Sightseeing Day!

Mike: Today we planned out a non-travel, sightseeing only day...and what better place to do it than in Rapid City, South Dakota!  There were so many attractions around that the two of us decided we had only time to hit 3:  the old mining/rough n' rowdy town of Deadwood, the in-progress Crazy Horse Monument, and one of our nations most spectacular wonders, Mt. Rushmore.  Though I (Michael) had been to this area before and seen Mt. Rushmore, I hadn't the opportunity to explore the first two listed.

 I have always been a fan of western movies and as a history buff have always loved the westward expansion era of the post Civil War United States, so naturally I have had a hankering to get to tour one of the most notorious towns of the Old West.  Though it has grown into a major tourist area, Deadwood still holds onto that Western feel.  Touring the town was a treat, and the visitor center built into a renovated train station gave a good starting point for our tour.  The Adams Museum did a fairly good job of showing the history of Deadwood, though if the museum had a clearer message I think it would have been much better.  The exhibits seemed haphazard and somewhat disconnected from one another, nonetheless Sam and I enjoyed the displays.  The highlights of our trip to Deadwood came from the Kevin Costner sponsored "Midnight Star", and the Mt. Moriah Cemetery.  The Midnight Star is a building built around 3 separate floors with 3 different themes; gambling, bar and grill, and fine dining.  We toured the second (which included tons of Kevin's costumes and posters from his many hit films) and had a couple great burgers for an early lunch.  The Mt. Moriah Cemetery was a humbling experience for both of us.  The cemetery rested on the hill behind the town, and held the graves of many of the early settlers of the area, including famous names such as "Wild Bill" Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock.  There was a special area designated for the Jewish settlers, and an area named "Potters Field" which held many of the early poorer residents that could not afford headstones.  Walking the steep hillside among the old headstones really gave me a feeling of how important these early settlers of this area were.  Though many have been forgotten, and their stories are not often told in our time, our country would not be what it is today without the pioneers of the "Old West".

Our next stop of the day was certainly my favorite, the Crazy Horse Memorial.  It is extremely hard to describe the experience without seeing it firsthand, I was awestruck by the story of Korczak Ziolkowski and his family and what they have been undertaking for the last 60 years to bring a dream of the remaining Native American community to reality.  The monument to one of the last great Lakota chiefs, once completed, will dwarf such sites as the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore, and the Washington Monument.  The reason it has been taking so long to complete is that the project is funded entirely by private donations, and no federal funding.  Mr. Ziolkowski and his family, as well as Native leaders, strongly felt that this project should be funded by public interest and not by taxpayers dollars, which I think is quite admirable for a project of this scope and importance.  Seeing the memorial was only a part of the experience, there was a great Native American museum and testaments to the life of Korczak as an artist as well.  I would strongly encourage any visitor to this area to include this site as a stop on their trip. 

Sam: Lastly we finally arrived at Mount Rushmore! I have been wanted to see it for forever, but always figured, "it's in South Dakota and when in the world am I going to be in South Dakota ever?" Hmmm never thought I'd ever be in South Dakota, but here I am.  When we got there it was just as good as I had hoped it would be!  It was humongous and all the presidents looked regal and very presidential.  George looked the best (but then he's the best president anyway), Lincoln looked very serious and exactly as I would expect, Teddy was sort of hiding behind T.J. and Lincoln they were shoving him out of the monument (His glasses were awesome though; they made it actually look like he had lenses!), and it always seemed like we were looking up T.J. nose, no matter what angle we were at.  Michael and I made sure to take the little path that goes under and around the monument so you can get up close and see it from different angles.  It was so fun and a great way to end our fun sightseeing day.  Now tomorrow it's back on the road and finally to Wyoming! Our Destination!!! 

(Pictures of our sightseeing tour will follow tomorrow, it is time for sleep!)