Getting underway from the Winnebago plant in Forest City, Iowa, we headed north into Minnesota. Then back west on I-90 across the state to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where we overnighted at the Walmart. Sioux Falls is so named for the falls in the Sioux River (Duh!!) which are right in the town surrounded by a very nice park. Many people were out enjoying the evening. Below are two prominent landmarks in the city, the old courthouse and St. Joseph’s Cathedral. Following that are three of the old homes in the Historic District. In the morning we again headed west, destination Mitchell, SD. On the way we encountered this creature rising out of the field. It was somebody’s ‘sculpture’. The reason for stopping at Mitchell was to visit the Corn Palace. Who knew of the Corn Palace? Mary Lou did! Actually this was one of the more interesting stops so far. When Lewis and Clark came by here on their way west, they said this place was not fit for farming or anything else. Well farmers came and brought in the crops. In 1892 the city fathers had the vision to build the Corn Palace as an attraction to Mitchell. They built it and the people came. Here’s a picture of the original building. The building is made of wood with split (longways) ears of corn nailed to it in decorative patterns. Each year the corn is replaced (birds eat at it and other deterioration) at a cost of around $130,000, using 250,000 ears of corn. The designs of the exterior are different each year. Two examples … And today. Some of the corn has been removed in preparation of refurbishing, or should I say, re-corning? Here is a close-up of one of the murals inside the building,to show the ears of corn. The half-ears and different color corn are used to create the different textures in the patterns. The auditorium is modern and used for big name shows and basketball games, as well as being used for the gift shop as shown below. The artwork around the walls is, of course, corn. From the early days, big name entertainers have come here and drawn big crowds. The first was John Phillip Sousa and his band. Others include Lawrence Welk, Bob Hope, Willie Nelson, and many more. The place is kid friendly (kids of all ages!). Ears of corn are available for the kids to put in a hand-cranked ‘sheller’ which removes the hard kernels from the cob (I used one of these at my grandfathers farm). Then the kernels could be scooped up and put in a small stone grist mill to be ground into corn meal (didn’t come out very fine). Baggies were available to take home the finished product. Click on photos below for larger image. Readers of our West Coast blog may recall that Mary Lou was always finding new friends. We found some here, even me. This turned out to be a fun place, but we headed west again, and stayed in the Oasis campground in Oacoma, SD, off I-90 just across the Missouri River from the town of Chamberlain. Stay tuned.
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