Downtown Sioux Falls, ID

Spent more time in downtown Sioux Falls this afternoon, with the goal of visiting the Old Courthouse Museum, and if there is time, the Pettigrew House and Museum.

The Old Courthouse Museum (free admission) was a nice surprise and absolutely worth visiting. The historic building, completed in 1893, was saved from demolition, restored and turned into a museum. The "Courthouse Chronicles: From County Administration to Museum" exhibit traced the story, with artifacts, photos and information displays, of how the building was originally used and its transformation into the current museum.

I found the Old Courthouse Museum exhibits very interesting and well curated. Both "Cooking up History: Evolution of Kitchens and Cookbooks" and "Playing Favorites: 100 Great Artifacts" were fascinating, with effective story telling that invoked an emotional connection between the displays and the viewer. I gave the gentleman at the counter my feedback with compliments to the curators and staff. He was very pleased, turned out he was the Director of the Museum!

There was no time to visit the Pettigrew House, so I walked back to the Falls Park visitor parking lot. On the way, I googled where I could get some chislic, considered a dish unique to South Dakota. The Lodge Grill had it on its appetizers menu, so I got that and some beer-battered cheese curds to go. Both were pretty good (forgot to take photos of the food).