Vacation, or Field Trip?

Have I told you about my family vacations? Then buckle up.

The very first thing you should know is that my family does not go on vacation. We go on field trips.

As odd as it might sound, my family is touring museums and educational sites, rather than hitting the pool in the motel. Which is why we're usually a little more tired and cranky then when we left, because we are going to so many places that there is barely any time to breathe.

For example: When I was in elementary school, I was maybe like 8 or 9, we took a three week "vacation" through most of the western half of the US. We did the junior ranger program at 9 national parks and monuments (such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon). We also visited two Laura Ingalls sites, traveled into Canada, visited my aunt in Tucson, went into Mexico with her, and visited my great-grandparents homestead in North Dakota. I also did the splits over the Four Corners, which was maybe my greatest personal achievement/memory from that trip. (FYI, and this might be TMI, but I can still do the splits, and tuck my feet behind my head. Just saying...) We learned so much during that trip, and took so many pictures. So now that you know my family's philosophy a little better, I'd like to get on my soap box for a little while and preach about one of the greatest overlooked places for a field trip, Kilbourn City, Wisconsin.

Some of you might be saying, "Kilbourn? Hmm, not quite sure where that is." Others, maybe you do know that Kilbourn now goes by a different name: Wisconsin Dells. Actually, its interesting to note, into the 1930's, the natural area was called the Dells of Wisconsin, and the actual city was still Kilbourn, until the advertising department discovered it was best to just call the area Wisconsin Dells. Another interesting fact, if you are in the downtown dells, if you go back like three or four blocks out of the tourist area, the library, fire department, and post office are all still marked Kilbourn. Which leads me to one of my nit-picky irritations.

When you visit this area, what do you say you visited? Do you say A) The Wisconsin Dells, B) Wisconsin Dells, or C) the Dells? Because to me, these are almost three completely different areas, yet most people tend to use any or all no matter where they went. Let me define in my mind what I picture each of these names meaning.
A) The Wisconsin Dells means you visited both the touristy water parks, shopping, that kind of thing, AND the natural/historical areas, such as going on the boat or duck tours, or visiting H.H. Bennett's studio.

B) Wisconsin Dells is simply the tourist traps and as most of my friends say "the fun stuff".

C) the Dells is the natural area that made Kilbourn famous, through the photography of Henry Hamilton Bennett.

Maybe next time, you'll be a little more careful what you say. Although, I'm probably a little crazy about this. It just bothers me though, that people basically state they visited everything the area has to offer, when instead they stood in lines at a water park, went bowling, and then went to the outlet mall. Guess what? Tomah has a small water park, there's bowling in La Crosse, and I know its not an outlet mall, but we have a mall in Onalaska/La Crosse. I'm sure its probably a little cheaper to do those things here.

I guess one of the reasons I love the area of The Wisconsin Dells, is that just a few miles away are some amazing other historical stops. Such as Baraboo. Baraboo was home to the wintering quarters for the Ringling Brothers' Circus, which is now immortalized in Circus World Museum. It also boasts an International Clown Hall of Fame, and the Al Ringling Theater is only a few hundred seats away from being the first movie palace in the country. Also near Baraboo is the International Crane Foundation, which has a pair of each remaining species of crane in the world all on their grounds. They also are working on the reintroduction/rehabilitation of the Whooping Crane in Wisconsin. Another city of note would be North Freedom, which is home to the Midcontient Railway Museum, which allows patrons to sit back and enjoy the surrounding scenery while aboard rail cars from years gone by.
So, the Wisconsin Dells is an amazing area to learn. Despite the fact the Indian Ceremonials have not taken place in years, the area still calls visitors to step back in time and observe and learn about what a unique geological and historical area this was/still is. So I will get off my soap box dear ones, and leave you with a few pictures from this years excursion to Kilbourn and Baraboo.