The last three nights I stayed at a private campground just outside Salem, South Dakota. If the name of that town doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry. I chose the site because it was halfway in between Sioux Falls and Mitchell, SD, both of which I wanted to explore. Sioux Falls, because I had never been. Mitchell because I had, and had been fascinated with the famous Corn Palace that I had not known existed.

I had two full days to explore. The first day I went to Sioux Falls and visited Sioux Falls – the waterfall, not the town. The unusual thing about the falls is that it is right in the middle of downtown. It is a cataract made up of several smaller falls, and is surrounded by a city park that is a very popular destination for locals and tourists alike. The main commercial street, Phillips Avenue, runs more or less parallel to the river and boasts of many fashionable retail outlets, financial institutions, and eating and drinking establishments.

The downtown is very vibrant, well-kept, and pretty. It definitely has the feel to me of a town of the West rather than the Midwest. The avenues are wide, the buildings are of only a few stories, and there is lots of elbow room and public space. The wide open spaces of the plains meant that there was no real need to limit lot sizes and avoid spread when putting the town together. I don’t really have a good way to describe it other than to say it felt Western to me.

We stopped for a couple of beers at the Wood Grain Brewery on Philips Street. Very good selections and the staff give the vibe of a bunch of beer geeks that are really into the details of the various beers. That’s in a good way. We also tried out a dog park about three miles west of town, but which feels like it could be 30 miles west of town. Nice spacious, level area of about three acres, but not a single tree and only a small canopy to keep the sun off. Not great on a hot day like Tuesday.

Thursday was Mitchell day. But the morning started off with a couple of loads of laundry and some trailer hygeine. Need to keep the place up in case the queen of Spain or some other celebrity drops by. The day was miserably hot, and after hanging out around the relatively comfortable campground until about 1:00 we made the 30-odd mile drive to Mitchell. There in the center of downtown still stands the magnificent Corn Palace. Originally built in the early 1900s as a drawing card for attention in the hopes of winning the site of the state capital for Mitchell, the Corn Palace is a venue for concerts, basketball games, and other events in the region. The most amazing thing about it is that the entire exterior of the building is a mosaic using different colored ears of corn to create the picture. There are twelve different colors of corn used, and all the corn is grown in a special 100-acre plot near Mitchell. Each year has a different theme, and each year the new design is created entirely with the corn from that year’s crop. The design is completed in September after the corn has been harvested, but the design work is done throughout the year. The number of ears required varies from year to year, but is usually around a quarter of a million. Last year’s theme was “Under the Big Top”; I’m not sure what 2023 will be. It’s an amazing feat that they pull off every year, and is definitely worth a look. I’d love to get there in the autumn after the year’s design is completed.

The stop in Salem and its side trips were good, but I must mention the stop that I enjoyed most. Just south of I-90 at exit 374 is Porter Sculpture Park. It is the work of one man. After college he worked with his dad as a welder. Although he had no formal artistic training, he enjoyed making metal sculptures in his spare time. Soon, people were offering to buy them from him and after a while he realized that he could make more money and indulge his passion doing that instead. He has now been doing it for thirty years, and about ten years ago he bought this plot of land near I-90 so people could see the sculptures while passing by. The largest is the head of a longhorn that weighs 25 tons, but they come in all shapes, sizes, and themes. Mixed among his metal works are his poem stories that fit in with the sculptures nearby. I found this to be a truly enjoyable, unforgettable stop and would urge anyone passing by to take 45 minutes to get off the highway and check it out. It’s another example of the amazing fact that works of beauty and inspiration can be found in so many places, and from so many different types of people.

Today was a driving day, going across almost the entire state of South Dakota from east to west. We have escaped the heat and humidity, at least temporarily, in Spearfish SD. The next 4+ days will be spent exploring the Black Hills and surrounding area. More to follow on that…