But one place that does seem to have more than its fair share of the odd and the unusual - I wouldn't always say weird, exactly - is Southern Wisconsin.
Exhibit A: House on the Rock. This is a house. A big house. Built on a rock. A big rock. And it's full of crazy collections of stuff ranging from glassware to carousel ponies. I'd been there years ago so didn't stop this trip, but no discussion of Wisconsin's oddities can begin anywhere else. If you've never been there, go.
For many states, House on the Rock would be odd enough, and people might be satisfied by rounding things out with a couple of goofy stores to be considered weird. But not Wisconsin. No, for Badgers, House on the Rock is simply a beginning. It's inspiring.
Take nature. Don't get me wrong - Wisconsin is a beautiful place. And I've never seen any natural features as weird as those in West Texas. Still, it's odd to be driving along and see giant rocks protruding from the earth with nothing else around them but a few trees.
This is near Fort Douglas which appears to have no particular reason to exist other than a couple of gas stations and being near the trailhead for the Omaha Bike Trail.
Of course, that is plenty of reason to exist as far as I'm concerned. This trail is apparently a rails-to-trails project so it's not very hilly, and they say that it goes through a tunnel which also sounds cool. Actually, this week it sounds darned cold, as does anything that involves being outside for any period of time. Perhaps I'll put that on the list for my next trip to the northland.
Wisconsin has a town named Baraboo, which you'll have to admit is an odd name. It is home to Circus World, a large circum museum housed in the area that used to be the winter quarters for Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling Brothers lived here in the late 1800's, and five of them started the circus. One of the brothers, Otto, was the business genius of the family, and that helped the company grow from a fairly small enterprise to a very large one. There are exhibits about each brother, and Otto's includes the caption "Shrewd Main of Principle: Honesty and Other Successful Policies." I find that whole line to be very funny but I'm having trouble explaining why.
Anyhoo, back in the late 19th century circuses were pretty shady places and not cheating (or flat out stealing from) your customers was actually an innovation that Ringling Brothers brought to the business. They hired uniformed police officers to stand around to make people feel safer.
You may be curious about Otto's "other successful policies." Immediately under the sign about honesty, there is a panel that describes how the Ringlings controlled a large share of the circus market by 1911, through a combination of acquisition (they bought Barnum & Bailey) and negotiated market splitting arrangements with other circuses to avoid "costly billing wars" and "competing in the same towns." This is a "successful policy" that some socialistic do-gooder might call "monopoly" and which said socialistic do-gooder might consider to be anti-consumer. But hey, it was successful.
Strained ethics aside, Circus World was a good stop, even in very cold weather. It would be more fun during the summer, when a large number of outside activities are available. As it was, I ran as fast as my icy little legs would carry me from the main building to the W.W. Deppe Circus Wagon Pavilion and stayed in the unheated building as long as my icy little fingers would let me. It was well worth the risk of frostbite, as it is the largest collection of circus wagons in the world.
Their collection includes wagons about virtue:
America:
Foreign lands:
Animals, and general splendor:
There are several dozen wagons from a variety of circuses, and they're all impressive.
Circuses aren't exactly odd, but they have some odd characteristics (and odd characters, for that matter) so I think Circus World fits in my "Unusual Wisconsin" theme.
(While at Circus World I saw a sign put up by the Wisconsin tourism people, advertising all the historical landmarks in Wisconsin, and it said, "Find your place in history and go there." I absolutely love that.)
Actually, I hadn't planned to go to Baraboo. My friend Deb had told me about this place called "Forevertron" which is a bunch of sculptures made from scrap metal (we're back on the "odd" theme now.) Trip Advisor told me that it was just south of Baraboo, sort of on the way to Madison, and it was on the way to Forevertron that I discovered Circus World. This seems to be the way things always happen.
You might argue with me over whether Circus World is weird but there can be no disagreement about Forevertron. Let's start with the directions: "About five miles south of Baraboo on U.S. 12, behind Delaney's Surplus, across the highway from the Badger Army Ammunition Plant." These are only slightly better directions than my father gave me to find the house in Marksville where he last lived 65 years ago.
When you get there, here's the first thing you see.
There are several similar sculptures made from old and very large pieces of metal. But the real reason to stop is to see Forevertron itself, advertised as the largest scrap metal sculpture on earth. (There's a lot of focus in this part of Wisconsin on being the biggest. It's that Midwestern lack of self-confidence, I think.)
Tragically, the way you see Forevertron is by going into a scrap yard that is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Since I was driving through on Wednesday, all I could do was peak through the fence. The statue, I believe, is the thing that looks a little like a steeple in the middle of the picture, in the back.
Not such a great shot and I was disappointed. Still, if I hadn't been looking for Forevertron I'd not have found Circus World, so everything worked out okay.
I'd planned to spend a day or two in Madison. Luckily, my friend Barb told me that while Madison is a pretty town, Milwaukee is much more interesting. She was right. Madison is new and clean and bright and shiny. Milwaukee is old and grimy and industrial and ethnic. In other words, it's real and can therefore be loved. You've all read The Velveteen Rabbit, right? (If you haven't, consider that to be your homework for the day.)
I arrived in Milwaukee just in time for rush hour, as has become my habit, and instantly liked the place. You'll have to wait a while to hear more details.
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