787. Hailey, Idaho

These days we are thinking about travel. When the tough get going, the going heads to the road and magically transports themselves to better places, like the garden of the Wood River Valley, Idaho, trout fishing, moose, bears, dogs, fish and fishing, did I say fish? Yes, yes I did.

There’s no end to the beautiful shots that is a photographic depiction to represent what the Hailey, Idaho experience is all about. It’s a wonderland. An escape. Let’s go, shall we?

An idyllic historical Main Street with saloons, hotels, sometimes the two combined in the Silver Dollar Saloon. I’ve stayed there. It’s all that and a bag of biscuits. Trust me on this.

Well so much for that charming little local establishment. Up in smoke like the rest of 2020 and our hopes and dreams of a peaceful transfer of national power. What are we going to do? Escape! Run away! Go all Henry David Thoreau and Walden Pond. Escape.

What do we know about Hailey, Idaho from its art? As we explored in the Good Things earlier, a lot can be told about a place to visit by the art its people make. Trout, yes. Fly fishing also yes. Weirdness of swords and plough shares? What’s that all about? Who knows? Who cares? Indians and owls? And more plowing. That’s what one can expect in Hailey.

Let’s look what this dude has to say about the economics of the Wood River Valley, shall we?

Who are some of the more famous residents of the Wood River Valley? Picabo Street and Beau Bergdhal come to mind. What have they been up to lately?

Looks like Picabo got a street named after her due to her Olympic medal-winning ways. She also beat up her father and got jailed for it. Maybe the guy had it coming.

And Beau Bergdhal got captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Not so good, not so good. I think, since then, Bergdhal may have been promoted and maybe can move on with his life. But the public has a short memory but also not so much and the CiNC has said he thinks POW’s are losers. What are we to think?