Road Trip Post #19: Wall Drug (I wonder how many signs there actually are…)

   Free ice water anyone? If you don't know about Wall Drug just take a little drive through South Dakota & Montana. You'll see a billboard for it on the side of the road. And then another one…and another…there are hundreds. Reading the signs on the otherwise boring drive on I-90 is for many people, a memorable part of their childhood. How many signs are there? Who knows! But they spend just shy of 1/2 million dollars on advertising every year and some billboards are even in other countries!

   It's basically a giant gift store with some equally creepy & awesome animatronic animals talking with country accents or playing the piano sprinkled in (the ape playing piano is my all-time favorite). Watch out for the dinosaur! If you look a little closer however, there are a lot of historical photographs collected over the years. Many are framed on the walls, displayed in between personalized mugs, rocks, and tons of other stuff for sale.

   Ice water: free. Coffee: 5 cents. Made in America mounted jackalope: close to $100!

   Wall Drug is in the town of Wall, just outside of Badlands National Park in South Dakota. We stopped to marvel at the personalized wallets, moccasins, and whips. We didn't buy anything but it's still fun to walk around the place. Alas, a visit to an amazing giant gift store full of weird things made in China has to end sometime…tomorrow we're off to Rapid City to check in at another icon of my childhood - Dinosaur Park!!!
   ~Paul, Micah, Sis, Dad, Susan    ETC