Back to the Wall (Drug)
We pushed out of Omaha relatively early after filling up at the nearby Dunkin Donuts. Our destination for the day was Rapid City, South Dakota with a stop at Wall Drug which is on the way.
Wall Drug is a place I was first made aware of as a kid when we went on a western road trip with my dad. I remember buying an incredibly large Wall Drug pencil that was used in the pencil battles I used to participate in regularly. I returned to Wall drug a number of years ago on one of my western road trips although having the dogs along meant my time to peruse was extremely limited.
Wall Drug started off as just what it sounds like, the official drug store for a town named Wall, South Dakota. However it morphed into one of the biggest tourist trap destinations in the region. Wall Drug uses a similar strategy as South of the Border, billboards and lots of them, starting as far as 150 miles away from Wall.
I was excited to show Cindy the place as I knew she would appreciate the endless diversity inside of the huge building which covers almost an entire block all by itself. We arrived about 3:30 local time after flipping back another timezone during the drive there.
One of the first things we did was indulge in one of the Wall Drug traditions, a 5 cent cup off coffee. The price has been the same for 50 years or more. Despite the ridiculous price the coffee was actually quite good. We then slowly started exploring the place which was sectioned off into various rooms that all connected in some way.
Some of the stuff is so tacky that it becomes instantly endearing like the incredibly unrealistic animatronics that are stationed at various spots. Wall Drug is also the ultimate souvenir shop, they seem to literally have almost anything you can imagine. Cindy and I spent a lot of time just walking around and looking at all there was to see, only making a few small purchases along the way.
They added a new section in the back that I had not seen before which included some outdoor exhibits, more food, and shopping. They also had yet another huge animatronic, a T-rex which made little sense but that is what Wall Drug is, just random things, all designed to make you smile.
We also enjoyed some homemade ice cream at the in house soda shop which was great. It was served to us by a girl with a russian accent. There were a number of young workers there with similar accents. At another nearby store we were talking to another russian girl and asked why there were so many russian young people working? She said they are part of a student work exchange thing for the summer. How weird.
Cindy really enjoyed the Wall Drug experience and I enjoyed showing it to her.
We then left for Rapid City but made a pit stop at a tiny town to grab gas. Being the only gas in town meant it was expensive, a full dollar per gallon more than the cheapest gas we have seen. Luckily paying 3 bucks a gallon for gas in the Prius isn’t a big deal.
Speaking of the Prius, the 80 mph speed limit on most of route 90 has been killing our MPG numbers. We have barely been able to average 40 mpg during this segment because of going that fast. The Prius can sip gas at 45-50 mpg if you keep the speeds at 72-73 mph and no higher.
The hotel we stayed at in Rapid City was named the Grand Gateway and it was pretty damn cool with a retro style and unique appearance. It had a huge lobby with pool tables, ping pong, indoor pool AND a 130 foot water slide. Our room was old fashioned yet undeniably cool. The best part was we only paid $68 to stay there.
After unloading we did a simple but decent dinner at the Perkins which was attached to the hotel. At the end of the meal we did an impromptu hot sauce challenge where I dumped some tabasco sauce on a spoon and sucked it down. Cindy thought she would be tough and put even more on a spoon and do the same. She paid for her bravado, looking for things to drink for quite awhile afterward.
Before going up to the room Cindy and I had an intense best 3 out of 5 ping pong match that she won pretty easily, the first time I recall that ever happening. Our room had two queen beds in it. We thought we would be fine squeezing into one of them. The decision resulted in less that great sleep for both of us.
Although we just finished up our Mt Rushmore visit I will break today into it’s own entry.