I don’t want to start a big brouhaha, but I gots to keep it real. I haven’t been to too many state capitals — maybe 20 — but I suspect that Pierre (pronounced Peer) might be the most, um, well, “modest” — i.e. grim — state capital in the country. Again, I could have driven through a bad part of town. But, for example, we drove around the Capital building which shouldn’t be a bad neighborhood. And I asked a teenager changing the sign on a movie theater what the best hotel in town was and he directed me to the Best Western. It was a fine Best Western, though our dog-friendly room was fairly grim. But is that really where they put up the fat-cat lobbyists? The whole place seems to have a very run-down feel. Lots of “casinos” and liquor stores. On the other hand the state itself is growing on me. The Black Hills really are beautiful and I’m sorrying to have skipped Deadwood this time.