Today was going to be a VERY long day in terms of driving. My destination would be Kearney, Nebraska. This is in the south central part of Nebraska. I was currently in western South Dakota, over six hours away.
My plans for the day would be to see the famous (maybe infamous?) Wall Drugstore. Wall, South Dakota is about sixty miles from Rapid City. Then I would head southeast to Kearney, NE.
Rapid City
I went to a mall near the hotel. I think it was the Rushmore Mall. I stupidly had lunch there. I went to Fuddruckers, which is a fast food chain. But, they had a Keystone, SD burger which seemed like something local. It had chili and cheese on the burger. In the end, I was not thrilled with the chili. I didn't think about the fact that since Wall Drug has everything else, of course they would have one or more restaurants. I should have eaten there.
There was construction within the mall ring road. Although I-90 ran very close to the mall, getting back to I-90 was an adventure. I also needed gas. I got an unwanted tour of Rapid City. The GPS took me through a number of neighborhood streets. Many of them were open to local traffic only and had construction barriers at the end. The GPS frequently directed me to places with outright deadend streets. This is a major city and tourist area in South Dakota. The GPS has done better on dirt roads in Idaho and Nevada than Rapid City. Finally, I think I just gave up on the GPS and decided to wing it.
When I finally got gas, it was such a relief to be paying less than $4/gallon. I believe gas was around $3.69/gallon at that point.
Tacky and Humorous Signs
After finally getting on I-90, the tacky Wall Drug signs started appearing. I began seeing them along I-90 in Wyoming. But these were far more frequent and even tackier than the ones I saw in the previous days. In some cases there would be two or three signs next to each other. You would see statements like "Free ice water. Wall Drug." "5 cent coffee. Wall Drug." "New T-Rex. Wall Drug." (Yes, Wall Drug actually had a tacky electronic T-Rex head mounted on a wall. It would randomly move and open its mouth.) "Souvenirs. Wall Drug." "Take a load off. Wall Drug." "It's cool. Wall Drug." There were lots of tacky yet humorous signs. But my absolute favorite was "Kids bored? Wall Drug." This is a big tourist attraction. I have seen bumper stickers in the northeast indicating that the vehicle has been to Wall Drug. The sign implies desperation for business. In reality, it just creates artificial hype and people decide they absolutely must see the place.
Wall Drug
When I arrived at Wall, SD, I was a bit surprised. There is a huge parking lot for Wall Drug. The main parking lot does not allow RVs, trailers, etc. They have a special lot a long ways away. Wall Drug is basically like a small shopping mall. Supposedly, there is a pharmacy but I didn't actually see it. There are several stores with some of the tackiest things for sale. They have "jackalopes" which are mounted rabbit heads with deer antlers glued on them. (In many of these states, you can buy a postcard featuring a "jackalope" which is obviously photoshopped.) There were plenty of other silly things. See the photos.
The "mall" had a center hallway with cartoonish cowboy statues that people could sit next to for photos. There is even a nondenominational chapel that is very narrow. A restaurant is available. You can get the advertised free ice water and five cent coffee (on the honor system) there.
There is a "backyard" which includes another building. This is REALLY tacky, though funny. Inside the building are old west scenes such as a saloon, gunfight, etc. And, of course, the advertised "New T-Rex" is right next to these displays. This is an electronic dinosaur head in a jungle-like scene. Every so often it will move around and roar. There is also a "mining company" where you can pay to run stones through water.
Outside the "backyard" are a series of manholes which randomly spray water. My only guess is that these are done to make fun of the geysers and thermal vents at Yellowstone National Park.
Overall, it was definitely worth visiting. I would say that Wall Drug is western South Dakota's answer to the Corn Palace in eastern SD. However, I think Wall Drug is actually cornier than the Corn Palace!
Wall Drug is one building on a main street in Wall, SD. There are numerous other stores and vendors on the street.
Wounded Knee Museum
After visiting Wall Drug, I went to the Wounded Knee Museum. They have an impressive web site. I wanted to see this last year, assuming my trip would take me to western South Dakota (it didn't). Anyway, I had a hard time finding the museum. The web site gives no street address and just says it's off I-90. The building was SO small that I missed it. I called them and was given directions. When I got there, I was really underwhelmed. Basically there is a bookstore and a small museum with panels containing photos and text. There were a few artifacts. I was so exhausted and not looking forward to the five hour drive down to Nebraska. I quickly took a number of photos of the panels so I could read them later. The museum clerk was sad that I went through so fast. But, I explained that I was just overwhelmed with sightseeing and had a VERY long drive ahead of me. (I didn't tell her I was underwhelmed at the museum.) See the photos.
Badlands
I had originally planned to see the Badlands in South Dakota. But, by this time I was just too exhausted to bother with that. The clerk at the Wounded Knee Museum told me they're not much different from the ones in North Dakota, which I saw on August 6th.
Drive to Kearney, NE
The drive to south central Nebraska was very long. It was primarily through a lot of U.S. routes. Most of the trip was through unpopulated areas and much of the scenery was rolling hills. I passed through Valentine, NE. This is called the "Heart City."
Finally, I got to my hotel. So far, this is the only hotel I've stayed at twice on one of these trips. I stayed at this hotel in early August in 2007 on my way to Iowa.
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