Mobridge, South Dakota: The Perfect Vacation Alternative

In search of unobstructed expanse, recently I motored my way to Mobridge, humbly nestled on the Missouri River in South Dakota. Expecting the usual commercial glut found in places like the Rapid City, Deadwood and Sturgis further to the west, I was rather surprised by the laid back and unassuming nature of the place. Mobridge offers a variety of activities for casual sightseers, campers, hikers, birders and bikers. Taking advantage of such beautiful places as Revheim Bay Recreation Area where I first explored, it didn't take long to realize just how abundantly lush and varied a place it is, truly the beginning of the west as evidenced by the Prickly Pear cactus I frequently encountered, along with peaceful sunset vistas that revealed hilly horizons in glowing pink distances that beckoned one to venture further into.

Checking into the most affordable Mo-Rest Motel, a clean, comfortable but not so quiet place as the sign in the parking lot boasted (They put me in a room across from a 24 hour car wash and I had to continually run the air conditioner to drown out the noise along with wearing earplugs) the hospitality I found there seemed genuinely small town enough. Geared more for hunters and fisher folks as evidenced by the plethora of stuffed deer heads, coyote skins for sale and pics of people showing off their ample strings of walleyes and bass that I constantly saw in gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores, I thought a tree hugging, out-in-left-field long haired guy like myself would find it difficult to fit in. Yet after a spectacular morning hike on the Prairie Falcon trail and meditating at its gorgeous summit over looking Indian Creek Recreation Area, I soon realized that Mobridge was more broadly accommodating to nature lovers than I first thought, considering my frequent encounters with such wonders as beautiful Silvery Blue and Mormon Fritillary butterflies, birds such as the Greater Yellowlegs taking advantage of low tide to find a meal and a strapping, six foot long Bull snake I was fortunate enough to shoot a video of proudly slithering across a road.

If arduous hiking over endlessly rolling prairie is not your style, a relaxing stroll through the Mobridge City Park will serve to rejuvenate you with its impressive spread of fragrant floral fare, fountain and what are called Conqueror's Stones, unusual boulders with what appear to be hand prints either melted or carved in them. On an informative plaque one learns that "Indian people referred to these rocks as 'Prayer Rocks'. When initiated into a tribe, Indians took an oath with their hands in the hand-prints of the rocks." Not being able to resist putting my own hands on the stones, I felt a charge of spiritual energy go through me and actually felt lighter afterwards, grateful that I had conquered something that had been weighing on me prior to the trip.

For the more inside and action oriented, there is plenty of opportunity to gamble at such places as the Grand River Casino and Resort owned by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which offers everything from slot machines to Black Jack. Not having been in such an establishment for many years, I found the second hand smoke to be a problem for a health conscious person such as myself and couldn't stay very long, even with the brief bit of winning streak that I had.

Mobridge's culinary fare overall is good but not excellent in terms of what I experienced and certainly will be a disappointment to the gourmet savvy traveler. By far the best meal I had was at the Pizza Ranch as the pie they served up was made from scratch with fresh ingredients and was surprisingly quite flavorful. Places like Hong Kong House were pretty middle of the road and I found myself frequently reaching for the soy sauce bottle, mustard and jar of hot pepper condiment in attempts to undo the blandness of the meal I had there. So if your taste buds are an important commodity during your travels, make sure to stay at a place with kitchen facilities, do your shopping at home and stock up on your favorite items. Vegetarian fare is non-existent in Mobridge which isn't all too surprising.

Mobridge is a place I plan to return to in the near future to soak up more of the peace and quite, natural profusion of beauty and cooling riverine vistas one never seems to tire of taking in. For more information on this wondrous place, please check out: www.mobridge.org

©2009 Jaye Beldo