Legendary North Dakota

Monday morning we left Nebraska, driving 330 mi (500 km) north to Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota. Wide open land and empty roads on the drive to our first stop, Pierre, the small capital of South Dakota.

Since downtown Pierre (photo) was pretty dead on a Monday, and, since we didn't find a coffeeshop, we drove over to the SD State Capitol to find a restroom. We always loved this gorgeous capitol building, completed in 1910, which is open to the public (even the governor's office!). House of Representatives is shown on the pic below.

Driving into North Dakota on US 83 more farmland - mostly sunflower and soybean fields - and more graineries (grain bins) came up along the road on our way north.

Arrived to Bismarck in the afternoon - it's been a long, but effortless, sort of relaxing 5-hour drive - and checked into our Radisson hotel downtown before we headed out again to the Missouri River, to Keelboat Park first, where we reminisced our first visit to Bismarck in 2003, when we traveled the Lewis & Clark Trail from St. Louis/Missouri to Astoria/ Oregon and stopped in Bismarck en route. 

A large Thunderbird sculpture and a 55-foot full-scale replica keelboat similar to the one used by Lewis and Clark as well as a sculpture of the "Pointing Guys" - Lewis & Clark and their native (female) guide Sacagawea - decorate the park along the walking trail. High up the hill the new Gateway to Science Museum came up since our last visit - an impressive building, and, as an interactive museum especially interesting for families and children. On to Steamboat Park, where a replica of a Missouri steamboat, which sunk beginning of the 20th century, is to be seen. 

 

In the evening, we walked over to Art Alley 5.5, a public art gallery showcasing great artists of the area. 

Lateron, we ended up in a new brewery, Gideon's, walking distance from our hotel, and, called it a long day with an IPA in front of us.

 

 

 

 

 

Next day, we eventually had enough time to thoroughly enjoy the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum nearby the Capitol Building. It's one of the best museums in the Midwest, especially their Indian exhibitions are well worth the visit, they have vast archives, and, they have a lot of dinos and other prehistoric creatures, minerals, and a section on ND's modern history, too.

 

 

 

Lunch at Laughing Sun with a long-time friend from ND was a delight: BBQ (brisket/pulled pork) and a sampler of their great beers before we departed for the Knife River Indian Villages, once a busy earthlodge village of the Hidatsa and Mandan tribes. This area was a major trading and agricultural area. Three villages were known, the oldest one established around 1600. When you look closely, you can still see the layout of the houses in the landscape along the trails leading down to the Knife River.

 

 

 

 

 

Another 1.5 hours (and a time zone change)on I-94, later, we arrived to Dickinson, ND, and drove up to our friends' ranch. The "Geese in Flight" (right photo) - one of many huge scrap metal sculptures built by artist Gary Greff, the creator of the Enchanted Highway (County Highway 21) - indicated that we are getting close to another lifestyle, and, a bit of R&R.