The Place with the Free Ice Water
The second night we stayed in Wall, South Dakota. Then, the next morning, we got up and went about exploring Wall Drug: the place with the free ice water. On getting out of our car we were greeted by this face.
Clearly he's not a morning person. Or possibly a people person. He sure wanted to hang around, but he really didn't want to be pet. Must've been waiting for a free handout.
Wall Drug is a pretty interesting place. We've stopped there a few times to look around and enjoy what there is to see. It's kind of like a huge drug store, with many shops all connected into one big souvenir mall. They have a few other things to look at and do too, and they also have food. We stopped in a café and ordered breakfast. While we were waiting for it to arrive, Aidan climbed out of his bag to study the map and history of Wall Drug.
As you can see, there was a lot of western art in the room. Some were statues and there were paintings all over the walls. I didn't realize until after I took the picture that they didn't want the paintings to be photographed. Luckily, you can't really make out any of the paintings in this picture.
After breakfast was over, we went to see what I would call Wall Drug's main attraction: the Animatronic T-Rex! That's right, they have a robotic T-Rex in the back of the place and every so often it goes off, "stands" up and roars, looking around like it wants to eat. I believe it did more when I was a kid, but it also scared the crap out of me, so I can't be entirely positive about that. Aidan was uncertain about the experience, but Ryder loved it.
So, in this first picture with the dolls, you can see T-Rex sleeping, for the most part. He moves his head back and forth and blinks his eyes a bit, but that's pretty much it. Until he comes alive, that is.
Then he stands up tall and opens his mouth wider. The lights flash and warning bells sound. T-Rex roars and the people watch, seeming spellbound. You should've seen the look on our dog's face. Her eyes got so big and her ears were pulled as far back as she could get them. I'm pretty sure she believed the T-Rex was actually going to eat us.
As you can see from the fact I posted three pictures about this, I pretty much love the T-Rex now, even though my heart beats a little faster when it goes off. For me, this T-Rex is the highlight of Wall Drug.
Just in front of the building housing the T-Rex they have this water fountain thing that pours water from the water tower and then spits it back up through holes in the sidewalk. Several kids played in that for a bit, with their parents reminding them to be careful, of course, since the concrete was slippery.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I called this post "the Place with the Free Ice Water." Well, when Wall Drug began it had a very hard time getting business until the owner's wife suggested advertising for free ice water. See, Wall, South Dakota is right on the doorstep of the Badlands, which I have photos of for my next post, and once you see it you'll realize it's very hot and dry there. The one thing people traveling through that area would want is ice water, and if it were free all the better. Thanks to that idea, Wall Drug became a pretty major tourist attraction in that part of South Dakota.
And that's all I have from Wall Drug, although there's a lot more to see there. Next we drove to the badlands where Midas got to get out and show off his outfit. But we'll save that for another post.
~SilverStar-Burst
 |
| Not a Morning Person |
Clearly he's not a morning person. Or possibly a people person. He sure wanted to hang around, but he really didn't want to be pet. Must've been waiting for a free handout.
Wall Drug is a pretty interesting place. We've stopped there a few times to look around and enjoy what there is to see. It's kind of like a huge drug store, with many shops all connected into one big souvenir mall. They have a few other things to look at and do too, and they also have food. We stopped in a café and ordered breakfast. While we were waiting for it to arrive, Aidan climbed out of his bag to study the map and history of Wall Drug.
 |
| Avid Historian |
As you can see, there was a lot of western art in the room. Some were statues and there were paintings all over the walls. I didn't realize until after I took the picture that they didn't want the paintings to be photographed. Luckily, you can't really make out any of the paintings in this picture.
After breakfast was over, we went to see what I would call Wall Drug's main attraction: the Animatronic T-Rex! That's right, they have a robotic T-Rex in the back of the place and every so often it goes off, "stands" up and roars, looking around like it wants to eat. I believe it did more when I was a kid, but it also scared the crap out of me, so I can't be entirely positive about that. Aidan was uncertain about the experience, but Ryder loved it.
 |
| Bite-Sized Morsels |
So, in this first picture with the dolls, you can see T-Rex sleeping, for the most part. He moves his head back and forth and blinks his eyes a bit, but that's pretty much it. Until he comes alive, that is.
 |
| It's Alive! |
Then he stands up tall and opens his mouth wider. The lights flash and warning bells sound. T-Rex roars and the people watch, seeming spellbound. You should've seen the look on our dog's face. Her eyes got so big and her ears were pulled as far back as she could get them. I'm pretty sure she believed the T-Rex was actually going to eat us.
 |
| Run for Your Lives |
As you can see from the fact I posted three pictures about this, I pretty much love the T-Rex now, even though my heart beats a little faster when it goes off. For me, this T-Rex is the highlight of Wall Drug.
 |
| Water Spurts |
Just in front of the building housing the T-Rex they have this water fountain thing that pours water from the water tower and then spits it back up through holes in the sidewalk. Several kids played in that for a bit, with their parents reminding them to be careful, of course, since the concrete was slippery.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I called this post "the Place with the Free Ice Water." Well, when Wall Drug began it had a very hard time getting business until the owner's wife suggested advertising for free ice water. See, Wall, South Dakota is right on the doorstep of the Badlands, which I have photos of for my next post, and once you see it you'll realize it's very hot and dry there. The one thing people traveling through that area would want is ice water, and if it were free all the better. Thanks to that idea, Wall Drug became a pretty major tourist attraction in that part of South Dakota.
And that's all I have from Wall Drug, although there's a lot more to see there. Next we drove to the badlands where Midas got to get out and show off his outfit. But we'll save that for another post.
~SilverStar-Burst
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