After getting off the train in Minott, North Dakota we proceeded to visit Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and then proceeded south to the area around Rapid City, South Dakota, before we headed east to visit my friend in Fargo and then returned to Minott to get back on the Empire Builder. First item on the list was to visit Mt. Rushmore because why does anyone go to South Dakota except to visit the iconic site and then stop at Wall Drug before heading into Iowa? Of all the “historical sites” I have visited, Mt. Rushmore has to be the single biggest disappointment. In my view the carvings seemed dwarfed in their surroundings and the granite debris at the bottom of the side of the mountain appeared messy to me. I also learned that the carving was placed on a mountain sacred to the indigenous people of the area. Some sources report that during the fourteen years of construction between 1927 – 1941 close to 60 people were killed in falls and other disasters associated with carving the heads. In actuality it is an achievement to have sculpted the four heads, each of them approximately 60 feet tall. By contrast the seated statute of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial is only 30 feet tall from the floor to the top of Lincoln’s head. I think the Rushmore heads appear to be smaller than expected because they are dwarfed by the magnificent scenery.
Just because Mt. Rushmore and Wall Drug were a disappointment, it does not mean that I do not have fond memories of South Dakota. Megan and I had a good time in the Rapid CIty area and most of that occurred because of a bit of serendipity. My cousin from California told me about a wonderful Nepalese restaurant in downtown Rapid City. We had a great dinner there and Megan said the lassi she had with her dinner was the best she ever had and it was a drink she often had in Malaysia and Singapore. Lassi is an Indian yogurt–based beverage with a smoothie-like consistency. A surprise indeed to find such a concoction in Rapid City. We also came upon the Crazy Horse Memorial on the Black Hills roads in the vicinity of Mt. Rushmore. Neither of us had heard of this complex and we believed it to be a hidden gem. The monument of Crazy Horse, carved into the side of the mountain is far from completed, but there is an interesting museum and an area where there are lectures, dances, and other cultural activities. We attended a lecture about Lakota history and learned that the word Sioux is not a word from the languages of the plains tribes such as Lakota, Hidatsu, and other tribes which are now often referred to as Sioux. The word came from the language of the Ojibwe or other tribes in the Great Lakes region and refers to “enemies of the people” which is the descriptor that was given to French trappers when they were asked who the people were who lived on plains. The pictures below depict our time at the Crazy Horse Memorial, including the current state of construction and a model of the completed monument.
In addition to the Crazy Horse Memorial, we also found a plethora of bison in the state parks and national parks that are located in the area. Custer State Park has a huge herd of bison, a very small portion of which is pictured below. https://gfp.sd.gov/parks/detail/custer-state-park/ There are also a number of national parks in South Dakota, perhaps the most famous being Badlands National Park which we did not have an opportunity to explore because of time constraints. However we did visit both Wind Cave National Park (more bison) and Jewel Cave National Park. I admit that I got a little nervous in the cave at Jewel but both of the parks were worth the time we spent there. The bison below are at Custer State Park and the frightened old lady is me in the cave at Jewel.
After spending a couple of days in the Rapid City area we proceeded to make our way east across South Dakota toward our next stop which was on the Missouri River in Iowa at Sioux City. I discussed our time at the Lewis and Clark Center when I wrote about Iowa in an earlier entry. The following morning we turned north to head toward Fargo and on the way up there we encountered another bit of serendipity. We came upon Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which is actually the largest city in South Dakota. It was not on our “must see” list of places, not like the Corn Palace, another iconic site we managed to avoid. It was lunch time when we got to Sioux Falls, so we decided to stop. We had a good lunch, but more importantly we found a lovely park located right on the falls. I love to find a spot like this one, which I never knew existed and which takes a little digging to find. They always turn out to be the best spotsl
At the beginning of this discussion of South Dakota I mentioned Wall Drug. I should also end the page with a discussion of Wall Drug and its easternmost cousin, Pedros South of Border located just over the North Carolina border near Florence, South Carolina. Both establishments are classic “tourist traps.” Both are located conveniently adjacent to long boring interstates traversed either by truckers or tourists heading for some destination other than the state they find themselves traversing. At Pedros folks are heading to or from Florida and at Wall Drug they are heading to or from the American West and its amazing collection of national parks and ultimately the Pacific Ocean. While folks may start out from either direction, at least at the time these hideous establishments began it was most often people from the northeast or midwest area heading either south or west. When road trips in automobiles became the most normal form of family vacation (during my formative years) cars loaded with families headed off on vacation. They needed someplace to stop and divert the kids’ attention. Pedros bills itself as “America’s Favorite Highway Oasis” for the last 70 years. https://www.sobpedro.com/our-history Wall Drug’s history is even more colorful going back to 1931 when the drug store located in Wall, South Dakota, became famous for its highway signs offering free ice water. The advertising, endless billboards announcing in both directions that you are approaching the famous highway stop, is identical in both cases. And in both cases I am afraid the roadside attraction does not live up to its billing. Nevertheless, I will acknowledge that Wall Drug, while a disappointment, is far better than Pedros. https://www.walldrug.com/about-us However, I adamantly maintain no one can take a road trip through the United States without visiting both places. I have proof, pictures of me proving I have visited them both. (OK, the Pedro picture is of Harold but I took it.)
Memories - A Second Chance at Happiness 