MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL : TRAVEL

Hope all of you had a great 4th of July ! I had planned to write this post and post it around the 4th of July long weekend. But with all my traveling and lousy Internet at the hotels in the Canadian wilderness, it did not happen. But I thought, its still July and we can all make plans for next year, right.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is one of those iconic American landmarks which you just can't afford to miss. And a trip to Mount Rushmore around the 4th of July weekend, makes all the more sense. Its the celebration of everything American, I feel. We have been to Mount Rushmore twice. Once in May 2011- Memorial Day weekend and once in July 2013- 4th of July weekend. The nearest town to Mount Rushmore is Keystone in South Dakota. Its one of those quaint old touristy towns with pubs, which scream old world.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial gets a few million visitors every year. For the uninitiated, Mount Rushmore National Memorial has the faces of four former American Presidents carved on  Mount Rushmore(originally Lakota Sioux), in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Carved in granite, this Memorial reflects the history, growth and prosperity of American culture. It was named after New York's attorney Charles Rushmore, who had arrived in the Black Hills in the 1800s. Enough of general info, lets get back to our visits.

MAY 2011: FAMILY OF TWO

The first time that we went to Mount Rushmore, weather was clearly not on our side. We were supposed to spend a few hours at the Memorial on an evening and then drive to the next town on our long itinerary. So we scaled the steps and lo and behold, the mountain was not visible to us. It was enveloped in the thickest cloud cover and despite the fog lights trying their best to light up the mountain, all that you could see was some thick fog. Bad weather, especially clouds and fog are a common feature of mountains. We decided to have dinner at the restaurant made famous in Hitchcock's North by North West and wait for the clouds to float away. But the clouds had a mind of their own. So we decided to let go of our reservations and make fresh ones in Keystone, and stay for the night. The idea was to try our luck the next morning. To try and see the Memorial Mountain with all the carved faces, in all its glory. We did manage to catch a glimpse of the mountain despite the fog the next morning. But it wasn't that clear, and we were clearly in a rush. So we knew we had to come back, some day, some time.

And so we did.

Two years later, when our family of two had become a family of 3, we decided to include South Dakota in another road trip of ours. We were driving with a 4 month old, in the height of the American Summer. We had to make it to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. And did I mention pray for clear weather.

Weather was surely on our side. The clouds were  an absolute  no show. But the sun made up for it. Temps were in the 100s, and we had an infant with us. We had driven through Sturgis and the Enchanted Highway and finally made it to Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Guess what, baby also woke up from her nap, just in time, to smile for the cameras.

When I finally saw Mount Rushmore without clouds, I realized that it was smaller in scale than my mind had imagined it to be. Or maybe it looks bigger in pictures. Just my thoughts. Its quite huge by itself, but my mind had imagined it to be bigger.

Once you have parked you car and walked scaled up the steps, you walk through an Avenue of Flags(representing the states of territories), to finally get to the courtyard to see the Memorial Hill.

You can hike further and go to the actual base of the hill or go on the Presidential Trail , but we decided to soak in the magnificence from the viewing area. The place is cramming with tourists from all over the world, who are all waiting to take in multiple pictures from multiple angles. So once you have done your pictures, you need to make way for some others to get a share of history for their scrapbooks.

Every time I go Mount Rushmore I make it a point to satisfy my film loving self with a meal at the restaurant within the park: Carver's Cafe. its a food court style restaurant but you just cannot miss the view through the large glass walls as you chomp down a juicy bison burger and wash it down with some local ale. Whats the film connection, if you are still thinking, then maybe Hitchcock's North by North West should be on your instant queue in Netflix for tonight.