"South Dakota Skies" is the title of the CD Elizabeth put together for us to listen to as we drove through South Dakota. It is a mix of all types of artists and music. We are enjoying it, but would enjoy it even more if Elizabeth felt better. She is fighting a sore throat and ear ache. We think that the air conditioning may be a contributing factor.
We started the morning by backtracking twenty miles to 1880s town. We saw it last night, but it was too late to stop. 1880s town was created in the 1960s by a man who wanted to recreate what a South Dakota town really looked like in 1880. He purchased buildings and items from all over South Dakota and moved them to this site. It was very interesting. The buildings were set up like a town street and everything you think would be there was there - homes, newspaper office, banks, post office, hotel, 2 saloons, a church, train depot, over 20 buildings in all. You could also take a wagon ride out on the prairie to a homesteaders' shanty, you could walk out to the windmill and field of Texas longhorns. There was also a round, fourteen-sided barn that had costumes and props from the movie, Dancing with Wolves, that was filmed in South Dakota.
We ate in a restored dining car that was decorated to look like a 1950s diner. The food was excellent.
One highlight of our visit was the stage show at the saloon. It was good in itself, but what made it really fun was at the end when the performers brought up three children to perform with them. One little boy had so much personality that he made us laugh until we cried. And, the two performers milked him for all he was worth. It was great.
We continued down the road to Mitchell. After we crossed the Missouri River, we stopped at Lewis and Clark interpretive center. It was interesting to learn more about their journey. We got to walk on a replica of their keel boat and see the types of things they took with them. There was a replica of how their camp would have looked and lots of information about the Indian tribes they met with. There also was a section about all the animals and wildlife they learned about as they traveled.
When we got to Mitchell, we checked into our hotel and then went to see the Corn Palace that Mitchell is famous for. Of course, before we went into the building, we had to stop and have some ice cream. The flavor of the day was Milky Way Sundae and the ice cream is served in homemade waffle cones or bowls. It was good. Because it was so warm, you had to eat quickly or you would have ended up having ice cream soup.
At Corn Palace, we watched a short movie about the history of it and then had a tour. It was interesting to hear about how the theme for each year is developed and how the murals are made. We enjoyed learning about it.
For dinner, we went to Ruby Tuesdays. We were so excited to see a full salad bar. We have not been in a place with a salad bar since we left California. We really enjoyed it. And, for those of you who are wondering, we did not have dessert! (Since we'd already had ice cream and all......)
When we returned to the hotel room, we were all so tired, that we just went right to bed. In the night, Elizabeth got ill. We think she had a touch of food poisoning---her stomach had not been feeling well since lunch time. She had a pretty miserable night.
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