Mitchell: The Corn Palace

Off to the Corn Palace! What could be more thrilling? You just haven’t lived until you have seen this, clearly an overlooked wonder of the Western world. I mean it must be, because so many people make the 16 mile round-trip detour from the interstate. When you arrive at this magnificent edifice, you are surrounded by at least half a dozen other people, all in awe of corn art.



As the signs say, “You will be a-maized at this incredible ear-chitecture!” The only thing is, it’s not quite as advertised. It’s not ALL corn, and there’s an unrelated building squished right up against it so it only has three sides. Liar liar pants on fire! And guess what! From the minute they create the annual mural, birds start eating it.



Nonetheless, it was still pretty interesting. If you look at it from a certain angle, you can see all the pieces of corn sticking out.



The current design includes the Space Needle, the Space Shuttle, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore, in a sort of angular, modern style in sepia tones. The theme is "America's Destinations," and here’s the site.

http://www.cornpalace.com/index.php

If you ever find yourself in the area, go see it. They work hard to stay ahead of the birds. And if you are in Mitchell, South Dakota, there’s not a lot else to do anyway.