Trip 2013: Trip 2013 Wall Drug, Mitchell,SD and Pender,NE

Another day on the road to North Carolina, but I guess I can start with WELL another day on the road. We stopped at Wall Drug in Wall, SD of course you can't go from Rapid City to the east without stopping at Wall Drug it a very large general store with almost everything to include a dining room that serves five cent coffee, for Veterans there is FREE coffee and Donuts. Another hundred plus miles down the road is Mitchell, SD where we stayed for the night and to see the Corn Place, here is some information about the Corn Palace, commonly advertised as The World's Only Corn Palace and the Mitchell Corn Palace, is a multi-purpose arena/facility located in Mitchell, South Dakota. The Moorish Revival building is decorated with crop art; the murals and designs covering the building are made from corn and other grains. It is a popular tourist destination, visited by more than 500,000 people each year.

1907
2000
2003
2004 - Lewis & Clark
2008 - Everyday Heroes

The Corn Palace serves the community as a venue for concerts, sports events, exhibits and other community events. Each year, the Corn Palace is celebrated with a citywide festival, the Corn Palace Festival. Historically it was held at harvest time in September, but recently it has been held at the end of August. Other popular annual events include the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo in July and the Corn Palace Polka Festival in September. It is also home to the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers and the Mitchell High School Kernels basketball teams. The Corn Palace in Mitchell was preceded by several other grain palaces including: a Corn Palace in Sioux City, Iowa that was active from 1887–1891; a Corn Palace in Gregory, South Dakota; a Grain Palace in Plankinton, South Dakota; and a Bluegrass Palace in Creston, Iowa.

Today we left Mitchell SD and drove 180 miles, there was a lot of FOG which made driving a little trying, but it cleared up on the way to Pender, NE where the Blue Ox Factory is located. Bruce and Maretta decided that they would go to Pender via the freeway and we took the back roads arriving about twenty minutes earlier than them, it was the story of You take the Fast Road and I'll take the Scenic Road. I needed some work on my hitching system and since we had an appointment to determine if we needed a new hitch or to get it repaired. Well it was a new hitch, mucho dollars, what else is new!

Along the way to Pender we saw many barns with designs painted on them, and after getting in town did we find out that each design was a quilt design, we have some pictures and additional info.

Barn quilt project explodes

By Jason Sturek

Pender Times Publisher

What began as a fun project for a few Pender women who first saw barn quilts while driving through Iowa has exploded into one of the most heavily talked about pieces of the upcoming Pender Q125 celebration.

And the barn quilts that adorn seemingly more houses than not both inside and outside the city limits appear likely to draw visitors from outside of the area for months and even years to come. With roughly 200 barn quilts, Pender is suddenly a hotbed in the center of a small national movement that celebrates both art and rural heritage — not a bad fit for a community that is celebrating 125 years June 20-27 2013.

The vast majority of the barn quilts in Pender are painted on plywood that measures 4x4 feet or 3x3 feet and are marked with signs that display the name of the quilt pattern.

Consisting of wood and paint instead of cloth and thread, they closely emulate quilt patterns that have been around for many generations in some cases. Others are unique designs dreamed up recently in garages right here in Pender. All capture the spirit of each community in art and heritage.