We checked out Falls Park today and what a lovely place it is. Starting at the visitor’s center and observation tower, we got a beautiful view of the falls and much of the park itself. The water tumbles and roars over the Sioux Quartzite Rock and is quite wide in some areas and narrows down in others. We walked the paths and checked out the Overlook Cafe that is housed in a building that was built in 1908 as the Light and Power Company and housed the three hydroelectric generators, using the dam and millrace from the Queen Bee Mill. The mill building was once a 7-story building but only a skeleton remains. It was only used to process grains for 2 years.
After getting our fill of the falls, we walked back to the parking lot and hopped on a trolley that gave a 30-minute tour of downtown Sioux Falls. Our tour guide gave us some background information and told us that Falls Park was not always as nice as it is today. The city decided that it was too nice of an area to waste, so they cleaned up the weedy, sketchy, once neglected area and turned it into Falls Park. Many of the original buildings downtown are built from the Sioux Quartzite and are quite impressive. We got off on Phillips Street and walked a few blocks so we could see some of the sculptures on display. Each year, local artists display their sculptures throughout the summer and then they are available for sale. We were told that there are about 60 sculptures on display this year, although we didn’t come close to seeing them all. Next year, it will be different artists and different sculptures.
An architecture and a sculpture example.
“Reaching for the Light”
We stopped for a beer at WoodGrain Brewery and relaxed on the patio before continuing our sculpture tour. The trolley took us back to the park where we had left the car.
The plan was to go through the small town of Tea on our way home and to have BBQ at Squeeler’s Smoke Shack where Tom had stopped a couple of years ago and wanted a repeat. It’s a good thing that he checked because it was closed today, so we will try again tomorrow.
