I haven't often been in Western Wisconsin so the scenery was new to me from the start of the trip. As I drove through some of the fantastically-militaristically-named cities--Redgranite, Tomah, Sparta, Bangor, La Crosse--I distantly recalled having been to each but not recently and not as the driver. I left Appleton at just a stroke past ten and was through Wisconsin by somewhere around one.
There's not much to see in the vast stretches of farmland that dominate southern Minnesota and eastern South Dakota. Unless the weather is acting up. This afternoon it was. The sky started out calm and blue but then blackened and began to roil. The rain was so dense in some bursts I could hardly see twenty feet out the windshield of my trusty Camry as it slogged through the Land of 10,000 Lakes. I felt a little sorry for the drenched motorcycles waiting the downpour out beneath the underpasses. It must have been the edge of a massive front; the temperature was 90 degrees before the storms, then in the 60s after the rain was behind me.
I had initially planned to make for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, then realized I could easily push 75 miles further east so that my drive to the Badlands tomorrow morning is only three hours instead of four. My revised destination was Mitchell, South Dakota, where I sit now at the Thunderbird Lodge just off Interstate 90. Mitchell's big claims to fame are being the site of the "World's only" Corn Palace (since 1892!) and the residence of 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern, who also represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate.
When I pulled off Exit 332, I first visited the Corn Palace to see what all the hubbub was about. By "hubbub" I mean the signs along the highway that appeared with increasing frequency as Mitchell drew near touting the Corn Palace as the "World's only" and being "FREE." I went there first because it was 6:30 and I wasn't sure if it'd still be open and if so how late.
When I arrived, I realized the so-called "palace" was just a normal building with brightly painted green and yellow onion domes and corn stapled to it. Major letdown. I was expecting a literal palace made out of corn. But I went inside anyways. It reeked of buttery popcorn. An informational video was about to start. I figured why not check it out.
Mitchell first conceived of the idea for a Corn Palace in 1892 just three years after South Dakota became a state to attract attention and population. A neighboring city had built a Grain Palace and Sioux City, Iowa had just ran out of funds for a competing Corn Palace. Not ones for originality, the town fathers of Mitchell lifted Sioux City's idea and spearheaded the construction their own Corn Palace, which was really just a stage and exhibition hall that had inner and outer walls adorned with corncob mosaics. Each year it hosted a large festival with educational exhibitions and musical entertainment.
The Corn Palace festival was perpetuated as an annual event to bring the city together and prove to potential homesteaders that it indeed was possible to grow corn in South Dakota. In 1904 as Mitchell vied with Pierre to become South Dakota's capital, the city spared no expense to bring legendary band conductor John Paul Sousa to headline that year's Corn Palace festival. In spite of Mitchell's effort, Pierre won the honor. Nevertheless, the venue has continued to play host to notable entertainers and public figures in the past as well as recently ranging from Bob Hope to Willie Nelson to Barack Obama. It's also used as an arena for high school basketball.
Just as this is the longest day, this may be my longest post. I have no excuse other than that I like to write. But now I'm done. Here are some pictures from the road.
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