Day 90

I just visited Mount Rushmore last week for the first time.   I have always wanted to have a look at this American iconic symbol, and in retrospect, I think I might have romanticized a bit.  Don’t get me wrong, the monument was spectacular.  But, I think I had more of a 1950’s tourism film in mind, you know the kind with stuttering black and white images of smiling families piling out of station wagons with an announcer that says things like, swell, keen and eager beaver ( It’s not every day you get to use eager beaver in a sentence).

In that grainy Super 8, we would drive in front of the monument hop out and enjoy the view.  In reality,there is an enormous concrete parking garage and a couple of gifts shops, ice cream parlor and restaurants all managed by the National Parks Services, just like our forefathers intended.  And look, they were even having a sidewalk sale.

This classy set up was just adjacent to the Avenue of the Flags right there at the monument. I feel really appreciated

OK, I promise this will be the last of my kvetching about souvenir industry.  I mean obviously there is a market for it.  I have, in fact, been that target demo for years.  I have even packed additional “auxiliary” suitcases in the past for purchases on the road.

But, I have discovered that I don’t need to do that anymore.

A quick summary of some key word searches on Ebay:

• Mt. Rushmore: 714  collectable items for sale (apparently those heads have been the subject of many whiskey decanters throughout the decades)
• Eiffel Tower: 16, 681 items for sale (quite a few of which are shot glasses, Santé!)
• Niagra Falls: 712  items for sale listed as collectables, none of which were barrels
• Cedar Point: 578 items for sale listed as collectables (but in the interest of good journalism, I should point out that I noticed a listing for logo-ed midway trash receptacles in this category which seems like kind of a strange thing to collect)

Thank goodness there is no need to travel anymore; I can work on my tiny spoon collection right here in front of my computer.