Quick Trip to the Dells
Remember when I mentioned that I went to the Dells last Thursday?
Mostly we spent our time at Noah's Ark, where I took zero pictures. However, LET IT BE KNOWN.... I went down the ride where the floor drops out from under you. Twice.
Your body post-Noah's Ark is 100% ravenous, and, if you're part of my household, that usually means a pizza carb overload..... Unless you're gluten free, and then you binge on mexican. So we found a real mexican restaurant: Colotlan, a tiny place you would probably pass on by if you weren't looking for it.
We drank neon colored margaritas and lots of pinto beans.
Our drinks were actually quite strong, and the amount of food we each consumed was no match for the alcohol content, so we were forced to wander the main drag before driving home.
As a kid, I loved driving through the Dells and seeing all the tee-shirt stores, hotels with slides (like a big lion whose mouth you crawl out of and then slide down it's tongue?), fudge shops, "Olde Tyme" photo shops, and much more. The spectacle of it all is almost unbelievable, and people have flocked there for decades for fun, romance, and escape.
Buildings with very specific exteriors have been repurposed to something completely different. For example, the building that housed this black light mini golf course (what?) pictured below was once Stroud Bank, originally built in 1870 and named in 1999 to be a Wisconsin Historical Marker.
Of course, other places don't change at all. These are some of my favorite vintage signs we saw while on our mission to walk off the booze...
I have no words for this store display.
And speaking of vintage, where's the last pay phone you saw? I would have used this if only I knew any phone numbers. ...Just kidding, I still know my parent's phone number. ;)
The Wisconsin River stretches right through the downtown splitting the strip in two. There's a paved path running along the water where the sound is polluted by the bustle of the city a couple blocks away, and by the tour guide's metallic loudspeaker voices from the boat tours below. It's a calm walk where I could still feel nature in the middle of Wisconsin's tourism center. Of all the things to do next time you visit the Dells, make time for this.