Note: Today, Fourth of July, we had to spend part of the day trolling for bandwidth. Once again some nice hoteliers (Holiday Inn Express) have allowed us to sit in their lobby and use their wireless. Although staying at a B and B is fun for funkiness, I’m not sure it’s worth giving up the internet.
Today we moved on to Vermillion, SD. We like the idea of spending Fourth of July in a small town. We understand that there will be fireworks and a beer garden at the local park. We have our lawn chairs and a portable table with us and plan to be there.
On the way we stopped at the Lewis and Clark Lake Recreation Area and walked around. It had to happen sooner or later, humidity and mosquitoes. One of the mosquitoes managed to find its way under the collar of my shirt and bit me four times. I hope it made itself sick!
Then we went to the National Music Museum on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. The museum has an incredible collection of instruments. For a small fee you get admission and an audio tour, so not only do you get to see the instruments you get an explanation and a chance to hear them play.
There are many very old, ethnic and unusual instruments. There are also famous ones such as a set of Stradivarius strings and B.B. King’s guitar, Lucille.
We made our way to our lodging which is a room at the Buffalo Run B and B located in the Valiant Winery. Yes, a winery in South Dakota. Of course we tried some. The local wine is quite sweet but they also import grapes from Washington so they have a wide variety. We are the only guests here. The winery is closed tomorrow. It’s kind of spooky.