The World Famous Corn Palace

Okay, maybe it's not world famous.  Did you know there's a place in South Dakota that has a palace made of corn?  Okay, not made of corn, but beautifully decorated in it in honor of corn's important standing in the state's economy.  Originally built in 1892 as part of an exposition displaying the viability of the state's farm land in order to entice farmers and settlement, the Corn Palace has been torn down and replaced twice.  Today, it's used for the annual Corn Palace Festival, the Corn Palace Rodeo, and- hold on to your hats- the Corn Palace Polka Festival.  Oh, and there's a basketball court inside where the local high school team (The Kernels!) plays.  

The exterior and interior are decorated in murals made of corn cobs sliced in half lengthwise and affixed to the wall.  The designs are first drawn on tar paper, which is like a paint-by-corn diagram.  We actually caught the palace in the process of pulling down the 2008 murals (theme: Everyday Heroes) and putting up the tar paper for 2009 (theme: America's Destinations).  Here's the plan for a diagram featuring monuments in Washington D.C.:

There are around 6 different strands of corn used, which allows for the variety of color.  Here's one of last year's murals of an everyday hero, followed by a close-up:

Inside the palace is a large exhibit hall where they hold the various games, festivals, and cream corn wrestling matches... okay, so they don't really have cream corn wrestling matches... but they should!  The inner wall is ringed with photos of the Corn Palace from almost every year of its existence and then there are more murals above the stage and court, including this one of Mt Rushmore: 

As we said, we just missed the big festival, but it's still an interesting stop if you're ever on I-90 and you need a break before you get to Wall Drug.  

It's cheesy.  It's kitschy.  It's, well, you know.