Deborah Kade
- Sep 7, 2020
- 6 min read

What do you do on a Sunday at Sun Valley?

Updated: Sep 8, 2020

Well.....the Switzerland theme continues! I am very happy we came to Sun Valley!

Guess what they were serving at the Konditorei for breakfast? One of the choices for breakfast was Baked Swiss Eggs Rösti (bacon crumble, Yukon potato (Not Idaho?), melted Gruyère, caramelized onions and two eggs any style . Really???!!!! Rösti is a Swiss specialty but they do it here the Sun Valley way. You can order a Nutella crepe or a Schnitzel waffle. The Schnitzel and Gravy is a signature dish.

We decided to have a late breakfast at the Konditorei. Of course, I had to try the rösti. The potatoes in Europe are softer and more plentiful but this was very delicious. I certainly am not complaining! It is quite filling! The Gruyère cheese was so tasty.

Michael wasn't daring. He did say the eggs were very good.

The Konditorei

In Europe there would have been dragon waterspouts at the four corners. The Sun Valley Sun sits atop.

It is a quaint little place to have breakfast or lunch.

Lots of attention to details.

Interesting coat hooks

Wood floors

Open kitchen in the back

This was a first for us. Covid-19 really changed everything. You can't have one of those flip phones and order.

Inviting pastry counter

Oh, for lunch you could have chicken and spätzle soup. For the beet lovers out there, another choice was beets and berry salad. Anyone for "Spätzle" Mac and Cheese or maybe try the Schnitzelplatte, heritage duroc pork schnitzel, spätzle, riesling braised cabbage and cranberry mostarda.

Yesterday and today they are holding a car auction. The new red corvette sold yesterday for $150,000. Michael spoke with the lucky new owner.

Some of the trees are starting to change color.

Sun Valley and the The Sun Valley Lodge

This is a picture of the back of the resort. It faces the skating rink.

Michael and I watched this couple for a little while. They did triples, spins, lifts, etc. My cats TeTe and Switzee loved to watch skating on TV.

This poor girl kept falling on her jumps but she got right back up and tried again and again and again... This had to be a coaching session with the coaches skating along with the student at times.

"Sun Valley is a resort city in Blaine County, Idaho. The resort is adjacent to the city of Ketchum and within the greater Wood River Valley. The population was 1,406 at the 2010 census, down from 1,427 in 2000. The elevation of Sun Valley (at the Lodge) is 5,920 feet (1,805 m) above sea level. Scheduled passenger airline service is available via the Friedman Memorial Airport located in nearby Hailey, approximately 15 miles (25 km) south. Visitors to Sun Valley are relatively close to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, accessed over Galena Summit on State Highway 75, the Sawtooth Scenic Byway.

Among skiers, the term "Sun Valley" refers to the alpine ski area, which consists of Bald Mountain, the main ski mountain adjacent to Ketchum, and Dollar Mountain, adjacent to Sun Valley, for novice and lower intermediate skiers. Bald Mountain, or "Baldy," has a summit of 9,150 feet (2,790 m) and a vertical drop of 3,400 feet (1,035 m).

With its abundance of constant-pitch terrain, at varying degrees of difficulty, coupled with its substantial vertical drop and absence of wind, Baldy has often been referred to as one of the better ski mountains in the world. The treeless "Dollar" at 6,638 feet (2,023 m) has a moderate vertical drop of 628 feet (191 m).

The term "Sun Valley" is used more generally to speak of the region surrounding the city, including the neighboring city of Ketchum and the Wood River Valley area winding south to Hailey and Bellevue. The region has been a seasonal home to the rich and famous since first being brought to public attention by Ernest Hemingway in the late 1930s.

In summer, the resort has miles of mountain trails, equestrian routes and wildflower-filled meadows. Numerous other trails start from areas around town like Fox Creek and Trail Creek, which offers a path up Proctor Mountain for valley views.

The Sun Valley lodge, built in 1936, was the original American ski resort hotel.

Older than Vail, Jackson Hole, Aspen or Lake Tahoe, Sun Valley was America's very first winter resort, hosting celebrities, families and skiing fanatics since 1936.

We took a walk to explore the very large property. There are so many paths to choose from. The property is beautifully landscaped. I appreciated the benches where we could stop and "people watch".

Michael and I took the local town shuttle to Ketchum as I was in a shopping mood. For those of you whom know me, you know that doesn't happen often. No one on the bus except for us. There are sanitizing fluids, papers, etc. everywhere. We were told getting a parking space in Ketchum was almost impossible on a holiday weekend. We could have walked but it was 95 degrees (35C). And.... it is humid here!!!!

Well, many stores were closed which was quite surprising. I was actually looking for T-shirts or sweatshirts but couldn't find any I liked.

We bought 3 packages of semolina in this very cute kitchen store. In this time of Covid-19, I have had a difficult time finding semolina and this one comes from Italy. It was also cheaper than what I pay in Scottsdale. Michael and I enjoy making homemade pasta and sauce. We learned how to do this last year when we visited Milan and took "a cooking lesson with a local."

This actually was on a black shirt but the shirt didn't show up in the picture.

Another shirt said:

I speak Fluent French

Hermes.

Chanel.

Dior

Saint Laurent.

"Ketchum has a population of around 3,800 people. Originally the smelting center of the Warm Springs mining district, the town was first named Leadville in 1880. The postal department decided that was too common and renamed it for David Ketchum, a local trapper and guide who had staked a claim in the basin a year earlier. Smelters were built in the 1880s, with the Philadelphia Smelter, located on Warm Springs Road, processing large amounts of lead and silver for about a decade.

After the mining boom subsided in the 1890s, sheep men from the south drove their flocks north through Ketchum in the summer, to graze in the upper elevation areas of the Pioneer, Boulder, and Sawtooth mountains. By 1920, Ketchum had become the largest sheep-shipping center in the West. In the fall, massive flocks of sheep flowed south into the town's livestock corrals at the Union Pacific's rail head in Shoshone."

After the development of Sun Valley by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1936, Ketchum became popular with celebrities, including Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway first arrived in 1939, and quickly took to writing in Room 206, where he finished "For Whom the Bell Tolls."Hemingway loved the surrounding area; he fished, hunted, and in the late 1950s bought a home overlooking the Wood River in nearby Warm Springs. It was there he committed suicide; he and his granddaughter, model and actress Margaux Hemingway, are buried in the Ketchum Cemetery. The local elementary school is named in his honor.

Michael and I went to Bald Mountain to check the gondola times for tomorrow.

Pretty entrance to get to the gondola ride. You cross over a stream. A family was enjoying playing in the water. The flowers planted on the bridge are pretty. Unfortunately, the weather guy is predicting frost for the end of the week so they will probably die.

They even have the Swiss flag.

This couple had the right idea to cool off and relax.

Gorgeous hanging baskets

We went back to the resort and had dinner at the Sun Valley Village Station.

Great way to have touchless menus.

These signs were on the one of the walls where we were sitting.

Did you know that about the Hokey-Pokey? Great answer to know if you play trivia games.

Michael and I shared a Caesar salad and a Bald Mountain pizza (Italian sausage, pepperoni, roasted garlic, bell peppers and olives) Michael had them hold the olives as they are another food he will not eat.

Red velvet cupcake for dessert. The frosting was so creamy.

Friends whom follow my daily posting wanted to know what our room and the lobby were like. So... here are some pictures. Our room is immaculate and sanitized. So many precautions are taken to keep everyone safe and healthy.

We have a view of the ice skating rink.