Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Novella-length magazine articles have gushed about the, well, left-handed grandeur and
spectacle of its true-blue Americana, anything-can-happen overkill. Cynical scribes come
and near-religious epiphanies ensue over this Shangri-La—contrived solely to club tourists
over the head aesthetically. This is the grandest shakedown of them all in Dairyland, mere
miles from the amok-dom of the Wisconsin Dells. Best of all, it all goes down less than 10
miles from that enclave to natural architecture—that altar to an ego, that House that Wright
Built—Taliesin, in Spring Green.
Come to Wisconsin and you absolutely cannot miss this eighth-dimension tourist trap's
ad barrage—Wisconsin's version of a two-drink minimum. Way back in the 1940s,
otherwise-sane Alex Jordan literally stumbled over a 60-foot candlelike outcropping in the
Wyoming Valley. Intending to construct a weekend retreat and artists' haven, Jordan some-
how or other wrestled the original structure into completion atop the chimney. Bit by bit,
this architectural gem began to transmogrify into what it is today—the original house atop
the rock, plus several other mind-blowing rooms and add-ons, all stuffed with the detritus
that Jordan accumulated through a lifetime, much of it museum-worthy in quality or scope.
The catalog: Mill House, Streets ofYesterday,Heritage ofthe Sea, Pizza Atrium, Trans-
portation Building, Music of Yesterday, World's Largest Carousel (20,000 lights and 275
handcrafted wooden animals, not one of which is a horse), Organ Room (three of the
world's greatest right here), and so on ad nauseam.
The best? Try the loopy Infinity Room, a glassed-in room that spikes 218 feet over the
valley floor.
But a list doesn't do it justice—it isn't just a selection of junk; it's a wild, shotgun-
spatteredAtticoftheDamned.Isitart?IsitagiantRorschachtestofthementalwildsofan
inspired eccentric? Well, equal parts all, perhaps, but an indescribable feeling of visionary
honesty pervades the place—never a feeling that it's all a sham or simple stupid overindul-
gence. The method to the madness is there.
Manyvisitorsoverlookwhataremarkableartisticanddesignachievementitwas.Jordan
never failed to think of how the visitor would see it all, from the 30-mile-panorama obser-
vationdeckstothefloraldisplays.ThosedevotedtotackinesshavefoundtheirMecca;best
of all, even jaded tourist hacks have to shake their heads and grin.
You can experience all of this March 15 through the last weekend in October. High sea-
sonhoursare9am-duskJune-September,shorterhoursfortherestofseason.Therearealso
specialholidayseasons.Threetoursareoffered:Youcanforkover$12eachortakeapack-
age of $28.50 for the whole slew.
