Sunday Sept 18

Today we continued our journey home through South Dakota and stopped at two touristy places that we have been at before but not since 1993.  The first stop was at Mitchell, South Dakota, home of the famous Corn Palace.  This is a large building that houses a large basketball court and viewing stands but is also used for concerts and large events.  Since 1892 they have been covering the outside of the building with murals that are made of different coloured corn.  The murals are changed every year as birds eat the corn over the course of the year.  The town owns 100 acres where they grow the corn for the palace.  Inside the corn palace they have photos of each year's murals from when they started.

Below are some pictures we took of the Corn Palace:

Had to add  this photo because not every day can you get your picture taken with a large ear of corn!!!!

Our second stop for the day was in Wall, South Dakota at the famous Wall Drug.  The unique thing about Wall Drug is that you can't help but stop because of the billboard advertising that bombards your senses for hundreds of miles no matter what highway you approach it from.  South Dakota has to be the King State of the U.S. for billboards----they are everywhere.

Wall Drug was started in 1931 by a local pharmacist and was famous for offering free ice water for anyone who stopped which they still do.  Doesn't sound like much of a drawing card nowadays but in the 30's,40's50's it was a welcome relief for road weary travellers.  It is now definitely a high class tourist trap.

We ended our journey today by staying in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Mount Rushmore is 25 miles away so we will visit there tomorrow.