We knocked three more states off our bucket list. This time we hit the Heartland, which is what South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska are called. We flew out after work on Thursday and landed in Sioux Falls, tucked in for the night, and woke up ready to explore.
Our first stop was the city’s well-known diner for breakfast. The food was good, but the milkshake definitely stole the show. On the way back, we stopped at a fun little park where Matt earned the title of ultimate fun maker by giving us all a thrill on the human seesaw. He also made a new friend, a bee that would not leave him alone and kept landing on him.
After that, we wandered into a gift shop downtown that turned out to be two stories. The main floor was a store, and the lower level was a quirky flea market. There were so many cool things to see, total eye candy everywhere. We also spotted a beautiful old church that we wanted to explore, but true to our vacation luck, it was under renovation. The quote of the day came from the man giving us directions who told us, “Turn before the Jesus statue to enter.”
At first, the area of Sioux Falls near our hotel was closed off, and we thought we had hit our usual vacation luck again with everything being shut down. Thankfully, that was not the case. We just needed to walk a bit farther to really see the wonder of it. It was such a cool place to explore. Hard to believe that area used to be under an ocean.
That afternoon, we planned to head to a local apple orchard for their fall festival. I did forget one small detail, the tickets were for 4 p.m., and it was only 2 p.m. So we took our time exploring the area. We fed goats, tried jalapeño bread and fresh cider, and admired the chickens. They were my personal highlight, especially with all the different varieties.
There was also a small church on the property where a wedding was taking place. We watched quietly from a distance, just taking in the charm of it all. Since we still had some time before the festival started, we decided to drive about forty minutes to a nearby state park. The drive was all country roads and open views, and I was actually glad I had mixed up the time because the park was beautiful. So many people were camping and enjoying the weather, and I could see why it was such a popular spot.
We made it back to the festival right after opening, and it was exactly what we expected, a sweet small-town event. We explored every corner and soaked it all in before starting our drive to Iowa for the night at our Sioux City hotel. We also got to see the church after all, and it was everything I imagined it would be, so quaint and perfect.
When we arrived at our hotel in Sioux City, we realized it was hosting a wedding. After dinner, we walked through the grand staircase, still beautifully decorated with flowers from the celebration. Lillian and Natalie made good use of the backdrop, turning it into their own little photo moment.
