I wouldn’t say that I’ve traveled extensively, but it’s safe to say I’ve visited more places than the average person. Having lived in five different states, and six different (fairly) major cities, I’ve seen multiple attractions and historical monuments in my 21 years of vacationing and traveling experience. I currently live in Sioux Falls, SD, and after three years of living here, I finally had an opportunity (and incentive) to visit the Mt. Rushmore Memorial, as well as many other attractions along the five hour drive to the far west side of the state. Now, after living in Sioux Falls for three years, I had heard stories about how “boring” Mt. Rushmore is, or how “old” Wall Drug is or how “stupid” the Black Hills are because “all you do is look at that stuff and leave.” Needless to say, I was just as much dreading this trip as I was looking forward to it. Actually I was dreading it worse because it would be a five-hour drive just to go “look at that stuff and leave” (and attend a wedding that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to in the first place).
All I can say to the people who think that the sites of South Dakota are boring (most of whom haven’t seen them since they were about 8 years old) is that they should stop relying on their bad childhood experiences of long car rides and see the sites as adults (or near-adults). When you are looking up at a statue of four of the greatest leaders in our nation’s history, whose eyes are roughly the size of a full-grown man, awe-inspiring is an understatement. I understand why people whose parents drove them around the country or state just to look at a statue might leave some bad impressions in their memories, but in all honesty, those memories should be erased and replaced with new, better, more appreciative memories, because this memorial has the ability to do that. In fact, had we not been pressed for time, three of my four party members would have stayed for about an hour just to examine the statue more thoroughly (the fourth was from Rapid City and had seen the memorial about fourteen times, so he wasn’t quite as impressed).
Similarly, our stops at Wall Drug both on the way in and on the way back out of West River were a testament to our enjoyment of the novelty drug store. While it isn’t the kind of place you’d want to set up shop for nine hours or anything like that, it is certainly a place worth visiting at least once for a little while. Its various novelty shops and somewhat offbeat attractions, coupled with the old-fashioned feel of an 1800s western town drug store, made Wall Drug an entertaining place to spend an hour or two. While I’ve heard the complaint from other young adults that Wall Drug is “corny and old,” it seems almost foolish to say those things when the entire essence of Wall Drug is that it’s old-fashioned. That’s like saying the Houston Space Center attractions are modern and hi-tech. Duh! That’s how it’s supposed to be. Wall Drug wasn’t built to be a top-of-the-line, modern drug store. Why would tourists want to come visit a really big Walgreen’s?
Although I would have liked to have seen other sites while in the Mt. Rushmore, Rapid City area, I was constrained for time and unable to visit them. However, if I make a return visit to the area I will, without a doubt, visit the Crazy Horse Memorial, which will basically be large enough to fit all of Mount Rushmore in the face and upper chest of the famous Native American warrior. I’ve heard it’s powerfully awesome in not only its size, but the significance behind it. Similarly, I missed out on a visit to Deadwood, which is a fun, 1800s-era town complete with saloons, casinos, and Wild West gunfights every day. Amongst other major attractions like the Black Hills and Spearfish Canyon, the area has multiple smaller, cliché tourist attractions like the Reptile Gardens, Bear Country USA, and Cosmos of the Black Hills (where balls roll UP hills, rather than down and you can stand sideways on walls). Even these seem like fairly entertaining attractions, even if they are only visited once.
Overall, I would say that I was pleasantly surprised by my visit to the Black Hills. Courtesy of horror stories from my friends due to their unpleasant childhood experiences, I was expecting to walk into a boring, clichéd, unappealing area that I would soon want to leave. Instead, I left with an overwhelming desire to return and visit the sites I was unable to see on this trip, as well spend more than two days in the area so I could enjoy the experience more. Also, one point I’d like to emphasize is that kids can without a doubt ENJOY a trip to the Black Hills and surrounding areas. It just depends on how the parents or group plans on spending the vacation time. If you want to drag a six-year old to stare at a statue for two hours, that’s your choice. But with an extensive amount of other attractions for kids to enjoy, parents have every opportunity to prevent their kids from negative memories of a boring family vacation and replace those potential negative memories with more exciting, vibrant recollections of a trip that featured sites and attractions they’ll remember forever.
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