|
Wall Drug & MoreSep 30, 2010
|
|
Jerry on the Jackalope :-)
Wall Drug
Soda Fountain
We are enjoying our time in the tiny town of Wall, South Dakota. Wall used to be known by locals as "the geographical center of nowhere." That was before Ted Hustead came along.
Ted was a Nebraska native who opened a tiny drug store in Wall in 1931. Five years later it was still a tiny drug store. Dorothy, Ted's wife, thought that the people driving past must be thirsty, and suggested that Ted put up a sign on the highway advertising free ice water at Wall Drug. By the time that he got back, thirsty tourists were lining up for their free ice water. They've been stopping ever since.
We could not believe the amount of billboards advertising this store as we drove on Interstate 90. Hundreds of them line the east-west approaches along Interstate 90 in South Dakota, inviting travelers with offers of five cent coffee and free ice water, and proclaiming Wall Drug: as seen on Good Morning America; ...as seen in People, ...as seen in Better Homes and Gardens, etc. etc. etc. :-)
Wall Drug's famous free ice-water well is out in the Wall Drug Back Yard, where it can pump several thousands of gallons of water cooled by 1.5 tons of man-made ice on a hot July afternoon. The Back Yard also has a variety of photo-ops, including a furry six-foot-tall rabbit on wheels, a mini-Mount Rushmore, and a saddled, fiberglass giant jackalope. Jerry enjoyed checking all of them out. :-) I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.