Gem at Mt. Rushmore
Undoubtedly, America’s shrine of democracy, Mount Rushmore National Memorial featuring the faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt that embody the birth, growth, preservation, and development of the United States of America, is the number one tourist attraction in the State of South Dakota, USA.
However, there are quite a number of other must-sees in South Dakota, also world-famous such as Sturgis, Wall Drug Store, “Pawnseum”, Dinosaur Park, Corn Palace, and the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Nestled in the Black Hills of South Dakota is Sturgis, known as the “city of bikers” and home to the premier motorcycling event known around the world as the “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally”. Every first full week in the month of August, motorcycle enthusiasts come by the hundreds of thousands and park on legendary Sturgis Main street. Starting in 1938 for racing and stunts, the rally was expanded to include the Hill climb and Motocross races including half-mile track racing, intentional board wall crashes, ramp jumps and head-on collisions with automobiles. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was even listed as one of the “Ten (10) Places To See Before You Die” in Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine.
Perched high on the edge of sunbathed cliffs on the north rim of the Badlands is the town known as Wall, home to the world-famous “Wall Drug Store” with a world-class collection of western art. Surviving the Depression of the 30’s by offering free ice-water to thirsty travellers, it grew into an internationally-known, block-sized emporium of galleries and unique attractions. Wall Drug still offers free ice water. In summer time, it’s small-town Main Street bustles with tourists.
Omar & Jimmy at Dinosaur Park
Visit and enter the world’s only-known “Pawnseum” at Rapid City. See at this free attraction “The Friendship 7 Lens” (the periscope lens Astronaut John Glenn saw the Earth through, the “Ice Box Nugget” (the largest undisputed Black Hills gold place nugget in existence), “Pwanzi”, the 34″ tall Dog (quite possibly the world’s smallest dog). Besides, the “Pawnseum” contains an amazing collection of western and native American artifacts.
Located on beautiful Skyline Drive of Rapid City is Dinosaur Park, that offers a free family-fun to experience the seven towering life-size concrete replicas of dinosaurs that roamed western South Dakota during the late Cretaceous Period. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the park has a park visitor centre with dinosaur gifts and books, beautiful rocks and fossils, Black Hills gold and silver jewelry, native American products, and of course, custom T-shirts for souvenirs.
One stop in our Rapid City’s tour is at the Chapel in the Hills, the “Stavekirke” Church. This unique chapel, featuring “intricate wood carvings, fancy shingles and dragon’s heads that adorn the church spiral up alongside the pines”, is an exact replica of the picturesque 850-year-old Borgund Church in country of Norway.
The world’s only “Corn Palace” is the centre of attention in Mitchell, a town of 14,500 whose ‘founding fathers hoped that constructing a palace of grain would draw interest to the region’s agricultural capabilities’. The first corn palace was built in 1892 to honor the region’s most important commodity: corn. Since then the corn palace became famous for its huge colourful murals on its sides, which are changed and redesigned every year with various scenes depicting life in South Dakota. The murals, requiring thousands of bushels of corn (eleven different shades of corn), grasses, rye straw, and sourdock. The Corn Palace hosts dances, circuses, concerts, and high school-college basketball games. It has also historical displays and gift shops.
As of today, the “Crazy Horse Memorial”, a colossal monument of the Lakota warrior chief in South Dakota, is the world’s largest mountain carving in progress: construction started in 1948. It is estimated that the hand, the arm, the shoulder, the hairline, and the top of horses’ head would be finished by 2037.
DID YOU KNOW? Few people realize that shortly after the end of WW II the governors of South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming formally invited the United Nations to establish their headquarters in the Black Hills, South Dakota. The request was taken seriously and plans were developed for the United Nations complex to be built near Custer, South Dakota. Greece was the only one that voted in favour of the idea and New York City was ultimately chosen for the site.
Till next time. Keep on travelling!
Lita & kids at the A-Maize-ing Corn Palace
