Corn Palace - aka The World's Largest Birdfeeder

If you will be traveling anywhere near Mitchell, South Dakota in July/August, you might want to take the time to stop in. Every summer, after the corn harvest, they take dried corn cobs (with the corn kernels still on!) and create a wonderful mural on the outside of the Corn palace, covering the entire building. Every year the mural is different.

The original Mitchell Corn Palace (known as "The Corn Belt Exposition") was built in 1892 to showcase the rich soil of South Dakota and encourage people to settle in the area. It was a wooden castle structure on Mitchell's Main Street. In 1904–1905, the city of Mitchell mounted a challenge to the city of Pierre in an unsuccessful attempt to replace it as the state capital of South Dakota. As part of this effort, the Corn Palace was rebuilt in 1905. In 1921 the Corn Palace was rebuilt once again, with a design by the architectural firm Rapp and Rapp of Chicago. Moorish domes and minarets were added in 1937, giving the Palace the distinct appearance that it has today.
The exterior corn murals are replaced and redesigned each year with a new theme. The designs are created by local artists. From 1948–1971 the artist Oscar Howe designed the panels. Calvin Schultz designed the murals from 1977–2002. Since 2003, the murals have been designed by Cherie Ramsdell. No new mural was created in 2006 due to an extreme drought.

Coming Soon to Your City - Bass Pro Shop (you wish!)

Click here for locations

If your city does not have a Bass Pro Shop, you are really missing out. One just opened in my area of the woods and it does not matter whether you are into any kind of sports or not, you will still enjoy browsing through the store to see all the great items they carry. Even my 12 yr. old Granddaughter, who is not into any kind of sports, enjoyed it so much, we finally had to drag her out of the store - after looking at everything for 4 hours!

Not to worry, they have great restroom facilities and even a place to grab a bite to eat! They have you covered to spend all day (and hopefully $$$) in the store.

They have the neatest aquarium I have seen, outside of a full fledged Aquarium! Fishing boats, fishing gear, camping gear, stuff for runners, hunters, tennis players, football, baseball, soccer, you name it - they have it!

There are currently 40 stores open nationwide and another 18 due to open. Check 'em out!

Shall we pool our loose change?

Ok, everyone feel around under the cushions of your sofa and recliner and check under the seats of your car for all the loose change you can find.

Cause if we pool all our loose change together, we might have enough money to buy a British isle that is on the market for $8 million.

A Victorian sea fort a mile off the coast of Portsmouth, with a luxury hotel and a heliport, was put up for sale after the owner was sent to prison.

No Man's Land Fort, a mile from the mainland, was originally built to house nearly 80 soldiers to fend off an attack from the French navy.

Then, when the deal is closed, we gotta figure out the time share. Let me see, I might be able to get 20 minutes on January 10, 2030!

Scotland

I know I mentioned in an earlier post that it is my desire someday to visit Scotland and Ireland. While most people who visit these two wonderful places have different reasons for visiting, ie. to see the castles, to hit all the pubs, to hit all the golf courses, etc., my passion is the countryside and its people.

Of course, I would manage to hit a castle or two and many ruins, but it really the small communities and its people that I want to get to know.



It is the same way when I travel in the United States - I want to never hit a main highway, always drive the country roads to the small bergs and visit with the locals.