Why are all Midwest landmarks created by the mentally insane?

So we are taking the kids on their first great Western Road Trip. Out to the Mork stronghold last night, left at 7 AM and just took our first leg stretcher in Mitchell, SD. At the Corn Palce, home to former T-Wolf Mike Miller in his high school days. Not impressed. I've decided the US has three types of historic places. Mostly on the East Coast, you have places of instrumental importance in the formation of the country: Faneuil Hall, Boston Common, Independence Hall, Washington D.C., Gettysburg. Out west you have a few of these, but mostly you have natural wonders: the Rockies, the Cascades, the Grand Canyon. Then you have the Midwest, a vast swath of Great Plain nothingness. Which is really boring to look at. So Midwesterners have created their own crappy "landmarks" like the Corn Palace, the world's largest ball of twine, etc. None of which are actually landmarks, but are instead unhealthy lifelong obsessions of some lunatic. Or a group of lunatics. Anyway, we'll be driving thru Badlands today, looks like we will stop at Wall Drug (which I have managed to convince both boys that Santa virtually has his toy factory, I'm hoping for a classic 10-year old quote of disappointment when he sees all that's there is cheap crap, free water, and a yard full of stupid concrete fake animals. Speaking of quotes, the highlight of eastern SD was the following radio ad from a personal injury lawyer: "They say it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. But they have never been hit by a car..."