| Rapid City Attractions |
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Rapid City is a bit of a "tourist trap" (not that the rest of the state is much different). However, some of the attractions there are really "must-see's".
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Rapid City Attractions |
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Bear at Bear Country USAHere's a solitary bear from Bear Country USA, a drive-through zoo, where the animals wander free and can walk right up to your car.
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Bear Country USAA group of bears soak in a pool at Bear Country USA.
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WolfA solitary wolf rests at Bear Country.
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Chapel in the HillsThe Chapel in the Hills is a replica of a Norwegian stave church, built on a hill outside of Rapid City.
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Cathy at Dinosaur ParkRapid City has a park built by the WPA during the Great Depression called Dinosaur Park. This park is up on a high hill overlooking the city, and contains a number of concrete dinosaurs. As it is a free attraction, and everything else seemed to close at 5:00 anyway, we decided to make a stop.
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Riding the DinoSince we didn't have kids at the time, we had to act like them ourselves...
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T-RexTim poses with the T-Rex
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Minuteman MissileWe made a very brief stop at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum. I say brief because our literature said it closed at 6pm, and when we got there (at about 3:20) we found it closed at 4pm. This museum, which is free, contains a large number of historic aircraft.
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Minuteman MissilePerhaps most interesting, however (perhaps due to growing up at the tail-end of the Cold War, with Ronnie Regan at the helm) was this Minuteman missile. These missiles were placed in silos all over North and South Dakota, and were a large part of our "Balance of Terror" defense. It's good to see so many of them decommissioned now. Supposedly they're also turning two old silos near the Badlands into a National Park.
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Tortise at Reptile GardensReptile Gardens is another worthwhile, and somewhat historic, attraction. It supposedly contains the world's largest collection of reptiles, including these giant tortoises.
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