Idaho’s Loudest Restaurant is on America’s Longest Road

Not loud in a noisy sense.  It’s the paint.  Driving into Arco from the east on Route 20 and heading west, how can you possibly miss Pickle’s Place?  I was there one very hot summer day.  I had been driving for quite some time since I turned off Interstate 15 and as soon as I saw the green paint and oversized chair, I knew I had to drop in.  I found a table in the small dining room aside from the main eating area, sat down, and ordered lunch.

The Place is a Popular Stop for Visitors and Locals

Then the place began getting popular.  By the time I left, there wasn’t another empty table.  There was a festival in town that day.  The Atomic Days parade had ended about half an hour earlier.  The crowd split into two.  Some wandered off to a picnic ground on the other side of town.  Others came to eat!

Dog B&B's and Spaceships

Idaho has a distinct smattering of strange roadside attractions.  Like a dog bed and breakfast in Cottonwood.  I had heard about the place from friends when suddenly I saw it while driving north in the panhandle.

Our state is filled with a lot of creative types with impish senses of humor.  The very same day I saw the dog I made my way into Wallace.  Home of space ships, silver mines, and bordellos!

Gas prices and cold weather have left me somewhat homebound in recent months but I really need to get back to some of these places.  An old college friend called those road trips attitude adjustments.