Hours of Daylight – 9:21

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "The rich are different from you and me." Hemingway is credited with adding to F. Scott’s statement: "Yes,
they have more money." But his simplistic statement is just
the very tip of the iceberg. The rich, the very rich, the super-rich,
also have different things on their mind. They live in a world that
only resembles the world the vast majority of the citizens of this
planet inhabit. Why is this on my mind? Well, Annette and i just returned from Thanksgiving in Ketchum/Sun Valley.

Some history:
Sun Valley is not a "town" but rather a more elusive "concept." I was tickled to learn Sun Valley was the idea of W. Averell Harriman (a name any New Yorker will know). Before he became Governor of New York, Harriman was CEO of Union Pacific Railroad and was looking for a way to boost passenger traffic on the largely freight rails of his empire. All the areas served by UP were put on the table. Areas such as Aspen, Yosemite, and Mt. Ranier were all passed up. It was then the tiny valley town of Ketchum was "discovered." Ketchum is only about 79 miles north of Twin Falls (a major stop on the east/west rail corridor) and surrounded by mountains of various sizes. It was Harriman’s idea to build something new: a ski resort unlike any in the United States. That resort would then, of course, be served by Union Pacific trains. Part of what made Sun Valley (the name was made up by a marketing maven retained by Harriman) unique was the invention by a bright UP engineer, James Curran, of something totally new to ski resorts – a "chair lift."

I was also surprised to learn the original lifts were installed on Dollar and Proctor mountains. Dollar Mountain is still a functioning resort. The Proctor Mountain lift is still there but it’s pretty lonely, occupying the backyard of one of the many multimillion dollar homes that line the side valleys. The photo at left was actually taken from east of Proctor mountain looking west toward the far-larger Bald Mountain ski area. The technology to install lifts on the 9,150 foot Bald Mountain did not exist when Harriman was planing his resort.

Ketchum remains the actual "town" and the Sun Valley Resort has grown into a sprawling complex with golf courses, meeting facilities, ice rinks and scads upon scads of condos. Radiating out from this complex are many massive homes most built in the style of "high-country-rugged-chic." Exceptions to the rule exist. Most notable is 306 Fairway Road. 306 is large boxy house built entirely of glass and steel plate. The steel is not painted, so the structure has taken on a purplish/black/reddish patina. The large windows have a slight golden tint and blend in well. There’s a bridge across the driveway to the two-story garage/studio. a fence surrounding the house is made of cut logs stacked like cordwood, but clearly intended as a privacy device…. but in the event of a particularly cold winter it’s probably nice to have that much firewood handy. It’s always nice to see evidence of well-funded originality.

I like Ketchum. Ketchum has bars and restaurants and shoppes (bring your Amex Black card!) and you can walk to all of it. Ketchum has teeny houses that need a coat of paint, and more than a few VW busses parked here and there.

We prepared our traditional Thanksgiving fondue at the condo we’d "rented," but we hit The Rustic Moose for breakfast Friday morning, the Ketchum Grill for dinner Friday night and then Christina’s for breakfast Saturday morning.

The Rustic Moose is an overpriced theme (all things Moose) diner. I suppose every "rural" town needs one of these. Breakfast was fine, just too expensive for what you get. Avoid the salsa verde unless you like it sweet.

The Ketchum Grill is one of the dining staples of Ketchum. It’s rough-hewn inside, a bit close, but warm and cozy. The service was friendly and engaging. Annette started with warm beet salad while i chose grilled prosciutto wrapped prawns. For dinner I had New Zealand venison, roasted medium rare, with an outstanding Gorgonzola-peppercorn sauce. The sides were red cabbage slaw (nicely vinegared) and wild rice mixed with some other grain. The rice was average, but after 6 years in Minnesota i’m a bit of an connoisseur of wild rice. The venison was outstanding, and the sauce a very good compliment. Annette had breast of duck with a drizzle of huckleberry sauce. Her sides were julienned zucchini and some of the same wild rice mix. Her duck was excellent with just right amount of remaining fat and a crisp skin i’ve never been able to achieve when i cook duck. We added a Cabernet we’d never heard of (Kit Fox – like the airplane) and dessert of pecan pie and creme brulee. We got out the door for, in New York parlance, a buck-twenty.

Christina’s serves breakfast, lunch,  brunches, and occasional dinners. Christian Cook owns the place and was there when we arrived talking it up with a friend who’d flown in for Thanksgiving and had stopped by to say hello. Our affable server (i’m glad we had his table vs. the miniskirt-and-sneaker-wearing-ski-bunny-i’m only working here ’cause my mom owns the place-chick) told us the specials were a sun-dried tomato and pancetta omelet, and "breakfast gnocchi." I dove on the omelet and Annette had the gnocchi. There’s a great scene in Northern Exposure where Adam goes ballistic on Dave-the-cook because he hands Adam bacon when Adam asked for pancetta. The omelet was very good largely because the sundried tomatoes were not the chewy oil-soaked-you’re kidding this was once a tomato?-objects most Americans have standardized on. The sweet tomatoes was nicely mated to the salty pancetta while being wrapped in a fluffy cloud of egg. Annette’s gnocchi was marvelously toasted then scrambled with egg, scallion, and chopped thick-cut (not over cooked) bacon. It wasn’t breakfast at Goldy’s (more on that another day), but it was a fine way to end our stay in the Wood River Valley before the 2.5 hour drive back to Boise.

But what i can’t stop thinking about was the conversations overheard at the Ketchum Grill and Christina’s. At The Grill the table next to us was a "my age" man and woman with two children. The androgynous boy was maybe 13, the girl, Asian, maybe Korean, maybe Chinese, might have been 10. All they talked about was happy things, where they’re next off to (France, maybe Greece). The boys haircut cost more than the rent for our two nights stay.

On the other side of the divider a table of four talked about skiing and where they’re next off to. Again France… or maybe England first then the chunnal to France. The eyeware at the table was easily two of my mortgage payments.

I’m not for a second saying these are bad people. Hell, even if they all cheat on their taxes they’re pumping more money into the system than i ever will. But they weren’t talking about their children serving in Iraq, or global warming, or what did President Bush know and when did he know it. Their world is an abstraction of the world i know. Sure we sit next to each other in a restaurant, but we might as well have been on different continents. These folks have wealth. Think of the immortal Chris Rock observation, "i’m not talking about rich, i’m talking about wealth. Shaq is rich. The guy who signs Shaq’s checks has wealth."

We departed to the south down state highway 75 through the town of Hailey on our way home. As the road made it’s way around the Hailey airport (like many Idaho towns the Hailey airport, scheduled service is available! is just off the main road) i saw a Cessna Citation over the numbers ready to depart. We continued south passing the idling jet. About mid way down the runway i heard the engines spool up. The jet overtook us and gently lifted into the air. It held the runway heading until disappearing into the clouds. Could be charter flight back to Boise. Could be a privately owned jet heading to just about anywhere in North America. But either way it left Annette and me behind in our rusty Volvo to find our own way, with our own thoughts and worries of the coming trip. Yeah, the rich are different and it’s not just the money.