wandrlust - discover the undiscovered

While staying in Sioux City, I realized I didn’t have the time or energy to make the 5 hour pilgrimage to Iowa City to attend the Most Serene Republic concert I had purchased a ticket for, so I opted for a more, subdued, adventure…

…Sioux Falls!, a brisk 90 miles north on the I-29, and although I heard that Sioux Falls was a pretty “happening” city it couldn’t be further from the truth. It could have partly been the cold but I was in and out of there in a few hours. I did snap a few pics of some of the good and/or amusing signs in the area for your (my) enjoyment, such as the one above. T & A seems to go well with a bottle of booze generally speaking, or a king for that matter, but Sioux Falls doesn’t shy from provocative double meanings as is shown by the name of this lovely convenience store:
 

I think it is the spelling really sells the almost blatant perversity of it. This is one of the most popular convenience store chains in the Mid-West and they really have no name shame promoting their clear double entendre by selling an extensive collection of fresh Kum (haha) & Go gear on their website.

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On the same street was the Gaslight Saloon, a friendly place. Gas or lamp lights seem to be popular name from this time period, maybe they imbue some perceived quality of warmth?  I should stop with the “on the same street” transition as the next two places are on the same street as well. 12th street. Woo. 

Fairly beautiful in its decay but no longer “Delux” per se. With the exception of those pheasants of course… ?

I recognized Bob’s Cafe from a review I read on Road Food. I didn’t get a chance to stop in as I wasn’t very hungry at the time (which is unfortunate as I would have liked to try any of the “Broasted” meats listed above). Broasting is an unfamiliar term to me which sounds like a hybrid of broiling and roasting but in actuality is a high pressure method of frying foods, which supposedly makes the meat juicier and less greasy. Yet to truly be called “Broasted” it has cooked with a Broaster brand fryer. Everything you never cared to know about Broasting can be found here.

I was a bit confused by this one. The Video Log Cabin? If those new signs weren’t tacked up and that blasted red F-950 wasn’t in the background I could probably convince you I took a photo of this bar with my back in time camera. The Budweiser sign is an admirable relic from at least 1976 and advertising Video gives the Log Cabin a watching Betamax in the sauna sort of feel. I am kicking myself for not checking on what kind of “Video” was offered at the Log Cabin and whether or not it is available at 7 am. Looking for information about this bar and its video I did get a clearer picture of the type of haute the Log Cabin is from this document from South Dakota Supreme Court case:  ‘RONALD ROWLAND v. LOG CABIN, INC., and DENNIS T. HOWARD. Filed On Wednesday, February 19, 2003.

Some of the facts of the case are as follows:

[¶2.] On January 7, 2001, Rowland was at the Log Cabin bar in Sioux Falls. Rowland had been drinking throughout the evening and was under the influence of alcohol. The same evening, Dennis Howard, Sr., was also at the Log Cabin bar. Howard had been drinking that evening, and by all accounts, he was also intoxicated.

[¶3.] Howard allowed his dog Tyson to enter the Log Cabin. Tyson is an Akita and stands three feet high to the top of its back. Scott Jansen, the bartender, asked Howard several times to remove the dog from the bar, but ultimately Jansen allowed the dog to stay. At some point after Tyson was allowed into the bar, Tyson viciously attacked [Rowland], biting him in the face.

Maybe they got video of that shit.

Bowl. Lounge. Pool. Silence.

More Signs ‘o’ Beauty in the Gallery.