South Dakota Tourist Attractions

On the third day of the Quackenbush Family Heritage tour, we packed up our bags and left the Motel 6 in Rapid City, after a long stop at Star Bucks on the way out of town. We headed toward the South Dakota bad lands, but there was one important attraction we had to stop and see before we ventured into them. That attraction was Wall Drug Store, in Wall, South Dakota. I guess there are signs advertising this place all over the world. Wall Drug signs are certainly numerous all over South Dakota. Why? Because this is the largest drug store in the WORLD. 

The place did not disappoint us. There were acres of things to do and buy and eat; all under one roof. We thought an hour would be plenty of time, but it turned out we could have spent days and days there. I found myself drawn to the Indian art and the book store. Good thing I have no room at all to pack and carry any more stuff! I also managed an encounter with the T Rex, and to see the "gold panning" exhibit, and lots more fascinating things. We ended up eating lunch in the cafe and not getting on the road to the Badlands, until the day was well into afternoon.

The Badlands were spectacular! There were many pull outs where we could see great panoramas of the plateaus and rock formations..... of many colors and stripes. We finally realized we just had to move on because we still had about 200 miles to drive to Mitchell, and the day was getting late.

Leaving the Badlands behind, we set out driving across the prairie....lush green in this season, with herds and herds of cows of many colors and very many cute little babies running about. Also there were horses and pheasents and hawks; alas; no more buffalo.

We drove into Mitchell about 7:00 p.m., and I was personally ready for dinner and bed, but we drove right past the motel and into the center of town to take in one more tourist attraction that day. The famous Corn Palace of Mitchell was still open for one more hour. Most of the outside of this large auditorium; sports arena is covered with corn cobs, which are of many natural colors. They are cut in half lengthwise and fashioned into lovely scenes of all kinds. This art is taken down and redone once a year, and the scenes change. It was fascinating, but I would rather have been more rested and less hungry when I viewed it.

Finally our long day of sight-seeing came to an end, and we headed off to our little beds. The climax of the tour and final destination....Aberdeen and the family farm awaited us the the next day.