We rolled into Wallace early afternoon and set up camp quickly. We made it into the historic downtown of Wallace just in time to catch the trolley for the famous Silver Mine Tour. Our fearless driver, Lenny, is a retired miner with a passion for Swedish jokes and making his passengers cringe, which we did a few times. After a stop and lurch 10 minute ride on the old trolley, we were dropped off at what was essentially an educational mine used to teach the high school students how to mine. This particular mine never produced silver, zinc or any other other minerals mined in this region. 
After hard hats were doled out we climbed some stairs and entered the mine shaft. Our guide, Wally (another retired miner), led us through the shaft and told us the process of extracting from the rock. He even turned on a few of the machines to demonstrate how they worked (which was loud and easily demonstrated why Wally had hearing aids). Grady was interested in the mine but wanted dad to hold him through a lot of the standing around. Colby, on the other hand, got very nervous when we could no longer see the shaft leading out. It was a well lit and ventilated shaft but he was nervous all the same. He still did pretty good and made it through without too much drama but he wasn't a fan of the confined space.
The downtown of Wallace has embraced its sorted past and managed to showcase its history in unique ways. There is a great little diner/ice cream place called the Red Light that was both fascinating and yummy all at once. A myriad of objects ranging from old license plates to musical instruments hung from the ceiling, and giant artwork outside included a flying saucer.
Brothels were legal in Wallace until 1988 - if you can believe that. There was a Bordello Museum but we didn't think the kids were quite old enough for that.
It is also the 100 anniversary of the devastating 1910 fires in this area so a lot of the shops highlighted that. We checked out a great outdoor park that featured old mining equipment and memorials to both the fire firefighters and the miners.Unlike its sister city, Kellogg, Wallace has managed to maintain its own sense of history and culture even amidst a tough economic downturn. We enjoyed dinner at the 1313 Pub, which brews its own Wallace Beer.
And tonight is our last night on the trip. Tomorrow we travel home and back to normal life. It has been a great trip - full of lots of fun memories, exciting adventures and funny moments.
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