August 2010 ...........

Wisconsin Dells: Over the years we've heard so much about the "Wisconsin Dells" that we thought people were referring to an area, we didn't know there was a town by that name. It's in Southern Wisconsin, about 55 miles north of Madison. It's big draw appears to be water parks, amusement parks and there are some shows, plus the town is the usual cute little tourist shops. It would be a great place to take children.
The sandstone bluffs along the Wisconsin River are first what attracted visitors to the area. We took an evening sunset dinner cruise up the river and the scenery was spectacular. The food was exceptionally good for a river boat.
While there we visited several attractions that were within driving distance, the Circus World Museum, The House on the Rock, the Ocean Spray factory where they make Crazens, along with a Cranberry grower.

Circus World: A Wisconsin Historic Site located in Barboo, Wisconsin. The original Ringling Bros. Circus was founded in Barboo in 1884. The buildings that house Circus World, standing along the Barboo River, date from 1897 through 1918 and are the largest surviving group of original circus structures in North America. The circus wintered in Barboo for 34 years until 1918, the year before it merged with the Barnum & Bailey Shows, to become The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Shows. Circus World was opened to the public in 1959. It now coverers 64 acres, including the four original winter quarters buildings and the original Circus Train complex. The collection of artifacts is perhaps the largest in the world. It includes over 210 original wagons and vehicles, circus ads and posters, handbills, etc. One of the wagons is a Grviole Band Organ (pictured below) that the Royal American Shows had on it's 1956 tour. As we walked by the organ Laurel immediately recognized it as being in Topeka with the Royal American Shows - they were the carnival that were at the Kansas Free Fair and the Kansas State Fair in the 50's. The wagon had been in a barn in Kansas for over 40 years when it was found and restored. What great memories!! There are also live Circus performances, rides, food and of course a store to purchase souvenirs. Wonderful side trip if you are in the area.

House On The Rock: Some people think it's an architectural wonder, some think it's a boondoggle and others think it's just weird. We fit into the last category. Don't know what we were expecting, but not what we saw. The house sits on 200 acres and the house is on top of a 60-foot-high sandstone pinnacle seven miles south of Spring Green, Wisconsin. The legend has it that the house was built for spite. Around 1940 Alex Jordan Sr, a builder, asked Frank Lloyd Wright to look at some plans for a boardinghouse. Wright looked at the plans and said "I wouldn't hire you to build a chicken house". Alex told his friend he was going to get even with Wright and put a Japanese house up on Deer Shelter Rock. The house, with it's low ceilings, was meant to be a personal weekend retreat, but people kept asking if they could see it. In 1960 the house was opened to the public for a fee. He never lived there, but kept adding to his collection of antiques and curiosities. The 14 room house contains collections from around the world. He added the Infinity room, a thin long 218 foot room that appears to hang 156 feet above the Wyoming Valley and has 3,264 windows. The house has no bedrooms and no baths. It appears not to be well taken care of and there is so much stuff crammed in you can't really appreciate it. There have been many buildings added to house other antiques and reproductions (from what we read on the web there are actually more reproductions than antiques). There is a huge collection of doll houses, a 200 foot long four-story-high sea monster battling a king size octopus, animated musical instruments, the world's largest carousel with 269 hand-carved animals - but no horses. The music of yesterday room contains what's billed as "the greatest collection in the world" of gigantic pipe organs and automatic music machines. We were told that many of the "tiffany lamps" were actually made in the shop on the property and when we went through the "Crown Room" and it claimed to have Queen Elizabeth's crown on display, that's when it really dawned on us that all was not as it seemed. It took us several hours to walk through and we went fairly quickly. It's a stop you should make - if only to say you've been there.

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