Great Faces, Great Places

South Dakota!  My home state.  There is a lot to write about this lovely state, so much in fact, I've seen people who have written blogs, or posts on what's so great about it.  The sad thing though, the majority of those posts suck.  That's where I come in.

In front of Mount Rushmore, someday, I want my face up there.

I want to write a blog that's about South Dakota, but have it be different from the rest.  I personally love South Dakota, and I'm proud to be from there.  In fact, I like South Dakota so much, my wife and I are moving back there in 3 short months. To my hometown of Vermillion, SD.  And I couldn't be more excited.  So let's get started, time to cover this lovely state, warts and all.



This is Deadwood.  Deadwood is my favorite place on earth.  Think of Vegas, but smaller. Occasionally colder.  You can gamble and drink til your hearts content.  If you get bored gambling, you can go hiking or check out the Black Hills.  The Badlands, Crazy Horse Memorial and the big dog, Mt. Rushmore.

My wife and I at Mt. Rushmore

And it's cheap.  South Dakotas is SUPER CHEAP to visit and live in.  Don't even get me started on state income tax, or how expensive it is to license your car here in Nebraska.

There's also a lot to do outside, if that's your thing.  Hunting and fishing is quite popular.  If you like doing things inside, that's cool too.  Tons of concerts and things to see, especially if you're close to one of the "Big 2" in Sioux Falls or Rapid City.  I read a blog that said you have to drive 5 hours for a concert, that's not true.

Hell Sioux Falls just got Paul McCartney, the guy who is in the biggest band of all time...Wings.

And Limp Bizkit was there last year, so they even get NOT the biggest bands of all time.



There is also a decent music scene.  Every time I go on a trip, and throw out my knowledge of music, hip hop in particular, I always get the weird eyes when I say I used to DJ, and that I'm from South Dakota.  Country music, while good, isn't my thing, so yes, rap and rock are listened to AND played in little ol' South Dakota.  I went to college with this guy, goes by the name of Myke Bogan, he's awesome.  Give it a listen.

There are some places in South Dakota that I think suck, but I can see the appeal of why you would want to visit.

There's the Corn Palace.  Sorry people of Mitchell, some like it, but it's just not that impressive to me. I will include a picture though so you can see it.  It's a palace...made of corn.  So there's that.



Also the NBA's Mike Miller played there, so there's also that.



There's also Wall Drug.  If you've seen a random billboard of it, and trust me, you have...this is Wall Drug.



It's essentially a town that is nothing but one big drug store.  I'm going to say something scandalous right now, but Al's Oasis is 10x better.



Same thing, but much smaller, and less self congratulatory billboards alerting you of its existence.  And the best buffalo burgers ever!

Speaking of alerting you of its existence.  The following is 100% true, if you are from South Dakota, and hear the name of the state on TV or in any form of media, you get STOKED.  I'll admit it, I do. Hell I watched all of Fargo Season 2 simply because some of it takes place in South Dakota.



Something else that is always brought up with people not from the South Dakota region.  Food.  Yeah there's cheese balls (balls of cheese) and chislic (look it up), there are also a lot more local favorites, as there are in any area.  I just went to Baltimore and EVERYTHING has crab on or in it.  Jamaica has everything with "jerk" at the beginning.  And Texas has waffles shaped like its damn state.

Seriously!

South Dakota has everything from sushi to Mexican food.  You're covered.  My favorite topic about food in South Dakota was brought up on my trip to Baltimore, where they were CONFUSED by a place we know and love that is based in the mid-west...the Pizza Ranch.



Would you look at that!?   A ranch FULL of pizza!  But the confusing part for the east coast company I shared, is that you go to the Pizza Ranch for the chicken.  Ahhhh, so confusing!  But such is life, right!?

The Falls in Sioux Falls, SD

Moving in another direction, you see that up there?  That's the Falls, in Sioux Falls, SD.  Well worth checking out if you get to the area, also, that's what the winter looks like.  It gets cold.  That's what the state is mostly known for I suppose, besides being where January Jones is from.



I've met her, she's a nice lady.  But the winter does get a bit...nippy (get it!?).  But the spring, fall and, in particular, the summers in South Dakota are amazing.



Daaaaaaamn.  Looks good right?  It's a beautiful place to go explore, throughout the state, trust me on that.

So before I end this blog about my home state of South Dakota, let's do a quick run through anything I may have missed, whether it be information on South Dakota itself or a random observation.  1, 2, 3, GO!!!

1. Tom Brokaw is from here.  He's the best.  And if you find him, you let me know!  #findbrokaw



2. There is a rivalry between South and North Dakota.  Why?  Each states residents think one is better than the other.  Is either side right?  Yes, that would be South Dakota.  Not to be a jerk, but other than oil, Grand Forks (cool town!) and NDSU football, um, there's nothing else to really see up there.

3. Speaking of rivalries, there are 2 more within the state itself.  One being USD vs SDSU.  Both commonly confused with San Diego colleges.



Both good colleges, I went to USD, I did not go to SDSU.  But I despise SDSU.  Sorry Jacks fans, it's just a rivalry, calm down.

4. The other (why so many rivalries!?) rivalry is the East vs West river one.  It's pretty dumb, short explanation.  South Dakota is split in two, see!



The west side is the outdoorsy, cool tourist attraction places.  The east side has the bigger towns/cities and the two colleges listed above.  That's really all there is to it.

5. Enough about rivalries.  Let's talk quickly about the people.  The people are legit super nice. People in the mid-west are aweome because they only talk about you behind your back.  That's the best!  When I visited both coasts in the last year, people were rude to my face, I have feelings people! Midwest people are the perfect kind of rude.  Make fun of me behind my back, like a decent person.



6. The speed limit on the interstate is 80!  80!!!!  You go to Iowa, those jerks only let you go 70.  Come on people!  That is great!

7. My state can out-drink almost any state.  That is both good AND bad.  Good if you're safe about it and 24 and under.  Bad if you're NOT safe about it and past that age.

8. There is a truth to the fact that people have no clue where South Dakota is on the map.  I experienced that first hand.  People are stupid now, I blame the internet, and the Kardashian's.



Yuck.  Talking with people on my vacations and trips, most had no clue there was a non-white population.  Some didn't know the difference between South and North Dakota (all conveniently found in this blog!), and many people in bigger states have no clue we exist.  Because some people in other states are douches.  Moral of the story?



9. Pierre is our capital, but it is not pronounced Pierre (Pee-Air), it is pronounced Pierre (peer).  I don't understand it either.

10. Until I moved, I did not know I had an accent.  Not everyone talks like they do in the movie or TV show Fargo.  People, at least ones I know, do not say aboot, or eh, like we are from Canada.  What I do, and never realized, are my vowels sound MESSED UP.  I say bag (beg) when I need a grocery bag (beg).  I take an exit (egg-zit).  I admit it, but at least you can understand me when I speak, I'm looking in your direction Louisiana!



That should do it for me.  If I missed anything about South Dakota, anything at all, feel free to comment, email, hell, even text (if you have my number)!  I'll be more than happy to add whatever I may have forgotten in this blog.

Thanks for reading!

Jeff Kleeman

PS Adding this after the fact, my good friend Dr. Kauer wants to know the state bird and beverage. Sadly Icehouse is not the right answer.