South Dakota! (1/4)

I'm not gonna lie, I have always thought South Dakota would be flat, boring, and having nothing much to offer...I mean who would even want to live there?? BUT, we were amazed by the beauty there...and in fact, had to keep reminding ourselves that the winters there are really harsh to keep ourselves from considering moving there :)

First, we stopped and stayed in Mitchell, SD to see the famous, one of a kind, Corn Palace!

A local farmer grows various kinds of corn each year, a theme is chosen, and the palace is redecorated to reflect the theme using only parts of corn plants! We thought this would be a bit cheesy...and it kind of was...but at the same time, it was really impressive! Here's more pictures of the side of the building...you can see they are still working on the lower part beneath the actual murals.

  

Inside the palace you can meet Corn Man (I'm sure they had a nice name for him, but I can't remember it right now...), Naomi was intrigued from a distance but unsure once she got close ;-)

That night we stayed in Mitchell, and our hotel had a heated pool, which Naomi LOVED!

The next morning on our way to Badlands National Park we stopped at the 1880 Town. It is this town they have created by hauling in buildings and artifacts from all over the place that date in the late 1800s...I went back and forth between being impressed by the history there and feeling like I was in a hoarder's paradise ;-)

  

  

Outside the little town was a church on a hillside, a water tower, and a little homestead...so interesting.

  

As you can see in the pictures below, there were boardwalks connecting all the buildings, and hitching posts in front of every business...if we couldn't hear the freeway right beside the town, I would have questioned if we'd been transported back in time by a time machine :)

  

We climbed in this old, rickety stagecoach for a picture...pretty sure I would not have enjoyed traveling in one of these, no matter how short the distance!

 Naomi seemed to enjoy it though ;-)