Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2018 | Page 68

Travel
The town is located within close
proximity to the Great Teton
Mountain range and Yellowstone
National Park, but the valley has
its own distinct identity. The
Americans have even created a
Jackson Hole brand, and anything
can be purchased, from horse
riding gear, cowboy hats, jackets
and jeans to the usual T shirts and
baseball caps.
In 2016 over four million people
were recorded as having visited
Yellowstone National Park, many
staying in the various Tourism
Centres and Lodges to take in
the Old West environment within
Wyoming. The town square has
been developed from what was
a pretty dingy patch of dirt that
didn’t have as much as a tree,
cow or elk wandering through
it, to today’s public open area
that features an archway made
entirely of elk’s antlers. Old
renovated stage coaches can be
seen travelling around the town
offering rides to tourists eager to
experience a flavour of the Old
Wild West, and each year the
town square is the centre of what
is known as “Old Bills Fun Run” ,
the biggest charity fund-raiser in
the valley. In addition, every Friday
after Thanksgiving, there is the
annual ceremonial lighting of the
elk archway.
Our friends had gone to much
trouble to generously arrange
a visit to one of the oldest local
bars and Playhouses, involving
drinks around a bar on leather
“The hotel was truly ‘wild west’ with
some original wood cladding and
adorned with old paintings, original
photographs of infamous cowboys,
and elk and bear heads displayed
around the walls.”
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hide saddles, a dining experience
on a brushed wood table with the
most glamorously dressed girls
in Wild West attire, and rounded
off by taking our seats at the old
Playhouse to watch a two-hour
performance of “The Unsinkable
Molly Brown”.
What an experience and what a
greeting we had from the locals!
At the end of a long and exciting
day we retired, with the continuing
generosity of our good friends,
to rest and stay over for a night
in one of the oldest hotels in the
town. The hotel was truly ‘wild
west’ with some original wood
cladding and adorned with old
paintings, original photographs
of infamous cowboys, and elk and
bear heads displayed around the
walls. The furniture was all solid
and highly polished and as I sat
for a while in the quietness of the
upper lounge the voices echoed
from the lower reception hallway
as people came and went about
their business. For a few moments
I was reliving the western dream!
Although our entire stay was a
mere 48 hours, those two days left
me with a lasting memory