Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

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I didn't remember much about Mount Rushmore except the faces of the presidents carved into the rock, so a visit to Mount Rushmore National Memorial was a perfect way to end our last full day in the Black Hills.

Admission to the memorial is free but parking is $11 in a  covered ramp. We walked up a modest incline to the end of a long walkway, through stone gates and through an archway with flags of the fifty states on either side. We found Minnesota's, and I felt a surge of pride. I love Minnesota!

Bob found Minnesota's entry to the Union in 1858

The late afternoon sun was a little hot so we found some shade at the very end of our visit. I was amazed to see people snap a picture or two and turn away from the sculpture without a second look. The light changed as we watched, and for awhile only George Washington was totally bathed in light.

Minnesota's beautiful flag

I visited the gift shop and we left along with hundreds of others, though the crowd was orderly. Most visitors seemed to be American; I heard only a few foreign languages around me. The presidents' faces seem small when compared with the giant Crazy Horse sculpture only a few miles away.

It was all quintessentially American. Beautifully conceived and executed.