According to our kids who live in the Seattle area and Wikipedia too Dick’s Drive In has achieved iconic status in the Seattle area. That’s like Pike’s Place Market, the Space Needle, Microsoft, etc. We stopped in at the original, celebrating their 55th anniversary, on 45th St near the University District on Sunday at lunch time.

The lines moved quickly, probably because most people seemed to know the menu by heart, while we had to study things a bit. Of course the menu is fairly limited and they don’t take to alterations at all. Only cash too. The menu and decor hasn’t chanaged much since the 50s so us old folks felt a lot like we were coming home, not far from downtown Seattle.

The Deluxe, a double burger with cheese and just the right amount of mayonnaise, lettuce and pickle, was pretty good, about the price of a double quarter pounder at McDs or maybe a little cheaper—I’m not sure because I usually order from the dollar menu at McDs. The fries were excellent, better than McDs. The chocolate milk shake was only average or less.

They don’t have seating here so most people take it away or just tailgate as we wound up doing as we couldn’t think of a nearby park quickly enough.

Do we have any place like this in Billings? Somebody wrote a magazine article promoting hamburger joints in Billings about a year ago but they were way off the mark on the two places I checked out.

The Montana Wilderness Society has a site listing more than 100 hikes around the state. Other suggestions in the article of things to do and/or visit are the Bair Family Museum, Bighorn Canyon, Yellowtail Dam, the Spa Hot Springs in White Sulphur Springs, dinosaurs in Harlowtown, a powwow in Ashland, birding in Red Lodge and Miles City, fishing, prairie dogs, the Rosebud and Little Big Horn Battlefields, the Madison Buffalo Jump, Chief Plenty Coups State Park and Museum (a vastly underrated museum IMHO), Crow Fair, driving through Sunlight Basin, and exploring the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark.

Check out the Gazette article for the details and if you folks know of more “one tank of gas trips” in the Billings area let us know the what and where of those gems.