Tag Archives: South Dakota

Win A Vacation To South Dakota In 2023 or 2024!

Contest, Sweepstakes

South DakotaTravel South Dakota is giving away a $3,500 travel voucher “good for one unforgettable adventure, any time of the year.”

We visited South Dakota in early Summer 2012 and had an incredible time. The state has an excellent variety of sites and experiences to check out. I’d love to win this prize and head back to see more of what the state has to offer. Continue reading Win A Vacation To South Dakota In 2023 or 2024! →

Thoughts On Visiting Mount Rushmore

Trip Reports, ,
visiting mount rushmore
I think Mount Rushmore pretty much speaks for itself so I won’t be listing any facts or stats about it. However I figured that I could at least share some of the photos that we took during our visits. The monument is an absolutely amazing site to see. Each time we passed it while driving around South Dakota it was hard not to stop for another visit.
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If you ask me, I think that every American should visit Mount Rushmore at least once. Continue reading Thoughts On Visiting Mount Rushmore →

Hotel Review: Black Hills Mile Hi Motel- Custer, SD

Hotel Reviews, ,
a sign on a fence
While planning out where to stay in South Dakota Kim and I had a couple of options. We could book hotels in Rapid City for the entire trip or stay in various areas to save ourselves time from driving back and forth each day.
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We went with the option of switching hotels almost every day.
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One of the top places we wanted to visit on our trip to South Dakota was Custer State Park. (Read my post about our visit here.) Continue reading Hotel Review: Black Hills Mile Hi Motel- Custer, SD →

Local Eats: Chislic in South Dakota

Food, Trip Reports, ,
a sign with a buffalo head on it
While traveling, Kim and I always like to find local foods to try in the area we are visiting.
South Dakota didn’t seem to have any unique, local foods until we came across Chislic.
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According to Wikipedia, Chislic is “virtually unknown outside the state of South Dakota”.
The meat (it can be beef, lamb or venison) is cubed and deep fried. Chislic can vary in how it is prepared based on the area you are in. Continue reading Local Eats: Chislic in South Dakota →

Hanging With the Burros- Custer, South Dakota

Trip Reports, Wildlife, ,
This post is being featured in travel clothing company SCOTTEVEST/ SeV’s weekly Pocket Guide newsletter.
 a group of donkeys walking on a dirt road
While planning a visit to Custer State Park, I knew that it had a pretty large herd of bison along with many other animals. I was curious as to what other animals called the park home.
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I found out that a small donkey called burros also lived there.

(Check out my post about Custer State Park here.)

Initially you might think- Who cares? I didn’t fly from NYC to South Dakota to see some donkeys in a park. However, these burros are wild, living freely in the park and are also very friendly.
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The burros are friendly because they are always on the lookout for a free meal!

I read that you can feed and interact with them but to be careful as they still are wild animals.

Our First American Safari in Custer State Park- South Dakota

Trip Reports, ,
a sign at a park

While researching things to do for our trip to South Dakota, I came across Custer State Park. Kim and I really love seeing wildlife in their natural setting and we read that Custer  had lots of animals to view in the park on an 18- mile Wildlife Loop Road. I was really looking forward to the visit.

We’ve been to Africa two times and got to view and get up close with lots of animals on game drives, hiking, biking and boat safaris. We’ve also had many other  great animal related experiences all around the world. Check out my post My Top 5 Animal Encounters to see some of the experiences that we’ve had.

South Dakota Trip In A Nutshell

Trip Reports,
a family posing for a picture with a mountain in the background
The Family

We’ve been back from South Dakota for a couple of days now so it’s time to write a little about the trip.

Our flights went smoothly and Lucas was once again a great traveler. Many of the other passengers commented on how good he was.
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United Airlines’ new policy of not allowing families with young children to board early is a bit ridiculous if you ask me. However on 2/3 flights (for our second we had to run to make the flight after a late flight arrival) the super friendly staff allowed us to board early anyways. It was on the last flight (Houston to Laguardia) that I was really taken by surprise.
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Our Upcoming Trip To South Dakota

Trip Planning, ,
a map of south dakota

We’re leaving early Wednesday morning on our second trip (flying) with Lucas. I originally wanted to go to Europe but didn’t feel that it was worth the money or miles for a one week trip.

We decided to visit South Dakota instead.

I usually would not decide to stay in the US and pass up the opportunity to visit another country but this time it made a lot of sense.

Continue reading Our Upcoming Trip To South Dakota →