Summer approaches. But this will be the first without the Wonder Spot of the Wisconsin Dells.The resonance of youthful laughter and elderly fingers scratching their own balding heads in amazement has been replaced by roaring eighteen wheelers and stereo "boom systems" belonging to ill-mannered teenage drivers. "Progress" reigns while the nobel tourist is left to wonder why life has turned so cold. Wonder Spot we already miss you. (This has been another touching edition of "Kirk's People.")
As a child, spending the weekend in the Wisconsin Dells was an annual tradition; the Wonder Spot was always one of the first places we would visit each year. I still have video footage of myself taking one step into the house and faceplanting no less than a second later.
ReplyDeleteWater flowed upward, you could sit on a two-legged chair and do 45-degree pull-ups; all thanks to the mysterious power of a gravitational forcefield. I can only imagine what's going to happen to the unfortunate souls that have to drive through that patch of new highway at night; especially when the tides are in.
I went to Wisconsin Dells with my wife last month, and although the famous sign for the Wonder Spot was still there, it was somber to know that we couldn't visit the house again.
(Cue 'Where have all the flowers gone?')
I just wannted to let ya know that I really enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeletecdp- Thanks for sharing the memories. It's especially cool that you were a regular. That footage of yours really belongs on YouTube you know.
ReplyDeleteGood point about the new drivers. That would have made a good X-Files episode...
"Hey Scully, turns out this stretch of deadly highway was built on an old tourist attraction..."
Anyway, you're still lucky to be so close to the Dells.
michael- Hey, I appreciate it!
Thanks for reading.
Kirk,
ReplyDeleteWe have a tourist spot here in West Virginia that is almost exactly the same type of gravitation-defying attraction, called "The Mystery Hole." The grounds of the place are decorated with all manner of weird cultural ephemera - half a volkswagen body planted into the building, a large fiberglass gorilla overlooking the entrance, etc - your kind of place, to be exact. The brood and I plan to visit this summer, since it's been a while and it's just reopened under new ownership. I'll try to take some pics this time...