I remember seeing pictures of Mount Rushmore and thinking to myself, “Someday, I’m going to get to see it in person.” Someday has arrived! Even better, it was the first time to see this giant wall of granite for both of us.
As is becoming a theme with us, I wish we had planned more than one evening.
We really wanted to see the evening night show so we decided to make an afternoon/evening out of it. Our plan was to stop at Crazy Horse first, have dinner in Custer and head on over to Mount Rushmore. Two of the three were fabulous. Can you guess which I’ll pass on next time?
For me, Crazy Horse was a big let down. It is an impressive sight as you turn the corner and head into the parking lot. The story about immortalizing the great warrior is compelling and worthy of being told. The in-your-face commercialism didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t care for our tour bus driver bad-mouthing the Mount Rushmore project and berating a passenger when he did not see a walker folded right by his drivers’ seat. Then there was the nickel and diming at every turn. Eight dollars to ride a bus for five minutes and be held captive by the drivers negativity was my limit. The big cost just to drive in should have covered everything. I left with a sad feeling that they were going to obliterate an entire mountain for money, if they ever finished at all.
Disillusionment over. Time to focus on four presidents!
After a wonderful dinner at The Buglin’ Bull in Custer, we made the short drive to the mount. We were both peering through the trees and around bends in the road looking for it. Then, BAM! It was on our left. I leaned over Mark and snapped several out of focus and blocked by other vehicles pictures but managed one. Since it was summer and the weather was perfect, I expected it to be crowded but we sailed in and quickly found a great parking spot.
We were both instantly little kids at Disneyland. You know that excitement, that this is going to be a great time, one you will never forget. We quickly walked to the entrance area, never taking our eyes off the mountain so we wouldn’t miss a glimpse of it. We didn’t stop until we were at the opening in the buildings, looking down the flags and up at presidents. I could have stayed there for hours taking it all in. As we walked down the Avenue of the Flags the view got better and better with each step.
We were here! Finally here!
The Avenue of Flags is the perfect gateway and lead-in to the four great men in granite. There are flags for every state, District of Columbia, three territories, and two commonwealths of the United States of America. It was fun to watch children run to find their state’s flag. We saw one family going flag to flag asking their kids the capital of each state. I think we took 30 pictures of the monument as we walked along the flags, the view truly got better with each step.
After those initial pictures, we headed toward the Presidential Walk. It’s a relatively easy walk, there are some stairs, that highlights each president. You get your closest view of the men along this walk. There are many spots with great views. I really liked how the trail was laid out, giving each president a special highlight. The trail master laid out the spotlight/best photo spots perfectly. It feels as if you’re standing right in front of them.
Abraham Lincoln gets the first spotlight on our walk.
The father of our country, George Washington is next for the spotlight. Because he’s situated at the front part of the mountain, views of him abound.
Thomas Jefferson is highlighted next, too bad the trees made it a challenge for pictures.
Theodore Roosevelt is the last one and he’s the hardest to see as trees have grown tall in the blast debris.
Again it was nice to hear families talk about each president along the walk. There we were, listening to parents talk and hearing children tell their parents all the fun facts of each man on the mountain. It was nice witnessing school right before us.
Our walk ended at a large display that housed some of the equipment used in carving the mountain. These are not fancy tools by any means and awe-inspiring at what they accomplished. From there we wandered into the sculptor’s studio where the last presentation of the day had just ended. We hung out long enough to hear some of the questions, this is where we will start our next visit.
It was time to get a seat for the evening show, but first we bought some ice cream. We walked the Avenue of the Flags again on our way to find a seat. I have to say, the energy was electric. Everyone was excited for the show, like how excited people are for the nightly fireworks at Disneyland. It was then that we looked through the pamphlet again and realized we missed the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center that was directly underneath our seats. We both looked at each other with the “how could we miss that” expression. We could rush through it but would regret the rush. We could go through it after the show but we had a long drive back to the campground. We had really good seats, the last row up against a small wall which we could rest our backs on. What to do, what to do. We kept our good seats and vowed a return visit. In the end, I’m glad we stayed in our seats. There wouldn’t have been near enough time to explore the visitor center.
The crowd hushed as the show started. It sounded like the entire audience sang the National Anthem and America The Beautiful with the music. I love both of those songs and swell with pride when I hear them. The ranger told the story of how Mount Rushmore came to be and the great contributions each president made to our country and our lives. Then it was time, the four great men were brightly lit against the dusky sky. It was so much more than I anticipated. It was such a beautiful sight. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe it.
As we walked away, we both kept turning back to see it again. The Avenue of the Flags were still a perfect frame for them. We took almost as many pictures as we left. If you’ve thought about going but haven’t yet, make a plan to visit. You’ll be so glad you did.
Until next time, Mr. Presidents.