First of all, let me just clarify something that is very misleading. There is NO free parking at this monument any longer. They closed this lot after September 11, 2001. You MUST pay the $8 parking fee in order to get into the monument. However, the admission fee is good for the entire calendar year (like anyone not from South Dakota actually uses that benefit). You will see recent brochures and maps all over this area that still feature the free parking. Ignore these documents, as they are false!
After driving all over trying to find the free parking (my husband refuses to pay for parking), we finally gave up and went to the car entrance line. The woman working at the booth informed us that the free parking was closed, so we paid our fee (not without grumbling) and parking in the first spot we could find.
It was close to dinnertime for us, so we headed to the cafeteria first. Though we are well traveled and know the exorbitant prices of museum and monument food areas, we resigned ourselves to eating here. The menu didn't hold anything exceptional, so we settled on the special, spaghetti and meatballs, salad, a roll, a fountain beverage for under $6. We were very surprised to see that the plate of spaghetti we were given was HUGE and that we could get free refills on our sodas. It turned out to be a great meal for a great price! We were very impressed. The dining area is large, clean, and very modern.
After our meal, we visited the very informative and well put-together museums. We also walked the Presidential Trail, which is a boardwalk trail with stairs up and down, but isn't too strenuous. The trail takes you directly under the monument and also to the Sculptor's Studio, which had closed by the time we got there.
The nighttime lighting of the monument begins at 8pm. Unfortunately, it began to rain while we were sitting in the amphitheater, waiting for the show to begin. The rain at first was on and off, but soon a thunderstorm began to roll through. The ranger who was giving the presentation decided to shorten the program and simply turned on the lights for us. I have been told since that they normally play classic, American songs during this, but our lighting was accompanied only by the soft sounds of rolling thunder. It was quite eerie. After my husband spent some time taking great care to snap the photos you see below, we walked to the gift shop. The gift shop is quite large and had many of the souvenirs that we had seen in many other shops throughout South Dakota. Since the rain began to pick up, we had to cut our visit short with a dash to our car!