That one time in Mitchell, SD

You know ANY blog with a title of "That one time in Mitchell, SD" HAS to be good. I promise not to disappoint.

The Corn Palace
See how it changes? Magnificent. Truly Magnificent.

When my older brother and I were in grade school, my mom worked as a high school Spanish teacher and had her summers off. So most summers we'd take a rousing family vacation…that was until the parentals decided we needed to go to South Dakota and hit all the "hot spots" – Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug, some rock I was told was "Crazy Horse" but I couldn't find a resemblance, and **drum roll** the Corn Palace.

Hot spots? If used in the same sentence as South Dakota, not likely. Rousing? Not a chance.

At first, I tried to be optimistic.

Me: "So, this Corn Palace, it's made entirely of corn?!?
Mom: "Kind of. It's a building that's decorated with corn."
Me: "Um, okay. Well, does it at least look like a fairy tale castle? Will I get to see a princess?!?"
Mom: "Well, not exactly like a princess castle. But, it's really neat. They change the outside design regularly, so if we go now and go back next summer, it would look different." 

Needless to say, expectations for the Corn Palace were pretty low…yet still too high. It was worse than we imagined. SO MUCH CORN. The hour or so tour mom forced upon us was brutal and followed up by at least an hour in the gift shop that was filled with…you guessed it – CORN. Corn T-shirts, paperweights, magnets, key chains. You name it, and you could find a CORNY version of it (I've been waiting for my chance to work in this pun…success)!!!

When it was FINALLY time to leave, we headed to or trusty blue van. Dad turned the key…dad turned the key again…and again…and again.

Crap. We were stuck at the Corn Palace. WORST DAY EVER!!!

So we got out of the van into the rather toasty summer air while dad, certified mechanic extraordinaire, did some diagnostics. Low and behold, the van's starter was kaput…right there in front of the Corn Palace. We weren't going ANYWHERE without a new part…and I was terrified.

No worries for the parentals though. Mom strapped on the fanny pack (no, they weren't cool then either) and off we went, on foot, to the Mitchell, SD, NAPA auto parts store to purchase a new starter for our van. Then, in front of the "majestic" Corn Palace, my dad scooted underneath the van (no small feat for a man of his stature) and began operating on our trusty blue chariot.

It felt like we were waiting for days, but mom had a fanny pack (function over fashion) and "shops" to explore, so she was good. My brother and I on the other hand were pretty sure we were never going home…I picked out a room in the Corn Palace to call my own, started memorizing the Mitchell zip code, and named the Native American statue that was sitting on a bench across the street. If we never got home, at least I'd have one friend in this lame town – even if he wasn't much of a conversationalist.

And then, by what I can only assume was a divine act of God, the big blue van started up, and off we went.

I've NEVER been so happy – sorry hubs our wedding is a close second to the day our family van rolled away from the Corn Palace. And as we left Mitchell, SD, I made a promise to myself, "I don't care if this thing looks like a REAL palace next summer, I'm not coming back. Ever."

Sorry, Mitchell, SD, zip code 57301, but I'm pretty sure that's a promise I'll keep. However, if anyone does venture that way, be sure to tell my buddy Clark Big Bear hello from me. For half a day, we were really tight. My only regret is that I couldn't save Clark, but on your way out of Mitchell, there's NO turning back. Sorry, Clark.