fiogf49gjkf0d MITCHELL
makes a mildly diverting stop on the seemingly endless drive along I-90.
The Corn Palace
at 604 N Main St (summer daily 8am-9pm; winter Mon-Fri 8am-5pm; free) has been pegged as "the world's largest birdfeeder"; the first Corn Palace was built in 1892 to encourage settlement and to display local agricultural products. Topped with brightly painted onion-shaped domes and minarets, this kitsch Moorish transplant to the Corn Belt is decorated annually (at a cost of about $125,000) with large murals depicting farming and other outdoor scenes. The artists' materials consist exclusively of native corn, grains and grasses of varying natural colors; further examples of such rural folk art are found inside. Mitchell's
visitor center
, 601 N Main St (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; tel 605/996-5567 or 1-800/257-CORN,
), is across the street, and the
Hard Drive Central
internet cafe (318 N Main St; 20? per minute) is two blocks south.
Other places where you can while away time in Mitchell include a gallery devoted to a Yanktonai Sioux painter; a surprisingly engaging museum of dolls, including a salt-carved Shirley Temple; a pioneer museum; and a prehistoric Native American village. Both the
Best Western
, 1001 S Burr St (tel 605/996-5536; $50-75) and
Super 8
(tel 605/996-9678; $50-75)
motels
lie just off I-90 at exit 332. The
Lake Mitchell Campground
, one mile north of town on Hwy-37 (tel 605/995-8457), has grassy tent sites ($11) that overlook the water. The railroad-themed
Depot
, 210 S Main St (tel 605/996-9417), is a fun place to grab a meal.
Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections):
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