downtown – Snapping The Globe

Adventures in Aruba Part 4

In addition to beaches, Aruba is filled with farms and sanctuaries…donkeys, ostriches, birds and butterflies!

During our stay we had already visited the donkeys and the ostriches so naturally, butterflies were next on our list .

First, however, there were a few places we wanted to see.

The capital of Aruba, Oranjestad is named after “Huis van Oranje’ (Orange House), the name of the Dutch Royal Family in 1824 during the Dutch colonization. This downtown area is filled with plenty of traditional Dutch multicolored buildings, museums, restaurants and shops scattered through Main Street, the Royal Plaza Mall and Renaissance Marketplace.

Finding a parking space in the downtown area is a challenge, but after a little back and forth, we finally secured a spot. Parking near the National Archaeological Museum of Aruba put us near many of these architectural gems as well as the Wharfside Flea Market, where we perused the stalls looking for Aruban souvenirs and treasures.

*National Archaeological Museum of Aruba*

A quick six minute walk brought us to the I Love Aruba Sign on Lloyd G. Smith Boulevard the perfect place for souvenir pics! While this particular sign is convenient for cruise ship passengers…Promenade Cruise Port is located adjacently…there are a few other signs located throughout the island (Parliament House, Senor Frog’s, Hadicurari Beach) if you don’t happen to visit downtown Oranjestad.

Jumping back in our car, we headed back toward Palm Beach and made a quick stop at The Old Mill. Known as De Oude Molen, it was built back in 1804 in the Netherlands, meticulously taken apart, shipped to and reconstructed in Aruba in 1960. Planned as a tourist attraction, a new base was constructed and a restaurant ensconced within. Today, The Old Mill is still a top tourist attraction as well as a museum, resort and a top dining option. While we found the museum and restaurant closed due to the early hour, we were able to peek inside at the dining facility which is decorated with furniture and paintings dating between 880 and 1800.

Finally, we headed (almost next door) to the Butterfly Farm. Opened in 1999, it was preceded by the first Butterfly Farm, located in Saint Martin and established in 1994. Located on the French side of the island, it was designed and built by two eccentric Englishmen, William Slayter and John Coward.

Discovering success on Saint Martin, five years later, Slayter decided to open another farm in Aruba. While the farm in Aruba has thrived, sadly, the farm in Saint Martin was destroyed by the category five hurricane, Irma in September 2017.

After purchasing our admission, we were able to join a tour that was about to begin. Here, we found ourselves in a net-enclosed miniature rain forest filled with beautiful flowers, plants and trees…the perfect home for butterflies!

From our guide, we learned about the evolutionary cycle from microscopic eggs, to to caterpillars, to pupae. We were also instructed on how to handle the butterflies and caterpillars and those with brightly colored clothing and citrus scented perfumes were lucky enough to attract these beautiful creatures!

Once our tour was complete, we were welcomed to stay as long as we wanted. While it was warm and humid inside (the perfect environment), we walked around for quite some time, enjoying the beauty of these beautiful winged creatures as they flitted around from leaf to leaf and branch to branch and dined on sugar water and fruit.

While I would have loved to continue our theme of “farms and sanctuaries” and checked out the Bubali Bird Sanctuary, this was our last full day in Aruba that was not going to be strictly a beach day. The next day was to be spent in the sun with our feet in the sand and toes in the water! While birds would be flying overhead, this would be as close as we would come to Aruba’s flying friends!

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

I Love Aruba Sign

Address: Lloyd G. Smith Boulevard 19, Oranjestad, Aruba
Hours: 24 hours, daily
Admission: free

The Old Mill

https://www.aruba.com/us/stay-at/the-mill-resort-and-suites-aruba
Address: J.E. Irausquin Boulevard 330, Palm Beach, Aruba, Aruba
Hours: 1700-2300, daily
Admission: varies

The Butterfly Farm Aruba

https://www.thebutterflyfarm.com/
Address: J. Irausquin Boulevard Z/N, Orangestad, Aruba
Hours: 0830-1630, daily
Admission: Adults, $16.00, Children ages 4-17, $8.50, Children under 4, free, Seniors, $13.00

The City of Presidents

While South Dakota is known for four specific Presidents, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Jefferson, carved into a mountainside, it had escaped my thorough attention to detail that Rapid City, being an extremely patriotic city, it is also known for its City of Presidents Sculpture Walk.

As I drove around the block, attempting to secure a parking spot near my hotel, I noticed many statues on each corner of Main and St. Joseph Streets. These life-size bronze statues are a tribute to our nation’s past presidents, a project which began in 2000 to honor the legacy of our leaders.

In 2000, President Abraham Lincoln was the first statue to be unveiled. Four statues a year were unveiled until 2010, when Presidents Arthur, Clinton and George W. Bush were completed.

Each of the forty-three sculptures is privately funded and placed in a pattern so as to maintain an orderly structure and eliminate any sense of favoritism or political gain. Although our 46th president is currently in office, you won’t see his likeness for a while as statues are unveiled every 4-8 years, depending on a president’s time in office and there are spots for eighty statues, so plenty of space to record our nation’s forthcoming history.

Numbers still not adding up? Grover Cleveland served twice as president, but wasn’t re-elected after his first term. He won the 1884 and 1892 elections, thus serving as the 22nd and 24th president and with the loss of the election by President Trump this past November, his statue should be in the works for an unveiling in the immediate future.

It is a lovely tribute and a great way to enjoy Rapid City’s downtown area.

Although I was headed to Mount Rushmore on my first day in town, I rose quite early on the next to take a closer look at these effigies. On this particular day, I made it through about half of the statues on St. Joseph Street, vowing to see the rest on the next.

I must admit, with the sun’s low angle due to the time of year, it was hard to get great photos of some of the statues, but at least they weren’t covered in snow…yet. That was reserved for the next day. Overnight, a light snowfall blanketed the city and the presidents! Although it was freezing…a glacial 15 degrees…I was determined to see all of the presidents that morning before leaving for the Badlands. I made a plan to walk down one side of Main Street, stopping on each corner, then crossing at Fourth Street to make it up the other side of Main. Each statue is a unique piece of artistry and represents something that the president was known for.

Gerald Ford, known for his affection for the family dog is depicted with his dog Liberty.

John F. Kennedy is shown holding hands with his son John Jr.

Calvin Coolidge is featured waving a Stetson hat next to a saddle; the original saddle was made for the President by Bud Duhamel of Rapid City.

John Tyler and his violin.

As I made my way back to St. Joseph Street, to see the statues I had missed the day before, I encountered some local Native American citizens who insisted I take their picture with President William Henry Harrison. They told me that they were contemplating adding a sign to the newspaper that Harry Truman was holding up, stating “Will Work For Food”! They thought it quite comical!

*Intersection of Sixth and St. Joseph Street*s, *George Washington, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Andrew Johnson*

*Corner of Fifth and St. Joseph Streets, Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, Dwight D. Eisenhower, James A. Garfield*

*Corner of Fourth* *and St. Joseph Streets, Barack Obama, Grover Cleveland, Rutherford B. Hayes*

*Corner of Sixth and Main Streets, George H. Bush, John Adams*

*Corner of Fifth and Main Streets, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Chester Arthur* *and Calvin Coolidge (pictured above)*

*Corner of Fourth and Main Streets, Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley, James K. Polk, Benjamin Harrison*

*Corner of Seventh and Main Streets, Linden B. Johnson, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe*

*Corner of Eighth and Main Streets, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy (pictured above)*

*Corner of Ninth and Main Streets, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Pierce*

*Corner of Ninth and St. Joseph Streets, Warren G. Harding, Zachary Taylor, Woodrow Wilson, Millard Filmore*

*Corner of Seventh and St. Joseph Streets, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, William Jefferson Clinton* *and* *Gerald Ford (pictured above)*

*Corner of Eighth and St. Joseph Streets, Harry S. Truman, William Henry Harrison* *and John Tyler (pictured above)*

In addition to the President’s statues, you can find many famous statues throughout the city, two in particular that are located among the presidents in the downtown area with a Native American theme; Mitakauye Oyasin (All My Relatives) by Dale C. Lamphere and Hunkayapi (Tying on the Eagle Plume), by Dale C. Lamphere.

While in South Dakota, it is imperative that you make the trip out to see Mount Rushmore, but while in the Rapid City, don’t miss these amazing works of art and the downtown area which is a work of art in itself. Download the map of each of the presidential statue locations and visit the President’s Information Center for information, but challenge yourself to see how many you can recognize on your own!

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

City of President’s Walking Tour

https://www.visitrapidcity.com/things-to-do/all-things/attractions/city-presidents#.VKYmuFQ_Dyw
Address: Main and St. Joseph Streets, between the blocks of Ninth and Fourth Streets
Hours: 24 hours, daily
Admission: free

Alley Art

Graffiti…I love it!

São Paulo’s Batman Alley has been my highlight with stairwells, walls, doorways and sidewalks filled with stunning murals and artwork. While I have seen some great graffiti over the years, I have never experienced anything like Batman Alley in all of the cities I have visited.

Until I set foot in Rapid City.

As I stepped outside of my hotel in the fifteen degree morning, my only focus was the drive ahead of me to the Badlands on snowy roads. Walking toward my car, hoping there was an ice scraper, I looked immediately to my left and noticed a bit of graffiti…and a sign.

Art Alley.

The first inhabitants of South Dakota left their marks in the form of petroglyphs. Today, artists leave their stories in the form of murals in Art Alley.

In the early 2000s, artists began to use the alley as their canvas. Since then, the area has flourished and has become a social movement and a place to spread messages. The Rapid City Arts Council is in charge of the space and permits must be obtained from them or from the building owner. Though not all buildings are available for painting, there is enough surface area between 6th and 7th Streets to provide tons of space for artists’ expressions and a place for tourists to see what the art scene in Rapid City is all about.

Situated next to the Hilton Hotel Alex Johnson and countless restaurants and shops, it’s easy to see while experiencing all that downtown Rapid City has to offer.

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

Art Alley

https://www.artalleyrc.com/
Address: Between 6th and 7th, and Main and Saint Joseph Streets, Rapid City, South Dakota
Hours: 24 hours, daily
Admission: free