Downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Take a Walk With Me

I grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and spent much of my free time walking around downtown.  My ballet studio was located right on Main Street and since I walked from school to ballet, most of my memories of my early life are of these streets.  In August of 2006, I finally had the opportunity to return to my hometown for a day.

The first thing we did was go to my very favorite restaurant in the world: Minervas.

And I ordered my favorite dish: sirloins tip crepes with mushrooms and wild rice:

My husband tried the beef stroganoff:

And my kids got chicken tenders with cool looking fries:

Then we checked in to the Country Inn and Suites: A newer motel right on the Sioux River near the completely renovated Falls Park.

Before Country Inn and Suites was built, the main downtown hotel was this gorgeous Holiday Inn.

The restaurant at the top of this Holiday Inn revolves.  I have such fond memories of coming here with my Grandmother for very special afternoons with her.

I was very excited to see how the city had renovated the Falls Park.  When I was growing up, the Falls Park was neglected and mainly homeless and alcoholics resided at the Park making it one of the more dangerous areas of town.

The results of the renovation are impressive!  Now the Falls are the crowning glory of downtown Sioux Falls.

While the rest of the family rested, I walked the downtown photographing all my favorite memories:

This impressive building is now the Washington Pavilion.  It houses museums and a performing arts theater.  When I was growing up it was a high school.

We used to give an 88 year old woman rides to church each Sunday and her father was a stone cutter who helped cut the quartz stone to build this building.  The quartz comes from the Falls Park.

This was the church were I spent my Sundays as a child: Calvery Cathedral.  Built in 1891, Calvery Cathedral was the first church in Sioux Falls and it has one of the best examples of stain glass in the world.

The Federal Building, which used to be the main Post Office, is another impressive rose quartz building that graces downtown Sioux Falls.

The State Cinema building was a great place to watch movies when I was growing up.

The downtown is full of unique restaurants and boutiques for shopping as well.

I used to stop in this drugstore every day for my afternoon snack.

Walking along the Sioux River is one of the most pleasant ways to spend a summer afternoon.

A large replica of Michelangelo's Statue of David welcomes people into downtown.

Sioux Falls has recently added a Sculpturewalk.  Artists display their work around downtown and visitors and residents vote on which pieces they like the best.  We voted for the ballet dancers.

This piece pays homage to the Sioux Indians who lived here before the city was settled.

For dinner we tried the Timber Lodge Steakhouse.

I ordered this delicious steak salad:

The weather quickly became threatening and tornadoes passed through the surrounding prairies killing some cows and scaring my kids.

We ended our evening by driving up to St. Joseph's Catholic Cathedral.

This beautiful Cathedral looks simply stunning on warm summer's night.

I certainly wish that I would have had more than 24 hours to spend in my hometown after not being there for more than a decade, but next summer we are planning to return.