Alyice on June 24th, 2009

Wall Drug, South Dakota

Ever since we moved to South Dakota, I have seen painted, wood-like highway signs with a short caption followed by the words, “Wall Drug”. Captions like: “5 cents coffee”, “T-rex”, “homemade donuts”, “6 foot rabbit”, “as seen is…”, “hooked on”, “have you dug”. No real explanation. No directions. No contact information. Boy was I curious! I had to know what “Wall Drug” was and where it was. I asked the locals who told me, “Oh it’s the largest drug store in the United States.”

“Okay,” I thought, “Doesn’t sound all that impressive.” And yet, every day I passed by one of those highway signs my curiosity was peaked until finally, on the way to Rapid City, I just had to stop and see what all the “hype” was about.

Turns out that Wall Drug was purchased by a couple, back in 1931, who honestly believed that their drug store, in a town in the middle of nowhere, had a chance to succeed—especially once Mount Rushmore was complete. They gave the store five years to make a profit and prove itself. Upon nearing the five year mark, the store was still in dire need of customers and a profit.

Then the wife got a brilliant idea. She talked her husband into putting up signs that read, “Free Ice Water” on the nearby highway. No sooner did the signs get put into the ground, did travelers stop by their humble establishment for a nice, cold glass of water. Today, Wall Drug has over 250 simple, yet intriguing, signs along the highway; boasts of 77,000 square feet; and serves 2 million visitors a year.

For shop-a-holics, it’s the perfect destination. The place is filled to the brim with clothing, home décor, knick-knacks, and souvenirs of the old west. There are even several places to order food, snacks, and drinks—including homecooked meals and freshly fried donuts.

I, however, detest shopping and was disappointed to learn that their “backyard” area didn’t include a single amusement park-style ride. Hey, I would have paid to take the kids on an “old-fashioned” hay ride around town or to sit in an air-conditioned wagon as it took us through the old west (like that Star Wars ride in Disneyland or Back To The Future ride in Universal Studios). I wasn’t asking for anything fancy, just something more than shopping.

Luckily, my daughter got a kick out of “panning for fossils” and my son enjoyed watching the little kids freak out when T-rex smoked and roared every 12 minutes.

As for my husband, he made the best of the situation and got me to take a snapshot on the oversized jackalope—which is no small feat considering I absolutely hate taking photos now that I weigh 183 pounds.

Until next time…

Disclosure: I paid for this attraction. This is “my opinion”. I was not paid to give a positive review.

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Comments (2)

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Virgnia says:
How cute! I hate pictures too but that has always been the case.
Posted at 10:34 am June 24th, 2009
Alyice says:
Yeah I know! I have no photos of us together and we’ve known each other since we were in elementary school. LOL
Posted at 11:01 am June 24th, 2009

AlyiceEdrich.com
I'm a freelance writer, mixed media artist, SMVA, and the owner of The Dabbling Mum.

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