There is nothing like getting away on a romantic excursion with your sweetie. Newlyweds do it frequently, and parents of young children dream of it often. Empty-nesters even love a private getaway, when they are not visiting the grandkids that is. Valentine’s Day often gets a lot of attention, sometimes too much if you ask me. I cannot believe the hype for this holiday. However, it does provide the perfect reason to get away with that special someone.

There are so many romantic places to stay in South Dakota, from lodges to bed and breakfasts, to hotels that provide just the right amount of luxury at just the right price.

One weekend, my sweetie whisked me away from our routine and we enjoyed a great time together in the Black Hills. We stayed in a wonderful Black Hills vacation home that was filled with the amenities of home, and was tucked away within the beautiful forestry of the Black Hills National Forest. There are so many different private vacation homes to choose from in this area to accommodate your needs.

My girlfriend in the eastern corner of South Dakota raved about her time staying at the Club House Hotel and Suites in Sioux Falls. Nearby, they were able to find a wine and coffee bar, great dining options, and of course, she was able to do a bit of shopping. A great getaway if you ask me! Sioux Falls is full of interesting things to do, with something for everyone.

It’s not too late to start thinking about where you want to get away for Valentine’s Day. So why not plan a great trip instead of sending a bouquet of flowers or buying chocolate and wine at the last minute? Even if it’s not for Valentine’s Day, a nice getaway is always a treat.

This post was written by a student from Wisconsin, Ben K., who wrote this piece about their family road trip to South Dakota for a reader/writer class. Thanks for sharing with us Ben! We added a few photos to help illustrate Ben’s trip.

RV’s are for Cowards

“We’re here!” Our road trip from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin to South Dakota was a blast. We drove a 30′ long RV into the wilderness crawling with bus-wide spiders. In spite of that, it’s probably the most amazing state out of the 50 of them. Parking the RV was no problem, but the cranky neighbors were. The driving days were long and dreary, but stopping at the expensive treasure shops along the side of the road made up for all the sleeping up in the 5″ long bed above the cockpit.

“Wall Drug” was one of the hundreds of stores we stopped at. Excitement burst in me when I ventured through the front door of that enormous, old, and decorated district. This was way better than the large RV we risked our lives in every second with the problems like gas leaks set us back. The walls of this amazing place were covered in toy guns and Indian/cowboy weapons from the 1800′s – everything a kid under 10 dreamed of. As I walked to the next room, I could see many animal decorations that you would put on your porch or hang outside. “Boring!!!” said my brother, Max. Obviously, Max and I each had to get a gun or else our trip would be ruined.

Wall Drug - SD Dept. Tourism

Later that day I shouted, “Hey Mom, were here,” as we pulled up to a short shack that a huge man with a beard, probably didn’t have anything else to do, was working. “Welcome to Custer’s Park Camping Grounds. Now give me my 50 bucks,” said the man. Soon I learned his name was Stevie Realens. That was my favorite part of the trip; just kidding. There were far more exciting parts to the trip.

As we were driving towards the main building at our campground, Max and I spotted a tiny room with original Atari games like “Pac-man” and “Asteroids”. Once our parents deposited all of the “unnecessary fluids and solids,” we rushed as fast as our 12 year-old legs would take us. We spent about a total of about 50 dollars on a game called “Stacker.” You had to stack one virtual block on top of each other while they moved faster and faster across the screen. I wish we could have this game in the RV, I thought. That would brighten up the long days. As a prize, I got a camera that had horrible pixilation when you took the picture. “Best prize ever,” I said sarcastically.

Bear Country U.S.A. was one of our many destinations. We left our heavy RV at our campground and took a rental car. You could drive through the small park with bears scratching themselves against the side of your car. The most amazing sight to see was the bear who was sitting on a log just like a human would. It was hilarious. Max and I would take our fake guns, that we had snuck in, and would pretend the bears where monstrous beasts that we had to kill. Then we took so many pictures. I thought my smile would stay forever.

Sylvan Lake - SD Dept. Tourism

Custer State Park was a goal we had planned to reach while soaring through South Dakota. At amazing heights, we could see everything. I felt as if I were closer to God or heaven. Puh Puh Puh. “You had to bring that gun, Max!!!” Puh Puh Puh. “You just ruined the most beautiful moment of my life,” I screamed. I could hear my echo go miles and miles farther away from me. It took it away my energy for the hike we would have to go through next. The mountains in the distance looked like small hills from where we were standing. After hiking down; tripping and falling, we took a dive in a crystal clear Lake Sylvan. There were rocks out in the middle of the lake which we could rest upon. Custer State Park was the journey of a lifetime.

While we were heading home, we saw a couple with an RV. It started to pour rain. A few minutes later, hail fell down from the sky and made dents in our car. We really wanted to help the poor people, but we had a schedule we were on. The whole rest of the night, we though and made up stories about how the couple we had met earlier were doing.

After our treacherous adventure up to the top of the mountain unknowingly driving in our RV, we have learned never to drive an RV up a narrow road to Custer State Park when it is muddy… or moist… or if you riding along with dangerous spiders.

Needles Highway - SD Dept. Tourism

 By Ben K., student from Wisconsin

The unique history and spirit of South Dakota is captured and accumulated in this Great Place. Visitors will find a new discovery around every corner. It’s the Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society in the capital city, Pierre.

The museum is a place to learn about American Indian history, explorers, homesteaders, and politicians who established South Dakota. Visitors can get an understanding of the challenges that the people of South Dakota experienced in the 20^th century.

Highlights of the museum include the Sioux Horse Effigy Dancing Stick, the Verendrye Plate and a realistic model cow that visitors can try their hand at hand-milking. There are three permanent galleries displaying artifacts.

The newest exhibit at the museum is titled “Our South Dakota: Big Land, Big Ideas, Big Heart.” It showcases South Dakotain a new perspective. Visitors are able to look atSouth Dakota’s past and present and even size themselves up to George Washington’s nose from Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

The museum is located at the Cultural Heritage Center, the South Dakota State Historical Society headquarters. The museum shares the 63,000 square foot building with a number of offices within the Society. For a size comparison, that equals the length of two football fields.

The State Archives is also located inside the Cultural Heritage Center. It contains more than 12,000 cubic feet of records. This equates to more than 37,600,000 records, including books, maps, and photographs. With a few exceptions, all of these records are open to the public for research. There is also a gift shop, South Dakota Heritage Store, on site featuring Made in South Dakota products.

The Cultural Heritage Center is open during the winter months, Monday through Saturday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., and on Sundays and holidays from1-4:30 p.m. The museum has extended hours during the summer season, Memorial Day through Labor Day, of Monday through Saturday9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., and on Sundays and holidays from 1-4:30 p.m. The museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

Admission fees are $4.00 for adults, sixty and over $3.00, and children 17 and under are free.

The mission of this South Dakota museum is to “collect, preserve, and interpret the social, political, and cultural history of the State of South Dakota and Dakota Territory. The museum makes its collections available through exhibitions, loans to other museums, and publications.” The museum is a part of the South Dakota State Historical Society which is a component of the South Dakota Department of Tourism.

Well, November and most of December has come and gone. The Presidents from Mount Rushmore were busy in November with their trip to the Big Apple. Here’s a nice recap video of where they went and how much fun they had. Check it out!

We have also announced a winner of the Mount Rushmore’s American Pride Vacation giveaway. Becky has accepted the prize and will be traveling to South Dakota sometime in 2012 with her husband and two children exploring the beauty of this great state.

Thanks for following along as the Presidents visited New York City. Next year is the third and final year of South Dakota Dept. of Tourism’s partnership with Macy’s, we look forward to revisiting this campaign then.

The Black Hills will be featured on a national level this holiday season. “A Christmas in the Black Hills,” a one-hour holiday special filmed in Deadwood and the Black Hills, will premier on Monday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. MT on Great American Country (GAC).

Hosted by famed country duo Big & Rich, the special also features Thompson Square, Bradley Gaskin, Tracy Lawrence, Andy Gibson and The Farm in holiday scenes and songs around South Dakota’s Black Hills. Performances were filmed for the special at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, on Deadwood’s Main Street, Mt. Moriah Cemetery and the Saloon #10, the 1880 Train in Hill City, the Mickelson Trail, Pactola Lake, a buffalo herd and other locations.

According to GAC, during the special, Big & Rich will perform “Blue Christmas” and “Drunk on Christmas,” an original song by Saturday Night Live’s Jimmy Fallon. Bradley Gaskin sings “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” while Thompson Square shares their rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” from the back of a horse-drawn sleigh as well as “Christmas in Dixie,” and Tracy Lawrence hops on a 19^th century locomotive for “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Andy Gibson performs both “The Christmas Song” and “Feliz Navidad” and The Farm contributes their version of “Oh Holy Night.”

Christmas in the Black Hills wraps with the artists joining together for a medley of holiday classics. The special will re-air on GAC throughout the holiday season.

The special will be aired on GAC TV several times during December:

Monday, December 12
8 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (CT) / 6 p.m. (MT)
11 p.m. (CT) / 10 p.m. (MT)

Tuesday, December 13
12 a.m. (ET)
10 a.m. (ET) / 9 a.m. (CT) / 8 a.m. (MT)
7 p.m. (ET) / 6 p.m. (CT) / 5 p.m. (MT)

Wednesday, December 21
8 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (CT) / 6 p.m. (MT)
11 p.m. (CT) / 10 p.m. (MT)

Thursday, December 22
12 a.m. (ET)
11 a.m. (ET) / 10 a.m. (CT) / 9 a.m. (MT)

Friday, December 23
7 p.m. (ET) / 6 p.m. (CT) / 5 p.m. (MT)

Saturday, December 24
4 p.m. (ET) / 3 p.m. (CT) / 2 p.m. (MT)
11 p.m. (ET) / 10 p.m. (CT) / 9 p.m. (MT)

Sunday, December 25
3 a.m. (ET) / 2 a.m. (CT) / 1 a.m. (MT)

The Deadwood Chamber of Commerce, the City of Deadwood, Deadwood Mountain Grand and the South Dakota Department of Tourism partnered to bring GAC to the Black Hills to produce the special.

I’ve explored much of South Dakota, piece by piece, region by region. Throughout my journey across the state I’ve always known that South Dakota is truly a beautiful, peaceful place where you can “get away from it all.”

Now, here is a video that most anyone can enjoy. This is a video that makes me proud to call South Dakota home. While I’ve seen much of the state, I’ve never seen it from a perspective like this.

This aerial footage was shot this last summer, and recently the Department of Tourism’s staff videographer compiled this moving video. Take a look:

Now, there is much more where that came from…we have hours upon hours of this fantastic footage. Stay tuned, as we’ll be sharing lots more.

The Presidents of Mount Rushmore recently visited New York Cityto celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the completion of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. South Dakota also had a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – Mount Rushmore’s American Pride. Neil Diamond performed on the float this year, and did a fantastic job. He sang “America” on the float. His songs had the crowd engaged and singing along. What a great choice for this float, the song and the backdrop of the fauxMount Rushmore on the float moved the crowd!

The Presidents had another exciting element to their trip to New York City. They are giving away an exclusive vacation to see the real Mount Rushmorein South Dakota! It’s a vacation for four, with airline tickets provided by American Airlines, rental car, lodging, and great choices of attractions to visit while on vacation. The people we met in New York Citywere very excited to hear about the vacation giveaway, and we have a surprise for you…you can register too! Entries will be open for a few more weeks, closing around the 16^th of December, just in time to give away a vacation around the holidays. Visit www.travelsd.com/macys to register to win this great vacation giveaway!

Here are a few photos and videos from our trip to the east coast with the Presidents.

A special thank you to our sponsors: Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Tourism Association, Rapid City CVB, Sioux Falls CVB, Wall Drug, Reptile Gardens, Black Hills Power, Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society, Black Hills Central Reservations, American Airlines, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Deadwood CVB.

The Verendrye Museum in Fort Pierre is a Great Place in South Dakota that highlights and documents the history of the Fort Pierre area from the earliest explorations of Europeans.

It was in 1742, that brothers Francois and Louis-Joseph Verendrye embarked on their expedition to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. They reached the location of the present-day Fort Pierre and Pierre area 61 years before Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

In March 1743, they buried a lead plate in the area to establish French sovereignty on the upper Missouri, hoping to establish French control of the entire Mississippi drainage system.

It wasn’t until 1913 that children playing along the hillside found the lead plate. State historian Doane Robinson was contacted and saved the plate. Inscription on the front of the plate translates, “In the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Louis XV, the most illustrious Lord, the Lord Marquis of Beauharnios being Viceroy, 1741, Pierre Gaultier De Le Verendrye placed this.” The back reads, “Placed by Chevalier Verendrye, Louis La Londette, and A. Miotte. 30 March 1743.”

The site is now commemorated with a granite marker that stands 4-feet tall and is engraved with the following: “Here on March 30, 1743, the Verendryes buried a lead tablet to claim this region for France. This tablet found on Feb. 16, 1913, is the first written record of the visit of white men to South Dakota.”

Today, the lead plate buried by the Verendrye brothers is displayed at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre, which is open daily, call 605-773-3458 for more information. For a travel itinerary in the Pierre/Fort Pierre area click this link.

The Verendrye Museum is open Memorial Day through Labor Day, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. During the off season, a portion of the museum’s displays are at the Fort Pierre Log Cabin Information Center on the corner of Main and Highway 83 in Fort Pierre. Special arrangements can also be made by calling 605-222-6071.

For more information you can also visit the National Park Service’s page on this topic.

Lights twinkle and children of all ages glee with delight at each winter at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The park is decorated in thousands and thousands of lights, and garland galore.

The park is decorated and lit up nightly from Saturday, November 19 through January 8, 2012.

Another great event associated with the Winter Wonderland at Falls Park, is the Twilight Flights hosted by Strawbale Winery, located in the neighboring community of Renner.

Twilight Flights is a magical evening filled with great food, and of course, great wine. First, visitors will enjoy hor’douvres and wine tasting at the winery, then hop into a helicopter to be whisked away to view the spectacular light show at Falls Park and a great view of Sioux Falls. And last but not least, upon returning to the winery, you’ll enjoy desserts and more delicious wine!

For more information about the festivities at Falls Park, contact the Sioux Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau via their website.

For information and reservation information for the Twilight Flights event at Strawbale Winery, visit their website.

We’ve breezed through some of the behind the scenes history of Mount Rushmore National Memorial this summer. The Memorial celebrated its 70^th anniversary this year, and we couldn’t be more proud to have this “Shrine of Democracy” in our great state of South Dakota.

In T.D. Griffith’s “America’s Shrine of Democracy: A Pictorial History,” he described the mission of the National Park Service and goal of administrators atMount Rushmore:
In 1941, Mount Rushmore’s administrative and protective responsibility was assigned to the National Park Service. Since that time, Mount Rushmorehas been managed under the spirit and intent of the original act that established the park service. It remains committed to offering a quality visitor experience through multicultural programs and interpretation while protecting this unique resource that is the combination of natural-forested setting and man-made art. A part of protecting the carving means flirting with danger each fall while inspecting the faces and filling cracks in an effort to preserve the memorial. 

And this fall was no different, crews were again inspecting the carving for cracks and filling any imperfections in order to keep the monument its best for years to come. 

Recently, the National Park Service announced that they have again cancelled the fireworks display at Mount Rushmore for the 2012 Independence Day Celebration. However, even without fireworks the previous two years, the park has continued to put on a great event for visitors. According to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, over 21,000 people visited the Memorial onJuly 3, 2011, exceeding the 2009 and 2010 numbers. The primary reason for canceling the fireworks is still because of the risk of a wildfire breaking out.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial plans to once again hold a July 3 celebration, which will include cultural celebrations of American heritage, education sessions, and patriotism events. Several communities in theBlack Hillswill put on a fantastic display of fireworks for crowds to enjoy on July 4 without being of risk for forest fires.

This is the sixth part in a series of Mount Rushmorehistory posts.  The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society allowed us to share these great pieces of history about Mount Rushmore National Memorial, visit their website for more information. They can also be found on Facebook by searching for “Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society.”