The Wild West

My fiance and I left Illinois and went on a 13 or 14 hour road trip to Rapid City, South Dakota for a charity event, and of course had to check out the surrounding area. Up until now, this is a region of the United States that I hadn't explored. We ended up scheduling gas stops because crossing the entire state mostly composed of private Native American reservations, we had to plan ahead.

Though South Dakota is considered the Great Plains, at one time, it truly was the Old American Wild West. Shows telling of the legends like the HBO/Paramount 2004 tv series, Deadwood. Even Yellowstone's 1923 shows landscape very similar to this area being near Montana. We wanted to see all of the hot-spots, and that meant moving very quickly for three days.

---

First up, don't forget to park your horse! After an extensive time in the car, we rested at our exquisite hotel, the Fairfield Inn & Suites Rapid City, and woke up exceptionally early to drive toward the Badlands. For five hours straight, all we saw were advertisements for Wall Drug... and curiosity killed the cat because we had to check it out.

This place had everything you can think of. It was made up of a bunch of little shops with homemade Native American pottery, historical books, cowboy/girl clothing, memorabilia, a cafe with snacks & coffee, and more! This ended up being our favorite part of the whole trip and we wish we would've dedicated more time to it. Though, we browsed quickly and spent quite a bit of money in here. I purchased a small Native American pot hand-painted, that came with a certificate of authenticity.

---

Close to Wall, SD (Wall Drug) is Badlands National Park! This has been high on my bucket list ever since Lana Del Rey released the music video for Ride. It had always been a dream of mine to go on an ATV excursion in the Badlands, but traveling there in December ruled that one out. Regardless, it was a sight to behold.

It looked just like a miniature grand canyon in Arizona. When we wandered through, I couldn't help but wonder about all of the history inside the crevices. How many cowboys and Native Americans used to hide out here over one hundred years ago? Photos truly can't do it justice.

Now THAT'S something you don't see in Illinois.

---

Next up, we visited the historic town of Deadwood. I stitched together a photo of what it used to look like in the late 1800s, and what the exact same street looks like now. Soon after the top photo was taken, the town burned down and it was rebuilt with less flammable substance. One of it's shortest but most popular residents is Wild Bill Hickok, who was shot in Saloon 10 during a game of poker in an act of revenge. This place was quiet for the time of year, and a lot of things were closed. It's popping during the summertime.

Not only was Wild Bill a notorious cowboy in this town, but he brought Calamity Jane along with him. To this day, many say that their stories are made up or exaggerated to fit the legends, but either way, they're the center of so many historical stops in this town. Throughout the numerous tours you can go on, one covers the history of brothels in the area; which were around until the 1980s when the government finally shut it down. Weave in and out of the many shops with homemade soda, souvenirs, photography, and more.

We stopped and gambled for a moment with their slots, grabbed some chili, and then headed up to Mount Moriah Cemetery where the outlaws are laid to rest. This place was STEEP, and leg day was in full force trying to climb up to it. Next to Wild Bill, pictured above, was Calamity Jane... with her last dying wish to be buried beside him.

---

The next day, we traveled to see a couple of monuments. We started with Mount Rushmore, which was so easily accessible and not busy. That could've been due to it being in December... but South Dakota had abnormally warm weather on this day in the mid-sixties. Mount Rushmore also had a cool museum, cafe, and shop to browse. You can get super up close and personal with the monument.

Afterwards, we traveled a ways down the road to Crazy Horse. If you didn't know, because I didn't, Crazy Horse is unfinished. The building of the monument relies mostly, if not fully, on admission from the general public and donations. I'm hoping that in forty or so years, I can visit again and it will be nearly done.

---

After packing in all of those stops, we trekked back to Illinois. Rapid City is a spot that I can't recommend enough for the culture, food, atmosphere, and history. Hopefully, we'll be able to stop again sometime in the future... and you should too!