For our second day in the Black Hills region, we decided to go to the most famous site, Mt. Rushmore.
We actually started the day wanting to let the kids pan for gold, but when we got to the gold mining attraction, there seemed to be too many people NOT social distancing, so we decided to just move on to the main event:
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Obligatory Sign Photo!
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Closer view on the Presidential Trail
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| Hugging trees on the Presidential Trail to complete the Bingo task for their Junior Ranger badges! |
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Swearing in for their Junior Ranger badges!
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| George's profile, from the road! |
To be honest, Rushmore was a bit underwhelming. I guess I remember it being bigger when I was 9 or 10, the last time I'd visited. So, we headed to another sculpted monument - Crazy Horse Memorial.
Crazy Horse Memorial is another monument that is in process of getting carved into the side of a mountain, not unlike Mt. Rushmore was. It is an idealized image of warrior Crazy Horse of the Lakotah, and is intended to commemorate all Native American tribes. When completed, it will be the second tallest statues in the world.
The problem? By my count, it may never be finished. The project started in 1948, and is still far from complete. And given that the project itself is controversial even among the Lakota people, who knows if it will ever complete?
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A scale model of the complete vision
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You can only see the memorial from a distance from the Visitor Center. You can buy a bus ticket to get a little closer, but not by much.
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Some Native American traditional dancing
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| As you can see, only the head is somewhat completed. The arm and the horse, not so much... |
Unfortunately, the whole thing felt a bit scammy to me. The admission was one of the more expensive (if not the most) of our entire trip, and had a very propagandist feel. The performances, while probably pretty accurate, were just not very impressive or appealing, especially when compared with traditional Chinese dances and acrobatics that I've been spoiled by over the years... And, to get closer to the monument itself, there's yet more upcharges! All in all, I wouldn't really recommend visiting this spot unless you are REALLY an aficionado of the Lakota and this project, specifically.
Stay tuned for Rockets and Rock climbing in our next episode!
