Ruminations on Yankton

Yankton, South Dakota is a town of approximately 13,600 people located in the extreme Southeast corner of the state. It is really quite a beautiful little city, with two main attractions, 1) The River and 2) The Lake. The Missouri River is on the border of South Dakota and Nebraska and has a great little park where you can have a stroll or a BBQ. According to DGs dad, The Lake was created years ago, when the Mayor of Yankton pushed to create a dam in the city. The dam created the lake, which created a great tourist attraction for the area. The waters were beautifully blue and the vacationers thick with glee this weekend.

These pictures have nothing to do with Yankton. David was playing with a filter on his camera and we got the first one Saturday evening at his reunion. Well HELLO Mrs. Gannon. I used my new name a bit prematurely rather than have to explain who I was. (i.e. I'm with him.)

This picture was taken to show that the Starbuck's empire leaves no state unmarked, as Yankton got it's first bucks at the grocery store. It's like a mirage. I'm really just a ghost in the picture.


In my past 2 trips to Yankton, I was not given a tour of the Lake, the River, OR the Barn which is the house that DG grew up in. This time however, I got the full $.25 tour and was really impressed.

As great as it is to spend time with David's family and see his hometown, the one downfall to Yankton, as with most towns in the midwest are the lack of restaurants to eat in. Most are chains or greasy spoons which makes you wonder why half of America is overweight. The majority of restaurants that Yankton has to offer are a who's who of fast food: McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Quiznos, Taco Johns (anything from Mexico thrown in the fryer), Bonanza (Who knew these still existed - the All you can eat buffet), JoDean's (another fried buffet), The Waterfront, Fryn' Pan (American Cheese all the time and deep fried anything), and The Lighthouse (Anything out of the ocean thrown in the fryer). Needless to say, after two days and a couple of pounds, I was ready for a fruit bowl and an enema.