What is a tourist trap? Does it have a different meaning than a touristy area? How well do you value a dollar? Does misery love company?
First, two weeks ago I wrote briefly about my 2-day trip to the Wisconsin Dells. I made a reference to visiting some tourist traps. That was wrong. A tourist trap is meant to overcharge or deceive you into wasteful spending. In hindsight, I did no such thing. Therefore, I misspoke, or in this case miswrote.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Dells boat tour. Being seated in the front row, close to the driver of our duck/boat, I was able to learn all about the Lake Delton flood of 2009, the conversion of the original inline 6-cylinder gas engine to a Cummins diesel and much history of the area. We did not buy the overpriced photos available after the tour.
The water park was fun, and I went on many thrilling plunges where I got very wet and a bit cold. Since the food and drink was outrageously priced, and they would not take cash, I became a participant in the trendy act of intermittent fasting. Who knew I could be trendy?
When I used the satellite image on my map app to look at the location of our hotel, it showed many tourist activities on the access road to the hotel. I did make it to the Ghost Outpost Haunted House and The Top-Secret Museum. They were mediocre at best thrills, but since they were relatively inexpensive, they do not qualify as a tourist trap.
The Top-Secret attraction is a cheesy replica of an upside-down White House. I was amused to walk through it, but the real treat was the three giant (30’ plus) welded art Transformer characters fabricated out of mostly used car parts in the parking lot. I could not stop marveling at the creativity and perseverance to create these realistic statues.
My hotel was so new that a Google Earth image did not show it; it showed a forest. It had multiple pools and dining venues as well as a large dragon statue at its entrance that would breathe fire every 20 minutes. The Dells is indeed a very touristy area, and depending on your financial acumen, it presents a few potential tourist traps. There were several times when I saw different activities or events outrageously priced. If you avoid the temptation of impulsive spending, there are many values for your dollar.
Back at home, the end of August finally brought some dry weather to allow farmers like me to play catch-up with hay baling. After 5 days of baling and another 7 days of dry weather forecasted, I cut hay like crazy to help pay for my last as well as my future vacations. Sunday the 31st of August and Monday the 1st of September brought intermittent drizzle and rain that spoiled that perfect forecast and lots of hay. My wife driving to work in Kankakee and some friends traversing Will County told me that it looked like almost every hay field in the area was cut and receiving an unexpected bath. I felt better about my hay baling misfortunes reasoning that misery loves company.
I think I speak for all when I say we have seen enough rain and violent storms. Harvest is just around the corner; I sure hope our grain harvest goes smoother than the last several days in the hay field. If misery loves company, this is company no one wants around.
0 Comments