We spent a bit of time in Rapid City, enjoying some of the area attractions~~
Storybook Island
We
first stopped at Storybook Island simply because it was by the dentist (we had appointments in the morning) and it's free.
Basically it’s for young children with “sets” of children’s stories. Suzanne (Brad went here lots as a child) was expecting older stories, albeit for children,
such as James and the Giant Peach or Charlotte’s Web, but the
stories were basically for younger children – nursery rhymes for the most part. For small
children, this would be great. For us, it took ten minutes! :-)
The Journey Museum
We then
went to The Journey Museum, which exhibits the Black Hills
from creation to rent times. Normally $8
per adult, we were able to get in free under our VIP card. We really enjoyed the
first part, where one can see the various geologic formations of the Black Hills, but found much of the museum a bit
haphazard, even the movie, which needed some narration. The last bit was a recount of the flood of
1972, which Brad remembers. Interesting note about this ~ while at Storybook Island,
there is a geological marked showing the height of the flood ~ about five feet!
In fact, there is a marker at the Keystone post office which the waters came to
about four feet, and Keystone is 26 miles from Rapid City! Brad’s father was the director of
public works for Rapid City
at the time and was part of the recovery and clean-up once the flood waters
receded.
Landstrom’s Black
Hills Gold Factory Tour
Now this was interesting! Free to all, Landstrom’s gives tours at 10am
and 1pm Monday – Thursday. Landstrom’s
is the place to buy Black Hills gold jewelry (Brad has a ring he
purchased while attending high school). What was so interesting about the tour was that
we just walked around the floor where all the people were working with the
gold, silver, and gems ~ everyone was casual, answered questions, and friendly.
It was educational, interesting, and really laid-back. This is definitely
something to do if in the area ~ no photos allowed and after the tour, you can
save 20% on anything in their store. (Nope, we didn’t but anything, but we had
Brad’s ring cleaned – once ever 35 years – and it shines!)
Easy and affordable - no matter where you are!
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing this info..
Black Hills Gold Jewelry
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