7/25/13

The Great American Road Trip {Day 4}

Day 4 was INDEPENDENCE DAY!!  And we had a fun day planned for ourselves.  I had researched 4th of July celebrations in the area and we decided that going to Custer, SD sounded like it would be the most fun.


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We arrived in Custer just moments before the parade was to begin...and a downpour of rain! We had to run from our car several blocks to Main Street in the rain. Lucky for us there was a store awning just waiting for us to stand under.

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After the parade they had a Flag Raising ceremony at their GIANT flagpole in the town square. How cool is it that they have a town square?! It was still pouring down rain, but alas, they did not let it stop them one bit!

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{General Custer did the MC'ing for the ceremony and the parade!}

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It continued to rain, so we sat in the car for about 30 minutes debating what to do. It was approaching 11:00 am so we decided to walk along Main Street and see what we could find for lunch. I pulled up our trusty Trip Advisor and found the #1 place in Custer, Black Hills Burger & Bun Co.

It was DELICIOUS!! If you ever get there I recommend the chips and salsa...best I've ever had! I ate the Classic and Jeremy had the Texan {pepper jack cheese, grilled onions, jalapenos, bacon and chipotle bbq sauce}.

Every time we sat down to eat I made a mental note to take a pic of our food, but then once it was delivered to our table, we devoured it and it wasn't till our plates were reflecting our over-stuffed selves back to us did I remember the photo! Oh well....at least we remember how good it tasted!!

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After lunch we headed down to the park for their Old Time County Fair. Now, let me just say that THIS place knows how to do the 4th of July right!! Arts and Crafts fair, FREE kids games {the old kind... ring toss, sack races, etc}. We enjoyed ourselves for quite awhile.

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We did have to take a break to watch the hot dog eating contest. The guy on the far right in the red shirt ended up winning...eating 8 dogs and buns in 3 minutes!! {He reminds me of Turtle Man :)}

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After we had played all the games, we decided to head out to Crazy Horse Memorial for the afternoon. Probably, hands down, our favorite place as a family.

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We spent several hours at Crazy Horse, but still had quite a bit of time to spare before the fireworks display that night in Custer. Lucky for us {and about 100 of our friends} they had a Dairy Queen in Custer!

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What happened the rest of the evening was one of my favorite parts of our entire trip. An evening that made me reminisce to my childhood when Coldwater used to host a 4th of July celebration...and it was so much fun!

We headed up to Pageant Hill and once there we realized this wasn't a fireworks show like we had been to before. People were already there...and it was about 4:30 in the afternoon. Kids were playing in the grass, the firefighters were putting the final touches on their show, a band was setting up, people were getting out their grills...it was AWESOME!

Of course we came ill prepared for such an event, so after a quick trip to the Family Dollar {one of the most bazaar experiences of our trip} to get a few more snacks and a ball, we were back to the grassy knoll to wait and play.

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Eventually more kids showed up, smaller kids, and being the social butterflies that they are, CJ and Westynn quickly made new friends and were playing games too!

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Once it was finally dark, the fireworks show started. Here's a small portion...but let me tell you that it was 100 times better in person. It's kind of hard to hear, but there was also music!!



Happy Birthday America...Land of the Free...Land that I LOVE!