South Dakota Tourist Traps - June 28th to 30th, 2021
If you take the interstate, stopping for tourist traps makes it more interesting. We took I-90 from Wall to Sioux Falls, stopping at several locations along the way to break up the drive. If you’ve ever driven that stretch of road, it is hard to miss the signs for Wall Drug and the Corn Palace. Stopping at those two is sort of like a rite of passage when driving through South Dakota.
We actually visited Wall Drug the day before our drive, while we were staying just outside of Badlands National Park. Our visit was a little disappointing because we went there hoping to have some hand dipped ice cream. Wall Drug let us down big time by only having two flavors of ice cream left, neither one of which we wanted. So we walked over to DQ to get our ice cream fix.
After our bellies were full of the cold, sweet calories, we walked back to Wall Drug. We visited Wall Drug once before when our kids were young. It is a tourist trap. Besides the typical drug store items and cafe, there are displays, a chapel, games, and a “backyard” with an oddity of items, mainly tailored towards kids. You see signs advertising for Wall Drug for miles along I-90. It is worth a stop for curiosity sake if you happen to be passing through the area, but not something to go out of your way to see.
The first stop on our drive along I-90 was a rest area near Chamberlain, South Dakota. Yes, even a rest area can be a tourist stop. This particular one is the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center on the eastern bank of the Missouri River. Inside is a nice Lewis and Clark Expedition exhibit about their trek across South Dakota. Outside is the large Dignity Statue of a Lakota woman that you can see from the interstate. Nearby is the Akta Lakota Museum. Museums are not really our thing so we did not go. However, it would probably be interesting to learn about the Lakota culture and history from the Lakota perspective.
After we ate our picnic lunch in a nice park, Hitchcock Park, in the small town of Mitchell, we headed over to the Corn Palace. The town decorates the facade of their theater in corn every year. This year is the 100 anniversary of the Corn Palace in its current location. It was in a previous location before that. This is the second time we’ve visited. Both times it looked like they were starting to take down the corn to prepare for the new design. The corn cobs are cut in half lengthwise before attaching them to the facade. Admission into the Corn Palace is free. There are displays inside describing the history, along with a movie, tour, and a gift shop. We went inside and glanced around, but did not take the time for the movie or the tour.
The ice cream shop across the street, “Corner Stone, Too” was calling our name. Right Buddy (RB) had a waffle cone with her usual mint chocolate chip and chocolate scoops. Left Buddy (LB) had his usual vanilla milkshake. We sat down and stared at the Corn Palace while consuming our ice cream goodness. The delicious hand dipped ice cream made up for the DQ we had the day before.
After checking into the Sioux Falls KOA and taking our well-needed showers, we headed into the town of Sioux Falls. We resupplied at a grocery store, then went to Monk’s Ale House near the Big Sioux River. The beer, mixed green salad, and artisan pizzas at Monk’s were wonderful. We asked the waitress about walking the nearby Sioux Falls bike trail up to Falls Park. She assured us it was a nice trail, but also recommended walking around the downtown area as well. She seemed to take pride in her city.
The walk from Monk’s Ale House to Falls Park was only a mile. It was a very pleasant walk along the river with art and statues decorating the way. Falls Park surrounds the Sioux Falls in the river along with some historical ruins including a large mill. There is also an observation tower that you can climb or take an elevator up, free of charge, for a better view of the falls. Many of the historical buildings are made from the Sioux Quartzite, the same rock exposed around the falls. It is silica-cemented quartz sandstone that is very dense and resistant to erosion. We ran out of time and did not wander around the downtown area like our waitress advised. We did notice a “Walk Sioux Falls” map posted at several locations. The route made a large loop along the river, through Falls Park, and back through downtown. The map pointed out the highlights along the way. We’ll save that for the next time we visit.
The next day was a laundry and work day. We hung out at the Sioux Falls KOA all day. The campground store provided our afternoon ice cream treats. While we were in the store, we noticed the large, eclectic collection of soda pop that they offer for sale. There were strange flavors like bacon, sweet corn, pickles, and ranch dressing along with more familiar flavors like Faygo Red Pop that we remember having as kids. LB went with a safe flavor and bought a bottle of Sioux City Sarsaparilla. He thoroughly enjoyed it.
Main attractions are nice to visit, but slowing down and enjoying the little things along the way can be just as fun. Are any of these places worth traveling half way across the country for? No. But if you find yourself passing through the area on I-90, they are definitely worth the stop.
Check out our related video: South Dakota Tourist Traps
(RB)