Crazy Horse Memorial - June 2017




One of our favorite stops from our Out West 2017 trip was the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  The Memorial campus has a lot to offer including the Welcome Center, Indian Museum of North America, Cultural Center, and the Laughing Water Restaurant.

We arrived late afternoon which allowed us to see the last performance of a Native American dance.  The dancer was incredibly talented and athletic.  At the end of the dance, she invited all the children to the stage and demonstrated some of the techniques.  Anna, Mary, and Tabitha were all brave enough to try it out.  It was a lot of fun and the Memorial in the background made it a great place to view and take pictures.


Our next stop was to have dinner at the Laughing Water Restaurant.  We enjoyed our dinner and their prices were very reasonable.  Some of us tried new foods while others stuck with some traditional American fare - but there were plenty of options including a full salad bar.  I tried the Tatanka Stew, which is bison, and it was very good.  The Indian fry bread was awesome.


The next part of our visit was one of the main highlights of our entire trip and something that I would highly recommend if you are visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial.  We made a donation of $125 to the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation and became a "Storyteller."  This allowed an adult and any children to take a van ride to the very top of the Memorial.  What an unbelievable experience! Since it was our daughter's birthday, it was a special treat for her too!


 

We were able to stand on the arm of Crazy Horse and were right in the midst of the continuing construction area.  Seeing the features up close was truly amazing.  We had our own personal tour guide and we were the only ones on the mountain at that time.  The tour guide told us so many interesting facts and stories and the kids were even able to take a blast fragment as a souvenir!



The Memorial is extremely large and you don't realize it when you view it from far away.  The guide told us that all four faces on Mount Rushmore could fit just in the head area of Crazy Horse!  We spent about 45 minutes up there and took some amazing pictures of the Memorial and surround area - including some selfies!








After descending from the top, the guide stopped at the base of the Memorial for some additional pictures.  Visitors can pay $4/ea for a bus ride to visit this area and provides an amazing perspective.


We did not stay for the evening laser show but that is another option of you are staying in the area.  The Museum has some amazing artifacts and we also watched a very informative movie about how the idea of the Memorial came to be.  All of the funding for the Memorial is provided from donations.  They have not, and never plan to take any government funding.  It's still expected to take at least another 50 years to complete the project.  I'm sure I probably won't see it completed but I hope that my children do.


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