On Sunday, July 27, we headed North into Wisconsin for our next adventure! Our first stop is Pardeeville, WI, about 35 miles North of Madison in Central Wisconsin. We had a late start from home since the campground has a strict 4pm check-in time – most campgrounds are 1 or 2pm check-in, this is the latest we’ve experienced. Since it was only a 200 mile trip, we didn’t head out until about noon, and our timing was perfect – we arrived just a few minutes before 4pm!

Like so much of the country, Wisconsin is also experiencing a blistering heatwave with heat indices above 100 degrees…but we didn’t let that stop us! On Monday, we drove about 30 miles West to Baraboo, WI, also known as “Circus City”. The Ringling Brothers called Baraboo home, and their circus’s winter home was located in Baraboo until 1918. We headed to “Circus World”, a wonderful homage to Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus, plus several other circuses that started in Baraboo. Circus World has the world’s largest collections of circus wagons and circus posters. The site is also home to a National Historic Landmark, the buildings of Ringlingville where costumes, props, posters, and artifacts, plus some animals, were housed.

It’s a fun place from the moment you step foot onto the grounds, from the clown-face trash cans to the red & white tent. We saw their fantastic Big Top Show, full of trapeze artists, jugglers, clowns, unicyclists, and more – everything you’d expect from a circus. It was just one ring (not three!), but was full of energy and excitement…fun for all ages, for sure! It was a bit warm under the tent, but we had our neck fans (a gift from my cousin who lives in South Florida and knows how useful they can be!)

Their collection of wagons is so impressive. Some are simple, but many are ornate. They’re full of life, color, and energy – definitely fitting for a circus. I was impressed by the detail and the intricate carving on so many of them.

I noticed how colorful and unique the wheels were, so I took some photos of those, too!

I loved looking at their poster collection – the artwork was so beautiful and creative – and knowing that it was all done by hand and then reproduced by a lithography company – made it even more impressive.

A couple of quotes that sum up the circus nicely…

After Circus World, we continued on the theme and visited the Al Ringling Mansion. Al was one of the five Ringling brothers, and his former home is open for tours (and offers refreshments in the attached taproom). The home was built in 1906 and is full of items that belonged to several of the brothers. It certainly speaks to how financially lucrative the circus business was back in the early 1900s!

Tuesday, we headed a little bit further North to the Wisconsin Dells. It’s probably most famous for being the “Waterpark Capital of the World”, but there’s so much natural beauty in the area!

The Dells were named by French Explorers who named the area “Dalles”, which means layers of flat rock – the area is full of layers of Cambrian sandstone. “Wisconsin” means dark, rushing waters…so the area is officially “dark, rushing waters with layers of flat rock” and that sums it up nicely (but Wisconsin Dells is easier to say!). The dark color of the water is attributed to the presence of tannic acid.

We took a boat tour of the Upper Dells which is the only way to visit the two highlights of the area, Witches Gulch and Stand Rock. The tour guide and boat captain were wonderful – they shared lots of interesting facts, and more than a few jokes. Our tour guide even treated us to a verse of “O Sole Mio” since he was a retired opera singer! It was an unusual boat tour in that we actually got off the boat twice. Our first stop was Witches Gulch. What an amazing place – so much to see as you walk through the rock formations!

Our second stop was Stand Rock which features towering sandstone formations. We all gathered to watch a border collie leap from one tower to the other, and back again. They have three different dogs who complete this feat for each tour group that comes through.

The area is just breathtakingly beautiful, and a complete contrast to the rest of the Wisconsin Dells which is SO touristy. Thankfully, the commercial development didn’t spread to the banks of the river!

From there, we decided to check out Mirror Lake State Park. We took the short “Echo Rock” trail for some nice views of the lake (it’s not nearly as beautiful as Mirror Lake in the Adirondacks of NY. Just sayin’.) and the namesake Echo Rock. It was unbelievably quiet and peaceful along the trail, and it was shady enough that the heat was bearable.

While we were on the trail, we had a view through the trees of Wisconsin’s most famous Supper Club, Ishnala. Wisconsin is known for Supper Clubs, and Ishnala is among the best, so we drove over to see it up close. It definitely wins on location – the views are beautiful! It’s been there for 72 years, and is known for the “Old Fashioned” cocktail.

Wednesday was a full day of rain. Fortunately, we knew it was coming and did all of our outdoor things on Monday and Tuesday. We spent the morning at the campground, and then ventured out in the afternoon to the Wisconsin Dells Craft Mall which was a fun way to spend some time indoors. We also checked out the local outlet mall which was mobbed since everyone was looking for some indoor activities on a rainy day! The best part of the rain was the cooler air it brought with it…finally a break in the heat! Thursday morning, the weather cooperated I was able to get out for a walk around the campground – it’s really pretty with a large lake in the middle and tons of mature trees.

That wraps up the first part of this trip; now we’re packing up and heading East to Racine for a few more days in Wisconsin…with beautiful weather in the forecast! Yay!