up across the nation and drawing ever-larger audiences. Click the links and take [...]

I’m watching the performance of “To Her” by “Wylie and the Wild West” on UTube. It’s a beautiful and evocative melody that shows an organic appreciation of the song’s lyrics – taken pretty much word-for-word from the cowboy poem of the same name written and published in 1917 by Badger Clark in “Grass Grown Trails.” [...]

With the recent warm weather, my thoughts have been turning to summer in the Black Hills. And among my favorite summer things here are the free street festivals. A warm evening, cold beer, live music, lively food and lots of people. You can’t go wrong. Summer Nights in Rapid City is one of the biggest. [...]

How often is it possible for people with passionate opinions on some subject to get together and enjoy their differences? If the subject is music, pretty often! That is certainly the impetus behind “New Harmonies,” the latest Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit that recently opened at the Sturgis Public Library. The show is a [...]

With Rapid City’s recent urban renaissance, it’s easy to overlook the ever-more-cosmopolitan town’s long-standing agricultural underpinnings. An afternoon spent watching a Little Britches Rodeo at the Central States Fairgrounds is a fitting reminder that Rapid City is the shopping and cultural hub for a vital ranching region with a radius of more than 400 miles. [...]

The story of how the Wyoming Pipe & Drum Band came into being has all the magical charm of an Irish folk story. It starts back in 1997, when David Scott Michael McElhiney, the band’s founder and Pipe Master, met up with Michael Francis Patrick McGuire. Although learning to play the bagpipes was a lifelong [...]

Deadwood native Chris Roberts, along with about 125 of his closest friends – and not even counting perhaps as many as 1,500 of his not-so-close friends – are heading for a party this Saturday. We’re talking about the Pub Crawl, the annual funfest that persuades a whole lot of folks to discover their Irish side [...]

For 55 years, the Counts of the Cobblestones have played a leading role in the local chapter of a great American romance ­– our nation’s enduring love affair with cars. This weekend, the local car club will put that love on public display, as members, as well as enthusiasts from around the region, exhibit beautiful [...]

This year’s Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo was truly a success.  With more than 333,000 attendees, the event numbers shattered the 2009 record.Rushmore Plaza Civice Center GM Brian Maliske credits the turnout to the top rodeo talent, solid organization and strong agriculture economy. Other say them most important factor is one we can’t control [...]