and of course all of us being together, in small quarters for hours at a time can be so enjoyable.....
The view of Tina's car being towed behind us from Joey's seat......
yup still there!
What would a stop in South Dakota be without going to the World’s only Corn Palace? We left Broken Arrow Campground in the morning and headed West to Mitchell. We would be boon docking for the next 3 days so we were going to stop at Cabelas on the way there and stay the night.
Cabelas is an awesome outdoor world store. The store is similar to Gander Mountain or Bass Pro Shop. But better. They welcome RV’ers with open arms, give you your own separate full parking lot to spend the night in as well as potable water (drinkable) and a place to dump your tanks. All for free! Of course while you are there you will be wandering the store and buying one thing or anotherJ
While reading through the South Dakota book we stumbled upon another great place to visit before we leave. De Smet. The home to Laura Ingalls Wilder and the “Little House on the Prairie”. I know. Hard to believe we are that lucky! Had to pinch Tina a few times to make sure it was real!
By the time we arrived at Cabelas it was late. After 900pm.
We were hungry and needed something quick to eat. There was an Arbys Next door and within walking distance was a Culvers. Joe was so excited! The rest of us had never heard of them before, but Mr. World Traveler had and was very excited to share it with us! Culvers was Home to the Butterburger. I know it sounds disgusting. AND they were also known for their Frozen Custard (for those of you that don't know what custard is it is basically it is better than soft serve ice cream).
What is a Butterburger? I don’t know, I didn’t ask. I just ate it. And actually it was really good! Probably bad for your health I’m sure. Good thing was that we walked to the restaurant and had to walk back, so I’m thinking that exercise counteracted with any unhealthy aspects of the butter burger. Of course I was the only one who had one. Tina and Gabe had chicken strips and Joey had a pork tenderloin sandwich. We were to full for Custard, we would stop again another time I’m sure. Time to head back to the camper and go to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day!
On our way into Mitchell we needed to stop at the Post Office so Gabe could mail out his post cards. I know in this day and age, Post cards??? Yes! Gabe sent post cards to family and friends all along our route to share with them various places we visited. The responses he had from the various recipients was great:) When was the last time you found something in the mailbox that was worth keeping?This was the sign in front of the post office....
REALLY????? Can you imagine? Ok, maybe if you are any where were it snows, but us Floridians can't comprehend that:)
Finding parking was more difficult than we had thought on a weekday in down town Mitchell. Streets were closed off with police barriers. Signs posted for overflow parking. Then we saw the reason why. The upcoming weekend was the “Corn Palace Festival”. We were 2 days to earlyL They had stars like Dwight Yoakum (Really? He’s still alive?), Craig Morgan, Gloriana and the Happy Together Tour (the left over of the Monkeys group and some other cast offs). Besides the entertainers they had carnival rides (all ready set up while we were there) along with food vender's. There were two food trucks that caught our eye. The Brick Fired Pizza Truck and The Home made Chocolate Chip Cookie Truck! I KNOW! But neither one was openL
A majestic, uniquely American folk art icon.
We headed inside and was given a tour by a wonderful volunteer, who gave us the history of the Corn Palace.
Built in 1892, early settlers would display their agricultural bounty on the buildings exterior to prove to everyone the fertility of the regions soil and to attract immigrant farmers to settle there. Every fall they would celebrate by having a festival to show the productivity of their people.
We headed inside and was given a tour by a wonderful volunteer, who gave us the history of the Corn Palace.
Built in 1892, early settlers would display their agricultural bounty on the buildings exterior to prove to everyone the fertility of the regions soil and to attract immigrant farmers to settle there. Every fall they would celebrate by having a festival to show the productivity of their people.
And every year murals of various themes, made from corn, husk and rye, are displayed on the outside of the building.
Everything is done by hand and each mural is done one at a time. About 275,000 ears of corn are used to redecorate the murals each year. Amazing!
Plus.........They had a full size tractor which the children love to play on……
And the adults:)Time was going quickly and we had to get a move on, it was time to head to Walnut Grove and the Prairie!
We were on our way through the small town of De Smet. On street signs where little covered wagons! We followed the sign to Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes. It didn’t look like I thought it would. These homes were right in town. Reading through the booklet there were actually 2 different places we could go to. The Ingalls Homestead, “Laura’s living prairie” and Discover Laura, “Historic Homes”.
The GPS brought us past the Homestead, which was out in an open field, had covered wagon rides, a one room school house where you could sit for a session and historic hands on activities. You could also camp there!
See the little white house?
And the church chapel?
We ended up off a little side street parked in front of the “Original Surveyors House”. With a little white gift shop next door. I went in to find out about the Historic Homes while Joe found a place to park the camper on the narrow little street without blocking anyone in.
Apparently the Homestead was a place of “re-enactment”, bringing you back to the Prairie life which is not the same as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes, which was run by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society, whom preserve the various historical sites where Laura actually lived and wrote about in her books.
Hmmmm, so one was fake like the TV Show and the other was real, from her books. Even though I could really see myself dressed up as Laura and running down the hill toward the one room school house, yelling "Almonso!!!" I suppose it wouldn’t really be historically correct and I wouldn’t learn as much as I would here at the Historical Home site about my alter ego.
So I go out and tell everyone. Tina is finishing up working, plus we still had to eat lunch. So I go back in and ask about the tour. Apparently it starts in 10 minutes right next door. Great! So I run back, tell them, Tina closes her computer, Gabe who was indecisive if he wants to go or not, throws on his sneakers and we run out. Joe was left on his own. We wouldn’t be more than an 30 minutes I wouldn’t think. Then we could eat lunch and go.
Well I was wrong. It took over an hour and then we had to drive to another place to finish the tour. And of course I was in such a hurry to meet the start of the tour I didn’t’ take ANY pictures of the Ingall’s house, (built by Charles “Pa” Ingalls), the first school of De Smet (the one room school house that Laura and Carrie attended) or the Surveyors House (the original all the Ingalls lived in when they first settled).
The tour was awesome. Even Gabe liked it! The volunteer who brought us through the various buildings was so knowledgeable, it was like listening to a story being told on Laura’s life. It brought me back to being 10 years old again and reading her books.
Time to head out, towards Minnesota, Dontcha know! You Betcha! I have been practicing my Minnesotan speak;)
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