Another Trip to Sioux Falls

My grandmother and I needed to get a birthday present for my grandfather, so we made a trip to Sioux Falls. I made a few stops of my own, here's how that trip went.

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We started out at the Casey's convenience store in Elk Point, SD. This is the most unique Casey's location I've seen, and I love it.

The glass sign above the door for the Casey's in Elk Point, South Dakota. The sign is a 19th century general store design. The front of the Casey's in Elk Point, South Dakota. In the middle is the entrance with a clock tower over the door. On either side of the enterance are windows with shutters, and an awning over them. Lamps hang over the awnings. The inside of the Casey's in Elk Point, South Dakota. In the middle are shelves with snacks and other products, with drink coolers at the back. The ceiling is a low drop ceiling, with fluorescent lights.

We went downtown to go to a favorite restaurant of ours, Spink Family Diner. However, that restaurant is no more. We stopped at a truck stop diner in Beresford, and this wound up being a good choice.

A truck stop diner. Tables and chairs are shown throughout the room, all set for guests. A grey-brown brick fireplace is in the middle of the wall, with the wall painted yellow and accented by wood trim and grey brick. Various pictures hang on the wall. A hallway of the truck stop. To the left is a tan drywall with windows, to the right is a red brick wall. The floor is old hardwood, and the ceiling has old lanterns for lighting. An old clock hangs from the brick wall. An entrance to the truckers lounge. The sign for the lounge is in serif font, with unlit red warning lights underneath. Below the sign is a brown windowed door, surrounded by yellow drywall accented with old brown wood trim. Various old-time candy dispensers against a red brick wall.

Now, off to Sioux Falls. We stopped at an RV dealer to get the gift, and made the first of my stops: the 10th street Last Stop.

The entrance to the 10th street Last Stop. A faded red awning hangs above a glass door and window, with text reading 'LAST STOP' on the front. The building is corrugated brick, painted black. The record section of the 10th street Last Stop. Hundreds of various records sit vertically in black bins, with display cases against the far wall showing valuable records. The upstairs of the 10th street Last Stop. Thousands of CDs and DVDs are shown in wire racks in the middle of the floor, with more discs in brown bookshelves against the far wall. In front of the wire racks are display cases showing video game accessories.

Afterwards, a stop at the Western Mall. This mall is what I consider a "quiet mall", a mall that has a decent amount of businesses, but little foot traffic. There were about a half dozen walkers while I was in here, but no shoppers.

The entrance for the Western Mall. The name is spelled out in red serif text, with a red W in a blue circle above the text. Below the mall sign are glass doors. The north entrance hall of the Western Mall. To the left are display cases and a storefront, to the right are storefronts. Carpet is brownish-grey, with squares of green, blue, and black patterns in the middle. The east entrance hall of the Western Mall. To the left are basic white drywall storefronts, to the right are glass storefronts. The white cursive neon sign for the restrooms. The west half of the northern hall in the Western Mall. To the right is a glass storefront, to the left is a furniture store. A sign reading 'South Dakota Furniture Mart' is visible on the far wall. The east hall of the Western Mall. The left and right walls are made of white drywall, with the right wall having a section of purple. The West Mall 7 theater. In the middle is a ticket booth, lit by many incadescant bulbs. Above is a fancy typeface sign reading 'WestMall 7', and to the left and right are glass doors. A dimly lit hallway in the Western Mall. The left wall is white drywall, the right wall is white brick. A sign to the right of the hallway entrance reads 'AUTHORIZED PERSONEL ONLY'. The center court of the Western Mall. The middle of the floor consists of a brown, blue, and black patterned carpet. Stores are visible at the end of the court, and barely visible along the left wall. The ceiling is light brown wood, with white beams supporting it. Windows at the top right of the photo let in plenty of natural light.

Once I had some pictures I liked, we traveled down the street to the 41st street Last Stop location. This store started out in the Western Mall, moving to a steakhouse later on.

The front of the 41st street Last Stop. The building resembles a log cabin, with a roof peak in the middle of the building and a smaller one where the entrance is. A CD rack in the 41st street Last Stop, containing hundreds of various CDs. DVDs line the far wall, with a display stand of DVDs in front of the rack. To the right of the rack are video games and accessories. The video games section of the store. Video games are shown in the background, with figurines shown before. The record section of the store. Various records are in black and brown wood bins.

While in Last Stop, I noticed my camera was low on battery. A Target was nearby, so I grabbed a pack of AA batteries, and we stopped at the last place for photos in Sioux Falls: the Empire Mall.

This mall is the mall for the Sioux Falls area. It's owned by Simon, and has a JCPenney, Macy's, Dick's, and Dillards as anchors. Tenants include a plentiful amount of the usual mall staples, with some mom 'n' pop stores and stands sprinkled throughout. For design, it's a modern design with hints from the 80's. Amongst the typical Simon White are wood panels and circular brown light fixtures. Not terrible for a modern mall, and since this is the most modern location I've photographed with this camera, I figured the results would be interesting.

The center entrance hall of the Empire Mall. To the left are various storefronts, to the right is a coffe stand and a work wall. A large circular light fixture in a skylight at the Empire Mall. The sides of the fixture are brown, with a warm white opening for light. The Aerie storefront at the Empire Mall. The storefront is grey wood with green trim, and the Aerie sign is a cursive metal sign lit with tiny bulbs. The JCPenney storefront in the Empire Mall. The JCPenney sign is against a mirror wall, with glass doors at the sides of the store entrance. The Spencers storefront at the Empire Mall. The walls are brown brick with graffiti, and a metal door with the Spencer's logo is partially down. The Eddie Bauer storefront at the Empire Mall. The storefront is tan wood and glass, with the company's cursive logo on a grey sign above the entrance. The White Barn at the Empire Mall. The outside is a light tan wood, with 'White Barn' in black cursive letters highlighted by a white glow. The store is warmly lit inside. The south hall of the Empire Mall. Open storefronts are to the left and right, with a kids carousel and directory in the middle of the corridor. The Macy's storefront in the Empire Mall. The company's logo is against white drywall, with glass doors at either side of the store's entrance. The Zumies at the Empire Mall. The storefront is glass with black trim, with the top of the storefront consisting of 1 foot tall stained glass panes. The ceiling of the center court. All along the ceiling are brown circular light fixtures, forming a spread-out line from the camera to the far wall. The north center entrance of the Empire Mall, backlit by a blue and orange evening sky.

The last stops in Sioux Falls were at Sam's Club for fuel, and Barnes & Noble to see what they had for CDs. As per usual for this location, they didn't have much.

For the last stop, we detoured into Vermillion to eat at a cafe. This cafe is in downtown Vermillion, a district in the National Register of Historic Places. Indeed, this building looks historic, but well-maintained. We've been to this cafe before, and have yet to eat something we don't like here.

A light brown table, surrounded by dark brown chairs. The wall in the back is yellow drywall, and the floor is brown hardwood. The front of the cafe. A sign at the top reads 'Cafe Brule;, with a red and white awning below. Protected by the awning is a glass storefront, with a glass door to the left.

That's it for this trip, thanks for reading!

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