Sioux Falls, Chamberlain, and Mitchell, SD: August 3-5, 2021 - Dakotas Done

We've come to the end of the Dakotas trip.  It's been a grand one.

The last leg took us from Pierre on Tuesday morning down I-90 toward Sioux Falls, the exit point for our trip.  But first, we had some stops to make.

To break up the drive into smaller chunks, I'd found some place called the South Dakota Hall of Fame in Chamberlain, SD, about an hour between Pierre and Mitchell.  Being free of charge, it sounded like a great little stop.

If you zoom in, you'll see that the posted hours are Monday-Friday, 9-5.  We were there at 11:45 or so.  If you zoom way in, however, you'll notice the sign that says the place is closed.

I tell you.  Closures follow me everywhere I go.  This one didn't even make sense!  They were supposed to be open!

So, sadly, we just had to load up and continue on to Mitchell, which is the location of the absolutely world-famous Corn Palace:

This was on our list from pretty early on, but I have to admit, I genuinely did not know what this place was until we got there.  It's not obvious.  I mean, it's called the Corn Palace.  Is it a museum to corn?  A corn-themed convention center?  A Wall Drug-style mega-store?  What could it possibly be?

Before answering that question, we went to Cornerstone Coffee to get our now standard coffee and sandwich lunch, which was lovely.  Then we returned to the Corn.

Turns out it's like a basketball arena, but...a gift shop.

I guess it's an arena, more generically.  It's a place where high school basketball is played, where musicals are performed, and where pop artists play shows when they come through town.  An all-purpose venue.

It's just that, well, you know, it's corn-themed.

They literally make the artwork out of corn husks, like Mount Rushcorn:

And Crazy Cornse:

I know not everyone's gonna appreciate those puns, but I refuse to apologize for my cornball humor

We learned from The Video that they change the artwork every year as it is, you know, made out of corn.

Leaving Mitchell, we thought to stop at the Porter Sculpture park near Montrose, but it was a surprisingly high fee to get in, and it's just some kitschy roadside statues, so we decided it wasn't worth it.  We pressed on to Sioux Falls.

After checking in, we headed out for an evening stroll to a couple points of interest.  First, there was the namesake Falls Park:

Which had a balcony:

It reminded me quite a bit of Greenville, SC.  They're clearly sprucing up the town to be a hip, cool center of this region of the country.

From there we returned south to Fawick Park, which features a replica statue of David:

Then, it was time for a brewery.  We went to Remedy Brewing, where we also got food.  I've been admonished to post more food photos, so here's the pretzels that, while they did not come with The Fluff, came with icing, which was almost as good:

That was it for that night.  Fortunately, we were staying two nights in Sioux Falls, which was the only location in which we did so the whole trip.  That meant plenty of time the next full day for all the sights and scenes of Sioux Falls.

The first of those sights and scenes, attended to right at its opening, was the Great Plains Zoo.  I thought it was Great.  A perfectly respectable mid-sized zoo; not quite a St. Louis or even Indianapolis, but still excellent.

Saw some bears running:

n' rhinos

n' camels

n' giraffes eating a metal bar

n' meerkats n' emus n' kangaroos

and so on.  The zoo also had a smallish museum of natural history grafted onto it, which was worth a quick walk-thru

On our way to the next destination, we stopped for lunch at the All-Day Cafe.  This meal was also worth documenting in photo form since it was an excellent chicken and waffles:

Mein Gott was it ever good.

From there, we went to the Aquarium and Butterfly house, which were both fairly small, but worth doing.  The aquarium was more or less one room:

As was the butterfly house, but those usually are:

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by South Dakota's Episcopal Cathedral, called Calvary.  We neglected to see the one in Fargo, but that's alright.  I haven't made a firm commitment to that particular bucket list, so if I miss some for now, no big deal.  Plus, I need an excuse to go back to Fargo some day so I can get some more of that Fluff.

A short rest break followed, then one more major stop: the Japanese Gardens

More relaxing at the hotel.  I don't think we were especially worn out or anything, I just think that at the end of a trip with the constant movement that this one had, it's nice to sit around and unwind, and frankly, we'd done all we came here to do.  This was the end.  So it was okay to take a break.

The last thing, the actual last thing, was a fancy steakhouse dinner, to celebrate both the completion of the trip, and my mother.  That day, you see, was her birthday.

The next morning was uneventful getting to the airport and getting ourselves straightened out for the flights home.  The two of them were going a different route, of course, so when my first flight to Minneapolis was called, we said our goodbyes.  I returned to my normal life, and will remain in it for the time being.  It remains to be seen if this is the last of the 2021 travel, what with the dreaded Delta variant (by the way, I flew Delta to the Dakotas and back.  Wonder if they'll take a hit like Corona beer did last year).  

But if it is, I say, we went out on top.

Pierre, Wall, and Philip, SD: August 2-3, 2021 - The Badlands

I got lost in the Badlands when I was 16.  It was me and that same church youth group I mentioned in the last post.  I only have vague memories of it, but we took a trail up into the mountainous landforms that make up that park and must have gotten off the trail or something, because before we knew it, we were wandering around trying to find a safe passage down, backtracking at points, and navigating hazards to get to safety.

Fifteen years later, I returned, but not until we'd visited the great tourist draw of the area, Wall Drug, which I also saw with that youth group all that time ago.  I only kind of remember the dinosaur, though:

And didn't remember at all the interior of Wall Drug:

Except for one place, which I only remember because of a photo:

I'm pretty sure that's the same Jackalope.

With Wall Drug done, we made our way to the final National Park on this Dakotas trip, the titular Badlands.  We did the scenic loop, much like Teddy Roosevelt.  Actually, there was a lot about this that felt similar to T.R.  It's not exactly the same; you can easily tell it's a different area, but there are clear similarities.  If Teddy Roosevelt is Mario, Badlands is Luigi.

Anyway, here's what it looked like:

A little later, we came upon the yellow mounds:

And a shot of, again, how vast this landscape is:

It just stretches into forever.

Another overlook, the Homestead Overlook, showed the edge of the Badlands, and really emphasizes the infinite nature of this park's views:

Much like Teddy Roosevelt, pictures don't quite do it justice.  It's a place you have to actually be to fully experience.  Which in a way, I'm grateful for.  In a time where one can pull up photos or Google street views of just about anywhere on Earth, it might occur to you to ask, "what's the point of travel?  Why take all that time and money to actually go somewhere if I can see it from the comfort of my computer screen or phone?"  And places like this, if nowhere else, are the answer to that question.

We continued through the Badlands, stopping at the visitor center and doing a couple short hikes, but the temperature got up to 95 degrees, and given the landscape, it felt a bit like the Sahara, so we didn't explore it too extensively.  

Instead, we decided it was getting to be time for lunch, and the nearest town with any food to speak of was a place called Philip.  Philip was up a small highway, away from the interstate, and looked exactly like you might expect a tiny middle-of-nowhere South Dakota town to look:

We continued to go away from I-90, the only Interstate in South Dakota, which bisects the state east-to-west, so that we could see the sunflower fields along highway 34:

That was well worth it.  Those things, again, were endless.

We arrived in Pierre around dinner time, and too late to do any of the sightseeing that was on our docket, so we had dinner and turned in.  The plan for next morning was really just one major destination: the Capitol building.

This one is a much more traditional building, with an architectural style more in line with most other state Capitols.  I like the color scheme, too.  Inside is what you might expect:

But the dome/rotunda area I found particularly impressive:

And then the Senate and House chambers:

Which were very hot, as forewarned by the guards at the door.  On the 4th floor, the heat can get pretty stuffy.  That's why, they say, they are only in session in the winter.

That's the thing about both of these states.  Oppressively hot right now, but in the winter, you get temperatures way into the negatives and snow that shuts down interstates.  With no body of water to regulate its weather, the Dakotas are a land of extremes.

With the Capitol done, we packed up and headed east from Pierre, toward our final destination.