T-shirts, craft beer, and fried food.

It seemed wrong to be this close and not take in the scenic, little town of Sturgis.  From our cabin it is just a short trip up 14A to the heart of the town.  Nestled snugly along both sides of Interstate 90 Sturgis is a rustic, small town that seems to exist, at least before the bikers begin to arrive, on the sale of t-shirts. We found a street lined with shops, mostly closed, and walked along the empty sidewalks.

There were three or four shops that were opened, tidy and filled with leather goods, travel mugs, and   Sturgis Bike Rally t-shirts.  This year is the 75th anniversary of the Sturgis Rally. An occasion celebrated in vivid color on 100% cotton. Having worked for many years in the t-shirt graphic industry, mostly embroidery, but some screen printing, I can tell you without doubt, that there are tons of t-shirts stretching from Wall all the way to Lead, and probably beyond.

It was not the only thing, of course, there is a saloon. The Knuckle Saloon, with a bull riding arena
inside. An expansive saloon area, and a craft brewery. There was no bull riding while we were there, which is ok with me, watching people climb on the back of an angry 1,600 pound devil, already mad, and then go out of his way to anger it further is still a little intimidating to me.  I can not think of a good reason to climb on a bull, but several come readily to mind to stay hell and gone away from the snarling, snorting angry beasts.  Number one, it could be lethal.

But, the craft beer was excellent, I recommend the VA' Knockers Blond ale, it was light, with a slight bitter aftertaste, and since that is the extent of my beer snob language, I will just say if you are passing through, stop in, have a beer, and a combo platter of appetizers (thank goodness my doctor does not read this blog).  A  buffet sized platter of food fried to golden perfection, onion rings, french fries, chicken fingers, mushrooms, jalapeno poppers... well, you get the idea.  All cooked to perfection.  When you stop by, tell them Tim sent you, and when they ask "Tim who?" tell them "exactly."

I do have two questions about Sturgis.  Why Sturgis?  It is a nice little town, with a lot of old world charm, in a wonderful location, but it is a little town.  The streets are small and there are not very many of them. They must be packed with people during the rally, standing shoulder to shoulder, beer can to beer can.  And, how many t-shirts have they sold in the last seventy five years?  It must number in the billions.  The world may never know.  And I am certainly not going to do the research, I am on vacation.