Bill, I will have to document what I do.. of course every photo is different but what I most often do is adjust contrast via tone mapping. I don't use any HDR programs. There are a number of plugins for Photoshop that will handle the tone mapping for you... but.....
Here is a link to an article that got me started with tone mapping emulation just using the tools that come with Photoshop:
Tone Mapping Emulation - Tutorials
Using the above method takes longer but does not require a plugin or other software.. You can automate the process to a degree using an action but once you've done it a time or two it's pretty simple to do by hand.
Of course I also dodge and burn and use adjustment layers such as curves. I use the B&W adjustment layer quite often rather than converting from color to B&W during the RAW process.