"Are we having fun yet?"
YES!
(Did I mention that I was holding Stella and Louise hostage on this journey?)
We woke Saturday morning and set off to the west again. Just a little past Sioux Falls on Interstate 90. There was no chance of missing our next roadside adventure. There were about twelve billboards lining the interstate announcing the site.
We were heading into.....the past.
An old wild west town....an 1880's museum.
Cowboy town is run by an 81 year old, retired school teacher.
I think this has been his life's work.
It is set up as an educational display.
Animated mannequins.
True field trip material. Educational signage and buttons.......
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| My hypochondriac self knows that this is what is wrong with me! I should go back to the city!! |
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| Yes, that is duct tape on Abe's head, but he still lost his hat. |
When you push a button in front of display, you hear a recording about the display, the hardships, the history of the old west. We even got to hear Lincoln speak! Which was quite amazing, since he had been dead fifteen years at the "time" this wild west town was established.
Some of the mannequins are similar to those used by Disney for their animated displays. The eyes are very freaky.....we notice in most of the website pictures, Abe has his stovepipe hat on covering his eyes. I guess the duct tape lost it's stickiness and Abe lost his hat....
Louise stopped for the peep show! On the other side of the peek hole?
The Ghost of Comanche!
I thought the horse survived
the Battle of Little Bighorn.
The show was a plastic horse strung
up with fishing line, painted with
luminescent paint.....creepy green color.
There was even a graveyard. The tombstones all had authentic sayings on them, found on real tombstones throughout the wild west...most were hard to read, just needing a little repainting.
This was our favorite....
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| Poor Sergeant Fitz said NO at a shotgun wedding .....when he was 80 years old! |
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| Hey Stella! Is there anyone in there? |
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| Louise got thrown in the stockade for having such a good time! |
The highlight......the World's Largest Revolver!
Stella missed....so I took a crack at it!
As the sun crest to mark of high noon, it is time to say "Happy Trails" to Cowboy Town.
If you are ever passing through South Dakota and have a couple hours to spare (and $7 a person), you should definitely stop at this location! The displays are a little quirky, but the guy running it is quite entertaining. Our lessons we learned on this journey through time?
1. Everyone had to live behind grates or plexiglass.
2. The people of the past drank Busch Beer and Mountain Dew.
3. Many people that went west lost their feet and hands.
4. Thank goodness they had duct tape back then....it was the
only thing holding their hair on their heads!
We are off to lunch now and then the main event.....
.....the entire reason we made this trip.....
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