~brf
I love roadside attractions. All kinds. Back in June when we began planning our road trip to the badlands, CW was the very model of patience and understanding as I sent link after link of ridiculous Americana panoply that we simply HAD to see on our trip. Luckily, Interstate 90 in South Dakota hosts a vast majority of this type of thing so it was pretty easy to screech to a halt whenever we chose. Some of these places I had visited 30 years ago, in an RV while on a Griswold-style family Adventure Across America. I was surprised and thrilled to discover that some attractions were virtually unchanged since my last visit; particularly the Reptile Gardens (totally freaking awesome) and the Petrified Gardens (creepier than I remember).
With regard to Wall Drug: Monumental let-down. It’s not much more than a series of micro-stores selling all manner of horrid souvenirs and some arguably useful but undoubtedly overpriced items such as sun-showers and wine keys (the latter being something I was grateful to have found amongst the snow globes and crappy tshirts). What they DO have is a good collection of pressed penny machines, a huge tyrannosaurus rex that activates every 15 minutes or so complete with flashing eyes and Mesozoic mist, a really creepy animatronic cowboy band, and a giant concrete rabbit. http://www.walldrug.com/
The Petrified Garden was a place I was very much looking forward to. My dad was a major rock hound and I have many fond childhood memories of sifting through trays of pyrite, jasper, opals, quartz and other shiny bits. I remembered the Gardens as a vast playground of amazing fossils, minerals, petrified logs, geodes etc. I didn’t remember the really cranky proprietor who clearly thought we were up to no good, nor did I recall the curiously religious tone the place had. Weird mashup of “look at these beautiful million year old ammonite fossils’ and, um... a lesson on what has transpired in the 10,000 years between Creation and Today. Can someone explain the deal with ‘clean’ vs. ‘unclean’ animals on the ark? http://www.badlandspetrifiedgardens.com/
Corn Palace: Not much more than a small stadium/entertainment venue with corn cobs in intricate designs hammered to the outside. It used to be much more impressive judging from the photo gallery inside; there were pictures taken almost every year beginning in the early 1900s. Used to be a completely wooden structure, the exterior of which was fully redecorated each year using a variety of colors and sizes of corn cobs. Turns out the city finally figured a wooden building encased in dried corn cobs *might* be a fire hazard, so some time in the ‘20s they rebuilt it for safety leaving a few open spaces for the cob murals. Best things about the Corn Palace was the mind-blowing frozen lemonade, the poster advertising Rick Springfield’s upcoming show, and the bizarre carved characters seated on benches with whom you could have your photo taken but aren't supposed to touch. They were both missing their thumbs. http://www.cornpalace.org/
There is a sort of 1880 town south of Hastings on 61--- we used to have the Folk Festival there.
This trip looks amazingly perfect. I imagine there is video, oui?
Posted by: prufrock | September 21, 2008 at 08:43 PM