It's early morning after a light rain and we're on our way to the World Famous Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. Outside it's a study in the artistic talents of making murals out of corn. Each year there is a different theme to the outside and over the course of a few months in the summer the transformation is complete. We were met on our arrival by Cornelia, the Corn Palace mascot. Of course we took photos of each of the couples on the group with Cornelia. Our guide explained how the Palace came to look as it does each year. This year, depictions of wrestling, ice hockey, cheering and so forth are constructed using nothing but corn cobs, rye, oat heads and sour dock and the imagination of the designers. The Corn Palace was built in 1892 when the city of Mitchell was just 12 years old. The tradition of decorating the Corn Palace has continued for over 100 years. Each fall over 275 thousand ears of corn are sawed in half and nailed to the outside of the building in a paint-by-numbers fashion. Funding for the Corn Palace is supported through donations and revenue generated from the Chamber of Commerce gift shop across the street. Needless to say the Travel Masters helped out in their own generous way with an abundance of items purchased in the gift shop.
The Falls Overlook Cafe in Sioux Falls, South Dakota was our lunch stop today. We called ahead on day one of the tour with our lunch orders so they we fully prepared for our arrival. Sandwich, chips, an apple and a scoop of ice cream completed the lunch. Can you say Moose Tracks? Even though it was overcast and occasionally a few droplets of rain were falling, it didn't discourage many of the group from wandering around the area of the falls. Some made the walk to Falls Tower which gave them a great elevated view of the falls and the surrounding area. We departed a bit early because of the rain so that will give us a head start of the drive to Omaha and the River City Star dinner cruise.
We took a short rest break at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Quite a bit of stuff was added since our last visit some 5 years ago. Even another building was constructed with several displays on the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their expedition across America with primary attention paid to their journey in these parts. We watched a short film detailing their contributions and then it was off to Omaha and dinner.
We've done the river cruise on the River City Star in Omaha a few times before and it has always been a fun and relaxing cruise. A light-ish dinner of "make-your-own" sandwiches and salad while cruising on the Missouri River made for a relaxing early evening and end to the day. The cruise was just an hour long but plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and just visit on our last evening before heading home tomorrow.
Several of us gathered in the lounge area of our hotel for the night, the Regency Lodge in Omaha to visit, share stories of the tour and to enjoy a game of cards or the Dice game of Farkel. If you don't know what Farkel is, go look it up. It took us almost 10 minutes to understand the explanation and actually get into the game. Once we got to playing the laughter could be heard all over the lobby. Were we too raucous while playing this little dice game? Probably, but no one seems to mind.
Tomorrow (today, because I'm writing this on Sunday morning) is our last day on the Great American Scenic Safari. I hope you've enjoyed following us on this wonderful tour of some of our country's scenic National Parks as we have, seeing it first hand. Our drive home will be filled with memories, lots of photos and yes, many, many souvenirs. Can't wait for the next tour!
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