Little Baby on the Prairie

The highlight of the trip for me was De Smet, South Dakota, setting of half the Little House on the Prairie series. I read those books several times over for years when I was younger, and they partly helped inspire my interest in historical fiction. It's a shame we were all so tired and pressed for time, or I would have toured the town, too, but we stuck to the Ingalls homestead.

It wasn't as authentic, perhaps, as Green Gables, but it was FAR more interactive. You could actually touch things and experience everything. There were horses, kittens, a replica shanty, a school house with an authentic OLD teacher, and of course a gift shop. Mary got a bonnet and I bought the box set of books. It was actually a deal, vs. buying the box set of Green Gables books in PEI.

We are currently in Wall, South Dakota, home of Wall Drug, a colossal tourist trap made famous by its numerous billboards. We're also quite close to Mount Rushmore, and there's a Wounded Knee museum. I would have liked to see 1880 Town, which we passed on the highway. I think somewhere around here, or perhaps the next state, is a cowboy museum.