I spent a half-day on 41st Street in Sioux Falls yesterday, looking for some material. At first blush, that busy (40,000-plus cars a day) road looks like one really long all-American strip mall. Land can cost up to $1 million an acre there, and for the most part it takes a Walgreens or some other national chain to afford it. But if you can get off the concrete and away from the neon, you'll find unique people and places.

* The smell of leather saddles and tack at Haegle's Western Wear doesn't cost a dime -- and for about $200 you could leave the place looking like a West River banker. Haegle's dates to a 1910 harness shop in the city.

* At perhaps South Dakota's coolest and oldest coffee shop (Heart of the Vine), the founder and owner Sharon Fresvik names all the colorful fish in her aquarium.

* Bob's Lock & Key operates in an old grocery store that's probably the oldest building on 41st.

* Larry Preston of the Flower Shop has been selling bouquets and plants on the strip since 1973. He got interested in the trade when he had a tonsillectomy at age 5 and awoke with flowers in his room. What a deal, he thought.

* Gregg's Sub Station has a great variety of tasty breads called "fun buns." They've kept the place going for over 20 years, not bad for an independent in the crazy fast-food world.