With a population of about 68,000, Rapid City, South Dakota is the state’s second largest city. The reluctant hero in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1959 film ‘North By Northwest,’ flew into Rapid from Chicago. He was on the trail of a paramour that helped him get away from the police in New York City after being framed for the murder of a United Nations diplomat. The intrigue brings the couple, portrayed by Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, over the brink of Mt. Rushmore.
A lot has changed since the film was made but many things are still recognizable. The austere granite faces still hold fascination for millions of tourists every year and Rapid City’s modernized airport is still a major gateway to the Black Hills. There is plenty of free angle on parking in town and people are friendly and welcoming. Development? If someone invested in farm land between the airport and town a few years back, it would be like sitting on a gold mine with high grade ore.
The 120 mile long by some 60 mile wide stretch of mountains, rocks, valleys strewn with lakes and streams is Paha-sapa to Lakota. These early people of the land, and many other tribes, considered the Black Hills sacred. It is their Promised Land. Many traditional people still go to to the Black Hills to pray and seek visions as part of their world view. The beauty, austerity, majesty and harsh climate of the area makes it a seasonal paradise for vacationers and a winter paradise for locals.
Rapid City fathers were very wise. Development of sprawling shopping malls, major hotel chains, new and used car lots and fast food emporiums line the corridor into and out of the city. Downtown remains a Mecca for discovery. It is unchanged yet modern in every way with fine hotels, excellent restaurants, museums, shops and interesting boutiques. There is a newly developed Main Street Square that is a fun place in any season. Free concerts in summer, a water park for kids to play, a sculpture garden and ice skating rink in winter.
It is dubbed The City of Presidents. The vision of Don Perdue and the persistence of art lover Dallerie Davis saw the completion of a project to erect life size bronze sculptures of every U.S. President. The portrayals were left to the artists’ creativity but the look is a posture that would most typify the individual. Main Street Square is set off with John Quincy Adams, president from 1797 to 1801. The magnificent bronze is only prelude to granite being carved into a Black Hills and Badlands tapestry by Masayuki Nagase.
Massive stones along Sixth Street provide the Black Hills Garden and Main Street offers a Badlands Garden. “It is landscape architecture based on my impression of the Badlands. This is one piece. We use form and texture. We will grind this off and sand blast it into one pattern,” Yuki, as he likes to be called, said. Masayuki Nagaze was selected from 88 artists around the world that applied to sculpt the project. Born in Kyoto, Japan, Yuki sculpts on the Main Street Square project from May to September then returns to Berkeley, California where he lives during winter.
The project is immense and is a work in progress. Waterfalls and the passage of wind and water predominate the overall design. Visitors can meet the sculptor and visit with him while he works on the large slabs of granite. The venue is fun any time. In season take a lunch and enjoy sunshine at picnic tables or run through the water spouts to cool off.
Across the street is Prairie Edge. Even if you don’t intend to buy a Native American tanned buffalo robe or beaded deer skin shirt, this is an amazing store. There is an Italian bead collection, a craft store, Lakota flutes and drums. Beautiful things everywhere as well as an extensive book and music department and art gallery. The building is a restored 1886 funeral parlor and furniture store according to Micki Sekella who works at Prairie Edge, with original floors and antique furnishings.
Up the street is the historic Alex Johnson Hotel. It was created by its namesake when he was Vice President of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. The hotel was completed in 1928. Its lobby is well worth a visit. The great stone hearth is majestic and a new Chubby Chipmunk chocolate alcove on the main floor tempting. The top floor is devoted to Vertex, a fine restaurant and lounge that is a membership club open to the public on certain days. The view from the top is spectacular. It gives a good perspective on Rapid City sprawling below surrounded by mountains and the distant Black Hills.
Rapid City is a walking town. Amble along Mt. Rushmore Road to 8th Street and view the John F. Kennedy bronze outside the Adoba Hotel. The sculpture, funded by Pandju Merali and family, father of Karim Merali, owner of the Adoba Hotel, stands with John John. John John is fascinated by a small model airplane held by his father. Take time to visit the lobby of the Adoba Hotel. A two-inch thick mosaic inlaid in the floor is a magnificent depiction of the mountain presidents. Adoba’s Enigma Restaurant offers fine dining and the hotel concept has been designed to be eco-friendly.
One of the most fun stores in town is the Clock Shop on St. Joseph Street. Grandfather clocks, antique clocks, watches and unique time pieces abound. Time the visit to coincide with the striking of an hour to enjoy a bevy of hundreds of chimes, gongs, bells and coo-coos sounding in harmony. An annex to the Clock Shop is Presidential Pawn. Yes, a pawn shop, replete with amazing antiques and collectibles. It is as much a museum as a place to find bargains. If you are lucky Chris Johnson, his son Trevor or his brother Ron will be there to offer a fun tour of amazing highlights.
Not far away from downtown is the Journey Museum. This is an extraordinary experience that is prelude to any visit to the Black Hills. The museum takes visitors on a journey through time and space to explain the formation of the Black Hills, native peoples beliefs and geology. A short film introduces what will follow. Halls lead from pre-history to native culture, exploration and settlement. There are saddles to sit with hats to put on and many photos to take.
Back in Town, right on St. Joseph Street, is the Museum of the American Bison created by Susan Ricci. Admission is free. The gift shop offers some unique things to take home for friends and family. Bison were central to native culture and survival. Displays describe every aspect of the buffalo, misnamed of course, as symbol of the West.
Amble around town until you come to Art Alley. This is graffiti paradise. Instead of scorning the art form, Rapid City decided to honor it. Anyone can take over a space and express themselves as they wish. There are alluring murals, amazing depictions, scrawls and scribbles, monograms and free expression. Nothing in art alley escapes the spray can. Dumpsters become an artist’s canvas, walls a muralist’s Basilica, electric meters a slab of bare marble.
So entrenched is art in Rapid City, even graffiti art, that the Dahl Museum nearby devoted an entire gallery to it. “We don’t have to hide our faces here. We chose six artists for this display. We named it ‘Where the Wild Things Are,” Tyler Read said. He is a graffiti artist himself and a curator at the Dahl. “Graffiti art is an accepted thing in New York or California. In Rapid City it is a romantic notion. Art alley is a permit free area where people are allowed to express themselves,” Read said.
Just outside of town is the Outdoor Campus of South Dakota’s Game, Fish and Parks. Chad Tussing is director and makes the place fun. Admission is free and families can play inside among hands-on displays of wildlife and their habitats. Instructors are on hand to offer free archery and fishing lessons. A catch and release pond is well stocked outside the facility. There are films to watch and programs offered. A wall climbing device is set up so visitors can try it for free. It is fun and a must for the family especially if kids want to enjoy diversion and activities. Adults will be sure to join in.
For those with a yen for jewelry be sure to take the free Mt. Rushmore Black Hills Gold factory tour. The factory is located just outside the center of town on Mt. Rushmore Road. In days of yore a French prospector fell off his horse. He survived in the Black Hills and found grapes. He didn’t find his own gold but began a process of using colors in gold to sculpt good luck jewelry. How it is made and the legend of the gold is described on the tour that culminates in the retail store where hand made creations are on sale. There are baked hot cookies, coffee and teas courtesy of the factory, a cordial welcome for visitors.
Not far away is Bear Country USA. An outdoor wildlife park, Bear Country was created by Dennis ‘Doc’ Casey. This local dentist owned land outside Rapid City. “Tourists were passing through on their way to Yellowstone Park to see bears. I thought it was a crazy idea,” Pauline Casey related with a laugh. It turned out to be a great idea. Thousands of visitors drive through the wildlife loop every season to see elk bugle, wolves roaming around, antelope and big horn sheep up close. Bears and mountain lions abound and the baby animal attraction is a wonderland for photographers.
Be sure to ask to visit with Pauline, Doc’s widow, if she is available. She'll take a photo with you in front of an immense stuffed grizzly bear in the gift shop called Scotty. “He died of natural causes. He came here in 1980. We got him from the Cody Zoo when it closed down,” Pauline said. Bear Country is a family owned and operated wildlife park and not to be missed on any trip to the area.
Nearby is Reptile Gardens. While the name may be reminiscent of Florida road side attractions in the 50s, this is a grandiose and extraordinary botanical garden and educational complex. There are snakes aplenty and visitors can have a huge python placed around them for photos. There are giant land tortoises and all manner of venomous snakes. Herpetologists extract venom for hospitals around the world.
“I have the only banana tree in South Dakota,” John Brockelsby, son of the founder, laughed. It was inside a heated bubble dome atrium where tropical birds and lizards roam free amidst exotic plantings. Just the heating bills must be enormous as the temperature is kept to tropical norms all year around. There is fun at every turn and educational opportunities to enjoy inside and out.
Rapid City provides free guided tour pamphlets that enable visitors to stroll the streets and learn about houses and historic buildings. A guide to presidential statues makes it easy to find a favorite president. Rapid City is user friendly. The people, like all South Dakotans, are pleased to share their heritage with visitors.
The city is traditional old west and ultra modern with top-notch medical and educational facilities. It is truly the gateway to the Black Hills. A sign across the street from the Adoba Hotel indicates that Mt. Rushmore is 27 miles away and Crazy Horse 38. Fast drives on modern highways that give access to Bear Butte in Wyoming, Custer State Park, the Badlands and the iconic Wall Drug Store.
Fore more information contact the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau toll-free at 1-800-487-3223 or visit their website at www.visitrapidcity.com. For South Dakota tourism visit www.travelsd.com or call them toll-free at 1-800-732-5682.
