Day 8: Rest/Tourist Day in Cody

July 16, 2024

Today is a rest day in Cody, Wyoming. I planned to visit the big museum complex in the afternoon, but never got motivated to go there even though it's only 5 blocks away. The bike stayed in the room and I walked around downtown, never straying more than 4 blocks from the hotel. That's one advantage of staying at a hotel in the middle of downtown.

Grand Staircase at Irma Hotel. My bed is behind the photo.

I stopped to look at the giant framed photo of Buffalo Bill and two Indian chiefs. I don't remember the context, but I remember seeing this photo in an elementary school history book. Buffalo Bill Cody was a marketing genius who created an industry. His wild west shows toured the nation and were immensely popular, introducing the public to his show business interpretation of American wild west history and mythology. Decades later, western movies introduced the mythology to a global audience.

Buffalo Bill Cody posing with two Indian chiefs.

Here's a photo of the promotional poster when the Buffalo Bill show visited Roseburg, Oregon for the first time in 1902. The show returned to Roseburg in 1910, 1914, and 1915.

I had breakfast at the hotel's expensive breakfast buffet. It was very good and very convenient. I noted that it starts at 7 AM tomorrow morning.

Irma Hotel is the centerpiece of downtown Cody. The old 1902 building doesn't have very many guest rooms because the entire ground floor is occupied by lobby, bar, restaurant, gift shop, and meeting rooms. It only has guest rooms on the upper floor. The newer annex contains most of the guest rooms. I reserved a historic queen room in the original 1902 building. The annex is still in a great location but is less charming.

The 1902 building only has guest rooms upstairs. The 1920's annex has rooms on both floors.

I walked around several times during the day. High temperature was only about 90F. But I found the evening light to be best for photography to avoid harsh shadows.

Cody was sort of founded as a western tourist town, and it became even more of a tourist destination after the Wapiti Highway (US 14) crossed the Absaroka mountains, connecting Cody to Yellowstone National Park. Several large motels are on the west side of town near the museum complex and the rodeo grounds. Population of 10,224 makes Cody the 3rd largest town on this tour.

I walked into most of the tourist shops downtown. Some shops sell cheap Chinese made t-shirts. Other shops had good stuff such as an exquisitely tooled $800 belt and a $1600 gem inlay belt buckle. I didn't buy any souvenirs. Not even a $300 Jackalope. But I spent $12 for 4 pieces of honey infused dark chocolate at the Queen Bee Gardens store (from the factory in Lovell).

My first time to see Jackalopes for sale.

The town of Cody is all about gun obsession. Free gunfight six days a week during summer. Two gun museums. Shooting ranges for visitors who want to shoot historic firearms. I try to think of it as a campy historical reenactment for tourists, but I know that many of the residents and visitors are genuinely obsessed about guns.

The courthouse has an elegant clock tower but the surrounding trees made it difficult to back up and see it. I was intrigued to see that Cody is in Park County. I presume the name refers to Yellowstone. After the tour I learned that 53% of Yellowstone National Park is in Park County, Wyoming.

The courthouse grounds has an impressive sculpture of a pioneer man and woman. Once again the pioneer woman looks very unhappy.

Pioneer sculpture on the courthouse grounds.

I suspect that the most-photographed object in Cody is the park bench sculpture of Buffalo Bill Cody. I was probably the only visitor who didn't get a self-portrait there. I didn't get a single self-portrait during this tour. I just don't think about it.

Buffalo Bill Cody posing bench in front of Irma Hotel.

Cody Theatre is across the street from Irma Hotel. I suppose they show films most of the year, but during summer the theatre is used for a live western stage show. The show was running last night, but not tonight.

Cody Theatre across from the hotel. The marquee is sagging visibly.

During the summer it hosts a western musical stage show.

Poster about the shootout 6 days a week.

I walked extensively through the very large Wayne's Boot Shop. It has the largest selection of steel toe boots I've ever seen. I hoped to find a good souvenir from Wayne's Boot Shop but didn't find anything I wanted.

It was interesting to observe the traffic on Sheridan Street in Cody. The locals all drive big pickup trucks. The tourists all drive luxury SUVs. It was easy to determine who was who. People walking on the sidewalk all seemed to be tourists. Local people don't seem to patronize the expensive tourist restaurants and bars.

The two most popular tourist bars in Cody are the Irma Bar and the Silver Dollar Bar.

I didn't patronize the Silver Dollar Bar. The Cody Stampede Rodeo was July 1-4, but they also have summer night rodeos.

I had an excellent New Mexico style lunch at Zapata's Mexican Food. One of the best meals of the tour. For dinner I had an Avocado BLT and two India Pale Ales at WYOLD West Tap Room.

I happened to be in my room at the end of tonight's melodrama, so I looked out the window to see the final shootout. It's less windy today, so I saw impressive clouds of smoke. I imagine tonight's show had fewer sound problems because of the light wind.

Irma Hotel has special lighting for the July 4 Independence Day holiday. The holiday was 12 days ago but the hotel still has the unique red white and blue lighting. I think it looks dramatic at first glance, but tacky in the long term. They will probably go back to white lights soon.

Irma Hotel with red white and blue lighting for the Independence Day holiday.

Today was a genuine rest day. I didn't bike and didn't walk very far. I took a short afternoon nap. I feel well rested for tomorrow's long hilly ride.

Cody, Wyoming is an excellent place for a rest day if you're willing to spend the money to stay at the Irma Hotel. Many interesting things to see nearby.

Distance: 0 miles

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