Wall Drug was a small drug store in the 1930's trying to stay alive during the Depression. The owners came up with the idea of offering free ice water to customers, and put signs up along the highway advertising it. The rest is history!
Wall Drug is two square blocks of shops and cafes and little nooks with oddities like scenes of an old time card game and a travelers chapel.
Across the street are more shops and eateries. But the true star is Wall Drug. There are unexpected things like beautiful stained glass,
original artwork,
bears & carved figures
and out in Wall Drug's back yard is fun stuff for kids (big kids too!) There is a 12 foot tall Jackalope, arcade, "Mining Company" where you can pan for gold & a water park.
Since we were in Wall for a week, we also took the opportunity to see the country side on our bikes. We saw fields of wheat that were surely the inspiration for "amber fields of grain", lots of ranch land and cattle, and more of the color striped mesas we saw in the Badlands.
Wall is also home of the Wounded Knee Museum. As we have been traveling the Dakotas, we have been to many sites that are still holy to the Lakota people. Touring the Crazy Horse monument, Bear Butte and the Badlands made me more curious about the history of the Native American tribes in this area. I picked up the book, Crazy Horse-The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz (who, for our Arabian horse friends, is Eleanor Hamilton's aunt). It was a fascinating, emotional read that I think gave me a better feel for what happened to the Lakotas in that time. The Wounded Knee Museum was a sobering reminder of an event so horrible it is hard to believe it really happened. I was transported back to Pathways Spiritual Sanctuary and its message of love for all humankind.
We leave Wall today, heading slowly toward Minnesota. Until next time - happy trails!
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