Mitchell, South Dakota: Corn Palace

For those who have driven across the US, I come and join your ranks. My wife and I drove from Huntsville, AL to San Diego, CA via Minneapolis, MN and Seattle, WA. On our journey of 5,500 miles we stopped (my idea, of course) in Mitchell, SD to view the famed Corn Palace. It was amazing. I probably stood out in the single-digit March temps for an hour just looking at how it was made. All of the gift shop stuff was closed (there was 3 feet of snow on the ground and I-90 was closed) but we managed to get a few great pics between shivers.

I would recommend this site to anyone who wants a great unique place to stop.

How serious was the drought and heat wave this summer in the Midwest? Bad enough that the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota can't assemble enough corn to redecorate its exterior, as it has every year for over a century. After an awful regional crop ruined by weather, the Corn Palace Festival Board decided in early August there would be no Spring mural update for the 2007 season.

The Mitchell, SD, City Council turned down a $400,000 federal grant for the Corn Palace because it could limit future renovation or expansion at the tourist attraction.