Visiting the Dells, cruising the Great Lakes and reaching for the stars

Dad never stopped in Wisconsin Dells, no matter how much I pleaded. 

We drove by the tourist town plenty of times during family vacations when I was a kid, because it was on the way to Elgin, Illinois. Mom had a bunch of aunts, uncles and cousins down there, and we usually camped in the area once a year or so. 

Elgin was fine, but Wisconsin Dells was the place I wanted to go. 

Now, Wisconsin Dells is known for its water parks. But this was back in the late 1970s/early 1980s and I'm not sure water parks were even invented then. People just jumped into lakes and rivers. I do know that I ached to ride on an old World War II duck boat, see Wes Harrison, "Mr. Sound Effects," do his show and watch a mock gunfight at Fort Dells.

But whenever I brought it up, the idea of stopping anywhere near Wisconsin Dells was immediately dismissed by Dad. "It's highway robbery!" he'd say, shaking his head. 

Later, when I was an adult, Mom and Dad took a vacation in Wisconsin Dells. They didn't go to a water park. But they went on the duck tour, saw Witches Gulch and went on some other tours. They loved it! I couldn't help be a bit irked as they raved on and on about the trip.

I still haven't spent much time at Wisconsin Dells. And there's plenty there that I still want to do, just about everything in this story by Chelsey Lewis: 

► Dells bucket list: 15 things you have to do in Wisconsin Dells beyond water parks

If Dad thought Wisconsin Dells was too expensive, I imagine that he would have flown into an apoplectic fit at the idea of spending about $6,000 for a luxury cruise along Wisconsin's Riviera. I tend to be pretty frugal when it comes to traveling, but even I think this is tempting:

► Great Lakes cruising season kicks off in Milwaukee with Viking Octantis, the largest cruise ship to sail the lakes

I'm always up for offbeat, interesting and unusual tourist attractions. It's hard for me to overstate how much I enjoyed, several years ago, a visit to the altogether excellent Kovac Planetarium:

► Northern Wisconsin's unique and compelling Kovac Planetarium survived COVID, money woes

Have you got any Wisco travel itches that you plan to scratch this summer? Shoot me an email at kuhlig@gannett.com. 

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Wisconsin groundbreakers

She's a Milwaukee native who joined the Milwaukee Fire Department in 2003.

"I am glad I'm the first," Sharon Purifoy-Smoots said of being the first Black woman to rise to the rank of assistant chief. "But, I know my first is not going to mean much to me unless I am directly responsible in getting the second and the third and the fourth here."

► Sharon Purifoy-Smoots becomes the first Black female to achieve rank of assistant chief in the Milwaukee Fire Department

The story of Giannis Antetokounmpo's epic journey from the hardscrabble streets of  Greece to Milwaukee and an NBA championship will be featured on Disney+.

► 'Rise,' the Disney+ movie about Giannis Antetokounmpo and his family, gets a release date. Watch the trailer.

Didja know? A Wisconsin fact drop

Didja know that the little town of Seymour claims to be the place where the first hamburger in history was served? Or is it? Daniel Higgins writes about how the television show "Messy History of American Food" dug into the story.

► Is Seymour truly the home of the hamburger? An episode of a new Discovery+ series presses for the truth

Contact Keith Uhlig at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.