We receive many messages on how beautiful it is that we spend so much time traveling with our children.
It wasn’t like that in the beginning.
You see, Peter made my parents grandparents and they were over the moon for him. My sweet mother came over a few times a week to spend time with Peter (even though she worked full time). My parents would ask us to leave Peter over the weekend at their house so my husband and I went on missionary trips, different conferences, and getaways.
However, after coming home from one of our trips, I took Peter to the mall with me and for the first time ever my baby boy was on the ground screaming and kicking his feet. He never threw tantrums before. I knew something was wrong. I knew that this was his way of telling me that he needed my husband and I. He was telling me that he needed structure. He didn’t need two different homes with two different rules and expectations. So as soon as my husband came home from work I asked him to cancel all of our plans for our upcoming Italy trip that we had planned. We needed to make Peter feel safe. We needed to make sure that he knew we weren’t going to leave him. Leaving young children is really hard for them especially if they aren’t sure what is happening. They don’t know where you went or when you will be back.
They are older now and actually love staying with their relatives when we do leave them which isn’t very often. We do a yearly anniversary trip and a few weekend trips.
Thanks to Peter and my mama instincts we are a family who loves to travel together and as a family this was our first time exploring Spearfish, South Dakota. It was one of our favorite places and we plan to come back and spend a week here in the near future. Spending a few days here is not enough.
Chasing Waterfalls
There are two falls which we visited right after eating at Latchspring Inn Restaurant. They were both very different but are within about a mile apart so anyone going to one might as well visit the other. I am speaking of Spearfish Falls and Roughlock Falls.
Spearfish Falls
Located at North Lawrence, SD 57754
Roughlock Falls
Roughlock Falls is about a mile away from Spearfish Falls and was our personal favorite out of the two.
Located at South Lawrence Unorganized Territory, SD 57754
Spearfish Sasquatch
Seeing the Spearfish Sasquatch play against the Wheat City Whiskey Jacks was a very different experience. For everyone except my husband this was our first time at a baseball game. The entire game was different from what we thought because this is more traditional than what we’re used to seeing on TV. Wooden bats is not what you see in a modern baseball game. The cracking of bats when they broke gave the game more tension. Whenever it happened we were impressed that a person was using so much force to hit the ball that it breaks the bat.
Located at 603 N. Main Street
Food
Good Day Cafe
Breakfast, considered by many to be the most important meal of the day. What better way to eat breakfast then at a place that strives to make it the most important meal. Good Day Cafe really does want you to have a good day. You can count the amount of items they have on less then 10 fingers. That’s not an issue though because everything we had was so good. Being Californians we usually eat a lot of sourdough which is in nearly every item here. Even the pancakes which had a sourdough batter which after being cooked had apples and cinnamon on top. The lumberjack alternative was what Esther and I ate. This was a salad with beets, greens, and eggs with sourdough bread on the side. My husband had a sourdough and gravy which was essentially potato and sausage gravy on sourdough. I think the aesthetic of this restaurant is very important to the experience. There are paintings and embroidery throughout the entire building. Handkerchiefs are used as napkins at the table and in the bathroom there are small towels to wipe hands with. This location is more ecofriendly than most restaurants out there. After enjoying our food we walked out of the exit door and we were told to have a good day.
Located at 541 W Jackson Blvd Spearfish, SD 57783.
Barbacoat
Do you like to choose the ingredients in the food you eat? Would you like to do so at an Mexican restaurant? Well Barbacoa’s has you covered. They have burritos, tacos, wraps, and nachos. We all chose to have nachos and the variety of what we got on top was extremely different. We all thought that nachos served in this style was very smart and is something that sets this place apart from other restaurants.
Located at 305 W Jackson Blvd, Spearfish, SD 57783
Redwater Kitchen
We ate dinner at Redwater Kitchen right after our visit to D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery so we were pretty hungry. I ordered the Ceasar Salad. My husband had the mac n’ cheese with bacon and thought it was just perfect, creamy and crunchy. Esther had the most interesting out of all the meals we ordered. She had the strawberry, avocado, and chickpea sandwich which she enjoyed due to all the flavor and how well she thought it went together. Peter had the tri tip sandwich and thought the brie cheese sauce was a great addition to a French dip. We all got dessert which included ice cream, cheesecake, and the daily dessert, a apple tart. All of them had good presentation and were enjoyable. When we left we were full and really enjoyed the experience.
741 N Main St #120, Spearfish, SD 57783
Antunez
Antunez Cuisine is a Mexican/Spanish restaurant that has splendid food. My husband, Peter, and Esther all shared their others tacos with each other and all thought theirs was the best.
Located at 117 E Illinois St, Spearfish SD 57783
Latchstring Inn Restaurant
This restaurant has not only delicious food choices but also a gorgeous view. We enjoyed lunch here. The trail to get to Spearfish Falls is right behind the restaurant. You’ll see people walking to the waterfall if you choose to sit outdoors.
Located at 21046 US Hwy 14a, Central City, SD 57754
Dough Trader Pizza Company
We visited Dough Trader Pizza for dinner and thought it was a great pizza place. All the pizzas had plenty of toppings. We ordered Pompeii, dances with goats, and Scarborough Fair. There was seating indoors and outdoors with covering outside. The employees liked to chat with the customers and were able to give us good recommendations. On the way out we saw a outdoor area for using chalk and wished that we noticed it earlier. Overall this is a very solid location with amazing food and service.
Located at 543 W Jackson Blvd, Spearfish, SD 57783
D.C Booth Historic National Fish Hatcher
Spearfish creek is famous for being a destination to fish for Rainbow, Brook, and Brown Trout, but do you know why? Well it is because of the D.C. Booth National Historic Fish Hatchery. Yearly this location spawns 20,000 to 30,000 Rainbow Trout and that’s not included the other species. This hatchery opened in 1896 and still holds up with beautiful brick walls filled with water to allow the trout to be raised here. Originally they spawned blackspotted trout which is no longer here. Today you can feed the fish with a type of feed which you can purchase. When you throw a handful in the water you can actually see trout jumping over each other to reach the food first. You can view one of the ponds from below with a underground viewing area. This is by far the coolest fish hatchery we have ever been to.
Located at 423 Hatchery Circle, Spearfish, SD 57783
Fairfield Inn Spearfish
We stayed in two conjoining rooms on the third floor. One room with two queen size beds and the second room with one king size bed. Because of this we ended up having two bathrooms and two showers. Which makes it so much easier than sharing one bathroom between six people. Another great thing was that our windows had a great view of a green farm field. They were the type of windows that we were able to open to get fresh air and we did not have to use the under the window wall ac unit that you see in most hotels. Those seem to work all night long and make it very uncomfortable for those sleeping next to them. And after a great refreshing night sleep you also get a complimentary breakfast.
Located at 2720 1st Ave, Spearfish, SD 57783
Thank you Visit Spearfish for hosting our stay.
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