5611. Go to the Museum of Root Beer in Wisconsin Dells

 When Stacy mentioned there was a Root Beer Museum in the Dells, I wanted to check it out. The hubby didn't seem to keen on this one so when the opportunity arose for me to explore the Dells while the hubby was at a conference, I made sure the Root Beer Museum was on the list.

Museum of Root Beer is located downtown Wisconsin Dells (also known as the Strip). You can park on the street or the lots. It is free to park in winter but you must pay in summer. Museum of Root Beer is open daily 11-4 M-F, 10-5 on Saturdays, and 10-4 on Sundays. It is $6 to go through the museum. If you book ahead of time, you can do a guided tour before the museum opens with the owner for $30. You can also buy a glass of root beer to take with you while you explore the museum. 

The museum is not big but there is sure a lot of Root Beer items and history in the small space. It is not cramped but very well done.

I liked all the random root beer bottles which mostly came from one person's collection. 

The movie, and I'm one not to watch the movie, is very well done. There a many root beer commercials at the end. 

The one thing that shocked me was root beer shampoo. I like root beer but I do not want to smell like it.

There was even recipes to make your own root beer at the very end.

After I explored the museum, I opted to get a flight of root beer. For $5.50 I was able to sample 4 craft root beers from around the Midwest: 

1919 Draft Root Beer from  New Ulm Brewing & Beverage Company in Sleepy Eye, MN

Snowcap from Titletown Brewing in Green Bay

Blumers Root Beer from Minhas Brewery in Monroe

Point Premium Root Beer from Point Brewery in Stevens Point

My favorite was the Snowcap. It was creamy and delicious. Blumers was a close second. 

I definitely would recommend the Museum of Root Beer the next time you are in the Dells even if it is just for some root beer or root beer floats on a hot summer day.

AP US Mini Golf Tour 2022: Wisconsin Dells, WI

 We were in Reedsburg for the Ohio Valley Regional Tournament this year for Babe Ruth. We got into town a day early to meet with the local people in charge and found ourselves with a free evening since the coaches' meeting was moved to the next morning. After a delicious dinner at River's Edge Pub & Grub, it was time to some mini golf. 

Wisconsin Dells or The Dells is about 20 minutes from Reedsburg and offered two choices for mini golf. Pirates Cove or Timber Falls. The hubby wanted to play Pirates Cove. 

Pirates Cove offered 5 different courses -- 3 challenging courses and 2 easier courses. It is $10 for one course and each additional course is $5 as long as you buy it on the same day. We decided to play two courses. The second course was actually good up to one year. 

We started out on a challenging course -- Pirate's Challenge. After a walk up to the course, we started play. The course was pirate themed. 

I didn't find it too challenging and beat the hubby 48-50. I shot 2 over par which is really good for me.

Victory Stance

The second course was supposed to easier since every hole was a par 2. It really wasn't easier. The hubby and I both got hole in ones -- only time that night. We ended up tying. 44-44. 8 over par. So definitely not easier.

So far this year I am 1-1-1 in mini golf with possibly 2 more times out unless I find mini golf that is open in the UP in October. Will I finally take the crown or will lose in utter defeat again? Stay tuned the next couple of weeks to find out.

The Great Dells Adventure of 2017

When Stacy and I picked Wisconsin Dells area for our Girl's Weekend this year, I had a few things I wanted to do and the rest we kind of decided spur of the moment based on those tourist brochures that are found in every structure within a 20 mile radius of the Dells or random signs outside the attraction. This proved VERY interesting at times.. especially in the age of apps like Yelp and Trip Adviser.

Below is a recap of all things touristy we did in last 48 hours... this does not include Circus World Museum or our nature adventures...more on those another night. This is strictly what happens when we don't properly educate ourselves before checking out an attraction.

Wisconsin Dells Riverwalk
This is one of those things that was on the bucket list. After a few minor direction issues, we managed to find the Riverwalk.  It is located on "The Strip" -- a section of town that has all the tourist shops, restaurants, and many of the attractions.  The Riverwalk is 1/4 mile path along with Wisconsin River.

For the most part there are not great views of the river... it's blocked by foliage. However, there is one nice look out point that would be great for viewing the sunset. It is only 1 directional so when you get to the end, you have to turn around and come back. If you need a breather from the hustle and bustle of the strip, you will find it here.

Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty
We decided to hit this for breakfast before going to Circus World. It was actually two fold... I allowed me to cross it off the bucket list and it would fill us up so we didn't really need lunch. We got there about 8:45 and had about a 10 minute wait to get seated. The line was out the door when we got there. Once we get inside they gave us a number (not quite sure what it was for) and paid for our meal. It is all family style... just like it would have been at a logging camp.

For breakfast we had homemade donuts, pancakes, ham, sausage, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, and hash browns. If we finished a dish, they offered to bring us more. The only thing we actually finished was the donuts and did get more of those.The dishes weren't huge but plenty for 2 people. Everything came out hot and rather quickly. It was one of the best breakfasts I had in long time and those donuts were amazing.

It is $12.95 for adults which for all the food you get is really reasonable.

Lost Canyon Tours
We found this one in the stack of brochures the rental place left in our room. The last time I was on this I was still in utero. We could have chosen to do a boat tour or even the Ducks but I've done both and this was something different. It is a horse drawn wagon ride through a canyon. The tour only lasts about 30 minutes and was $13.95. The best part was it's off the strip but only a 10 minute drive from downtown Wisconsin Dells.

A team of draft horses pulls a wagon of 15 people plus an entertaining guide through the deepest ad longest land canyon in Wisconsin. The canyon is made of layers of limestone (I think) that have been eroded away through millions of years of nature's force. Because of the sandy bottom of the canyon, there is usually standing water in places making it difficult for a walking tour through the canyon so the horses do all the dirty work.

This was totally worth the price. Between the nature beauty of the canyon and our entertaining guide, it was a great ride. It is something I would do again with someone who has never been before.

Mount Olympus
Most people spend a day or even a week here... Stacy and I spent 2 hours max here. I got us discounted tickets online which is partially why we could justify spending so little time here.

Mount Olympus is on the bucket list. Mount Olympus was added to the bucket list back when it was just a theme park and I wanted to ride the go karts through the Trojan Horse. Now it's a resort/water park/theme park sprawling oasis of adventure. I really only wanted to ride a go-kart and a roller coaster and for $8 we did that.

Honestly between the massive amounts of people and the general craziness of the place, I was ready to leave when we got there. I love water slides but I don't like them with 1000s of other people in my space. Guess that's what happens when you become an adult.

We did the Trojan Horse go-karts after waiting in line for about 45 minutes for 2 laps around the track and I didn't even get to go up the Trojan Horse... it has been closed for years. Apparently they don't make those cars for average people like me. I seriously had issues getting in and out of the car. I may have bruises to prove it.

Because we were hungry we picked the roller coaster with the shortest wait which turned out to Zeus. Again average sized me was too wide to fit in the narrow seats so we were squished in them. All the roller coasters at Mt. Olympus are wooden coasters. The best way to describe Zeus was a wooden Shockwave at Great American without the loops -- it banged you around that much. I'm surprised my entire right side isn't a giant bruise.

Will I spend an entire day at Mount Olympus in the future... maybe... you will just have to find me another really good deal, ensure a whole lot less people, and that still may not be enough.

Museum of Historic Torture Devices
Stacy is still questioning my sanity and I am still questioning why this is even on the bucket list. Given that Stacy and I both have seen torture devices in Regensburg during our first trip to Germany, we were still slightly disturbed by this place. It might had to do with the "Halloween decorations" aka skeletons and mutilated bodies depicting the torture.

The scope of the museum was impressive. There were a medieval torture devices, religious torture devices, and things that even made me cringe. One section of the museum was devoted to John Wayne Gacy which I found very interesting.

Since we only paid $8 because of a special, it was almost worth it. Anything over $8 would have been pricey for this 2 room museum.  If you don't mind blood, guts, and gore and find yourself with nothing better to do in the Dells, wander down this alley by the Krazy Mirror Maze for a history of the dark side. I don't recommend this for kids unless you want a lot of questions.

The Glockenspiel
Stacy and I are suckers for a good glockenspiel. We stumbled upon this one while wandering the strip. Okay so I knew it was there....

The Glockenspiel tells the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlein every hour on the hour. We got lucky to score a parking spot right across from the Glockenspiel a few minutes past 8 and sat in the car to watch the story.

It's Free, it's entertaining, and if you find yourself at the east end of The Strip at the top of the hour, take a few minutes to watch the Glockenspiel tell it's story.

Top Secret
This is where not checking Google or Trip Adviser before thinking $5 is great deal. All we knew we had to "solve" a mystery. Since we got our official Government ID pictures taken, we thought this would be cool. But we never got any instructions on how to solve the mystery of how the White House landed upside down in the Dells.

It was just a self-guided tour this place with everything glue to the ceiling.. until the aliens and big foot appeared. It really helped that we had a beer flight beforehand. It made it a lot more entertaining.

Me an Bigfoot

Do me a favor, skip this regardless how enticing the $5 entrance fee sounds.

Lost Temple
This is another one of those cheesy tourist attraction that was a waste of $5. However it was better than Top Secret. This one was had an actual theme. We had to find the golden skull. Based on the screams of the group ahead of us, you thought they were being tortured... This one was a bit more hi-tech with things moving and giant spiders crawling on the floor. You still really didn't have to look for golden skull. You followed the path through the building and at the last display is a giant skull.

Again unless you having a burn desire to wander in a dark tomb for no reason or want to waste $5, you're better off renting Netflix or something.

The last 2 attractions were picked mainly because they were cheap and open late. Don't let that be the sole reason of visiting something. Needless to say we are done with cheesy tourist attractions for a while.

Besides a few bad choices, it was an action packed 36 hours in the dells and part of that was spent in Baraboo. We learned to make sure we have an actual plan of things we actually want to do beforehand instead of oh this sounds like fun let's do it. Maybe not even a plan... just a list of things we want and don't want to see will suffice.

4332. Go to Natural Bridge State Park in Baraboo

When Stacy and I were looking for other adventures to cross off the bucket list while in the Dells area, we discovered Pewit's Nest and Natural Bridge State Park weren't that far from each other. After exploring Pewit's Nest, we headed to Natural Bridge State Park in North Freedom.

Unlike most state parks, I have visit this one is in the middle of nowhere -- literally down a windy, hilly county highway. It is an unmanned state park so the park fee is by the honor system with envelopes and pay boxes. Neither Stacy or I had an cell reception... not a good thing since no one really knew where we were. At least my hubby knew I was going to state park.

The park consists of 1 main looping trail to the Natural Bridge and side trail up to a look out point. There is also an additional trail or two that cross the highway. There are some picnic tables and scary looking bathrooms -- not quite sure if there were just holes in the ground or actual toilets.

The trail, Indian Moccasin Nature Trail, up to the Natural Bridge is about 1/4 mile. It is a nice easy, informative trail with explanations of how the Native Americans used the medicinal plants.

Once we got to the Natural Bridge, it was impressive what nature can do as it is Wisconsin's Largest Natural Arch.

Below the Arch is Raddatz Rockshelter which was used by Indians and on the Natural Registry of Historic Places.

After snapping a few pictures, we headed up the lookout area. We had to pass a very large animal den that we hoped contained no creation looking for it's next meal.

Once we got to the lookout area, we were unimpressed. We literally looked across the rolling hills of the Dells... trees, trees, and more trees. We were kind of hoping for a lake.

The walk back took us past the scary animal den but we were lucky not to see the critter that lived inside. Overall we probably walked about a mile.. maybe a little more.

This is another great place to visit if you need to escape the Dells for an afternoon and don't want to bother with the bigger, busier state parks in the area including Devil's Lake. It is truly a hidden gem and I am glad I was able to hike another new trail this summer.