I Do in I-Da-Ho

• Tweet

• Tweet

I was fortunate enough to attend my dear ZomppaLys’ wedding a while back. ZomppaLys is master of amazing desserts. Her wedding promised to be a haven for food lovers, and she did not disappoint. She had three cakes – the cake with three layers (Chocolate, Strawberry, and Hazel/Toffee), the groom’s mountain cake, and a Norwegian wedding cake. YUM!

Even her wedding favors were the best: cookbooks of her and her new husband’s favorite recipes. (Lucky man!) and a GREAT wedding favor idea!

Another exciting part for me was that she was getting married in a land I had never been: IDAHO! Being from New England, I didn’t know much about it, other than Idaho potatoes.

Source: Target

I had no idea that Boise was such a food paradise! Hands down for me was the famous Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro. Named one of the top ten breakfast places in the U.S. by Bon Appetit. Stuffed French Toast, giant–I mean GIANT–cinnamon buns for $2.50. They are SO BIG you have to share with at least 4 people or you will bust. The wait is well worth it, and they are even thoughtful enough to put a table outside of free coffee for people in line.

To complete the Idaho trip, two girlfriends and I drove from Boise through Wyoming, South Dakota, and Wisconsin to catch an AM flight in Chicago two days later. We drove through the majestic Tetons, symbolic Mt. Rushmore, through the pristine beauty of Yosemite…

…the Badlands with centuries of history and stories visible to the eye…

…saw a town with a population of 10…

…rocks over 2.5 BILLION years old…

…palaces made of corn…

…bears and mountain goats so close you could touch them….

We stopped in Cody, Wyoming, which felt like walking onto a movie set for a New Englander like me.

We stopped at the Irma Hotel for lunch, where the original “Buffalo Bill” William F. Cody stayed and helped to found. It was a huge saloon with the most beautiful darkwood bar with its original cash register. The all-you-can-eat-buffet seemed popular with the locals, as the place was packed with big men with cowboy hats and belt buckles the size of my waist. We ate some delicious, juicy burgers under the watchful eyes of a moose.

Then in the evening, we were driving through the Big Horn Mountains when a snowstorm hit (never mind it was May). It got heavier and heavier, darker and darker. It was pitch dark and there were sharp curves everywhere, making it even more precarious. Since none of us has a death wish, we slowed to a crawl.  We couldn’t really keep driving, but we couldn’t really just pull over because we’d no doubt get hit if another car came by. We continued for a bit, trying to figure out what to do, when LO! Literally out of nowhere, a sign of refuge: The Passage Resort.

I ran out and peeked in the windows and saw a guy mopping the floor. I banged on the door. Before we knew it, we were ushered into a large, warm lobby with a big fireplace. It was divine. They gave us a key to our own cabin which was big and comfy and we piled into beds and fell asleep as the snow continued to fall.

The very next morning we went to the large and empty dining hall. Everything seemed deep fried something. I shared one dish – deep fried pork the size of a small car. Boy, was it GOOD. I realized folks up in those parts must be big eaters – even when I stretched out my arm as far out in front of me, I could barely graze the table. At least I knew my full stomach could fit.

Boy, is the U.S. a beautiful country or what.

Tags: Badlands, Big Horn Mountain, Boise, Bon Appetit, Breakfast, BUffalo Bill, cinnamon buns, Cody, Copper Mine Restaurant, Corn Palace, Emblem, food, Goldy's Breafast Bistro, Idaho, Irma Hotel, moutain country, Mt. Rushmore, Norwegian wedding cake, South Dakota, stuffed french toast, Tetons, The Passage Resort, travel, U.S., wedding, wedding cake, wedding favor, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yosemite

Category: Travel & Culture, US & Canada