Posts Tagged “ice water”

After evaluating Brian’s health situation this morning (his temp got at least as high as 101.9 over the night, but it broke at some point early this morning, and so far today it has hovered in the 99.8 to 99.9 range), we decided we would move on from Wall… but not before we visited its main attraction, Wall Drug!

The first sign we saw was just outside of Worthington, Minn., on I-90. I’m guessing if you get on 90 farther east, you start seeing them much sooner. The famous Wall Drug Store has signs all over the midwest and western United States (it’s this part of the country’s answer to South of the Border). They began advertising free ice water for travelers passing through on their way to Mt. Rushmore or the Badlands in the 1930s. They also used to (and possibly still do) give away free signs to men and women in the armed service, so their signs have been photographed all over the world where Americans have been stationed. I knew about all that before I came to South Dakota, so I was looking out with a keen eye when we got on I-90.

Now, I have to admit to you guys that I actually went to Wall Drug yesterday morning (before our official visit today) to procure some drugs for Brian. I wasn’t sure if they would even have regular drugstore-type stuff because they have morphed into this crazy enormous attraction (similar again to South of the Border). But they did! In fact, the pharmacy area was like any small-town pharmacy; as I browsed for Afrin, Mucinex, and lotion-infused tissues, I overheard a conversation in which the pharmacist greeted a customer by name and asked after his wife (I assume) by name as well. Nice!

So anyway, Wall Drug is a lot more than just a drugstore. It’s also a restaurant, a western clothing store, a souvenir shop, a doughnut shop, an art gallery, and home to probably thousands of old timey photos of various parts of South Dakota. It’s kind of like a small western-themed indoor shopping mall.

I don’t really think it’s quite at the level of South of the Border in terms of trappiness and obnoxious advertising, but it’s almost there. I thought Wall Drug’s signs were fairly low-key in comparison! But they do have quite a lot of them…

Of course, the most important part of our visit to Wall Drug was scoring our free ice water:

It was actually pretty gross-tasting water (I’m sure it comes from the same place as the equally foul tap water at the Wall Motel 6), but it was still fun.

Then we were off and soon we were driving into the Black Hills!

We checked in early to a Motel 6 in Rapid City (which sits at the foot [feet?] of the Hills). They have a laundry room, so I’m washing our clothes while Brian rests. He’s heavily medicated thanks to Wall Drug, and I do think he’s on the mend, but as many of you know, Brian relapses very easily, so it’s important that he not push himself too much. We’ll see how it goes for the rest of the evening and tomorrow morning. It’s possible we may be cooling out here in Rapid City for a bit. I’ll keep you guys posted!