We enjoyed every last minute in Minneapolis before heading west to South Dakota. We ate pancakes at a downtown cafe, viewed St. Anthony Falls in the Mississippi River and drove to the ‘can’t miss’ Minnehaha Falls on our way out of town.

We intended that our travel day to the Black Hills would include some tourist stops. To truly feel immersed in our first stop of the day, you will need to do a bit of prep. First, you need a skillet. Then, you need to start frying bacon. Okay … ready?

We stopped at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD on Wednesday morning. Falls Park is pretty and I was surprised at the number of falls and the walkability of the park. Furthermore, Falls Park sits directly across the street from a Smithfield plant and the scent of bacon was immediate. I am sure you are thinking ‘mmmm … bacon’, and I’ll admit, that I thought the same for the first few minutes. But, after a while, the scent became overwhelming, we saw the trucks of the main bacon ingredient going into the plant and refrigerated trucks coming out. Going forward, it’s turkey bacon for me! Now, feel free to enjoy your fried bacon while looking at these pictures of the Sioux Falls in Falls Park!

(Click on any image below to open the gallery)

The catchy signs for tourist traps along I-90 began immediately outside of Sioux Falls. We found them so hilarious that I jotted some down for your enjoyment!

The World’s Only Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD

• Pop in into the Corn Palace
• Get schucked at the Corn Palace
• Stalk up on corny souven-ears
• Side note: Mitchell, SD is ‘Home of the Fighting Kernels’

The Annual Corn Palace Festival was gearing up when we were in town. Fried food vendors lined the streets and the amusement rides were ready for screaming kids. The ‘main event’ for this festival is unveiling the theme for the coming year’s Corn Palace decorations. I must say, that The Corn Palace exceed my (very low) expectations. I was actually amazed at an entire building decorated with corn! And, while we did see the designs for next year’s Corn Palace, I will keep them secret in the event you want to visit and see for yourself!

Wall Drug, Wall, SD

Wall Drug advertises everything you could possibly need for your Western adventure. Including (but certainly not limited to):

• Free water
• Jack-a-Lopes
• Leather goods
• Camping Supplies
• Mining and Panning
• A chuck wagon quartet
• World Famous 5 cent coffee

For as much as the Corn Palace exceeded my expectations, Wall Drug was like finding a Zonk on ‘Let’s Make a Deal’!

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Que Pasa Cantina, Rapid City, SD

We did not dine at Que Pasa Cantina; however, the signs had us laughing, so here they are:

• Mexican food. Local water.
• Buy me tacos and tell me I’m pretty
• Usually when you roll something this good, it’s illegal
• Mexican Food so good Donald Trump would build a wall around it

Aside from the funny billboards and tourist traps, the South Dakota farms and ranches were pretty. There were miles of sunflowers for as far as the eye could see. It was surprising to see how quickly the scenery changed once we hit the Badlands area in the western part of the state. Our next post will focus on the time we spent hiking in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Miss you all – have a great day! 😘