South Dakota

GOT ANY BUTTER? – There is nothing, but nothing, quite like the Corn Palace in Mitchell. First opened in 1892, this towering edifice is clad entirely in thousands of bushels of corn and various grains, arranged into designs and murals you would not have thought possible using raw agricultural products. Every year the building is stripped down and a new design goes up. No nibbling! See for yourself at www.cornpalace.com.

FIRST AMERICANS – Get another perspective on U.S. history at the Akta Lakota Museum in Chamberlain, which celebrates the culture, art and stories of the Lakota Sioux tribe of Native Americans. Festivals and powwows are held at the museum throughout the year. Find out more at www.aktalakota.org.

IMAGINE IF YOU HAD TO MOW IT – See what the pioneers saw, seemingly an ocean of grass, at Buffalo Gap National Grassland near Kadoka. It’s easy to feel you’re the only person on earth when you’re standing in 500,000 acres, much of it grass, with no roads, cars, airplanes or (probably) ringing cell phones.

If you are facing a credit crisis, take control of your household budget.