We departed Rock Port to continue up the Missouri (more specifically, Interstate 90) all the way through Iowa and into South Dakota. we couldn’t resist crossing the river for a brief visit to Nebraska, though. I, Rob, had been in Nebraska once before, briefly, for a presentation at Offutt Air Force Base. That was one of the most interesting trips of my life, but that’s a story for another day. We covered a corner of Nebraska before crossing the river again into Iowa at Nebraska City. There, we drove by the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. In this rig, we don’t make many unplanned stops along the road, but we stopped here and learned a lot in a short visit.
We camped tonight in Mitchell, South Dakota. We saw signs for the Corn Palace all over. I asked the lady at the campground what a Corn Palace was. She stammered and finally said, “Well, they’re have a corn eating contest tonight.” Of course, we took off for the Corn Palace, and I learned a lot. I asked a lady on the street in front of the Palace what a Corn Palace was, and she failed to answer also. Then she spotted the General Manager of the Palace coming down the street and introduced us to him. I said, “Scott, at this moment, I don’t know what a Corn Palace is.” He told me that the Palace was decorated with different murals created each year with different colors of corn, sorghum, and other grains. Fantastic. Inside, we studied the historical exhibits and learned the context in which the Corn Palace came to be.
Later, I realized that the lady at the campground couldn’t conceive of someone really not knowing what a corn palace was. It has always been part of her life and she couldn’t describe the thing in a sentence or two.
We have a knack for serendipitously arriving in towns when festivals are occurring. We visited a town in Japan once for one night and it happened to be the day of the annual fertility festival. That was the most interesting festival I think we will ever attend, but that is a story for another day.
Everything you see in the photo of the Palace that you think might be corn, is corn.
You should start watching the Sunday morning show..they did a whole thing about the corn palace awhile back. Still lovin the pics and info….peg
Hi Rob and Jane,
I have immensely enjoyed visiting these great places and events vicariously through you this afternoon.
You are a wonderful writer – it is like I’m not even reading and am hearing you tell the stories. It is awesome! I’m going to wake Sam up now so he can take the trip. He’ll love it, too! Enjoy, be safe and keep the great posts coming!
Cheers!
Sharon
Rob, that was one question you failed to ask Jim. “What is a corn palace?”
It burned down after we had been there several years ago. Beautiful place and so interesting.
Love that Palace. Do they play cornhole there? I’m guessing they had some corn liquor there as well. That would fit right in at the KOA. I’m going out now to play golf with Jason. Everytime I play golf Robert I think about you. You and Jane be safe and have a great rest of your trip. We’ll look forward to more pictures soon I hope.
Sounds like you are having a wonderful trip. I really enjoyed reading about your travels and seeing the photos Robert.
This is great, please keep the posts coming !!
(Can’t believe you didn’t know what the corn palace was)