Midwestern states like Wisconsin, or my home state of Michigan, are not exactly known for being exciting tourist locations.
However, my French roommate is on a mission to see as much of the U.S. as possible.
When she suggested we visit Wisconsin Dells this past weekend, I readily agreed.
It turned out to be a great trip, and I recommend any student with a free weekend to take it while the weather is still nice.
Our biggest obstacle was to find out how we were going to get to the Dells. It turns out that after acquiring a rental car, the destination is impressively easy to get to. It’s only about an hour and 45 minutes away from campus, and the directions literally involve driving west for an hour, then north. It’s so easy that my roommate, who has never driven a car on an American road before, and myself, who is a terrible navigator, were able to get there safely and efficiently.
My goal on the trip was to spend as much time appreciating nature as possible. When you spend the majority of your time on campus surrounded by concrete buildings and dodging loud, fuming cars, it’s refreshing to be somewhere that resembles the actual outdoors.
My roommate’s goal of the trip was to experience quintessential American tourism. Conveniently, the Wisconsin Dells fit both our requests.
Our first activity was a carriage tour that went past some of the rock formations the area is known for. It was a beautiful and informative ride, with great natural sunlight for selfie-taking. However, my roommate who has never heard a strong northern Wisconsin accent before, later confessed to me that she couldn’t understand a word the tour guide was saying.
Luckily, our next activity was hiking through the woods, which apart from spontaneously imitating birds, requires minimal communication. There air was fresh, and it was peaceful and quiet. Serenity is difficult to find on campus, but it’s everywhere when you are aimlessly walking among trees. It just takes a while to get out of the power-walking mode that we all use to dash from class to class.
Considering that what makes the Dells so impressive is their bodies of water, taking a boat tour was obligatory. We chose a two-hour long tour that stopped at two different scenic spots for admiring and picture taking. Although I was freezing from the wind, the water was gorgeous. I boasted proudly to my roommate, ‘This is what’s so great about America- the impressive and diverse landscape!’
Downtown Wisconsin Dells, however, is another a whole other story.
As an adversary of all things tourist, it boggles my mind how there can be multiple storefronts devoted to selling the same banal products: bad candy, silly t-shirts, cheap gifts, and shoddy attractions.
On the plus side, it was incredibly fun to explain weird touristy things to my roommate, such as what an old time western photo is, and why anyone would chose to eat at a clearly inauthentic ethnic restaurant.
Although I complain about it, we were not completely immune to cheap tourist attractions. I was convinced by my roommate to visit a water park after she strongly insisted. She pleaded, that she’s only ever been to a small one in France once. Understandably, it is impressive that there appears to be more water parks within a 5 mile radius of one another than there are actual residents of the Dells.
Visiting the water park turned out to be a ton of fun. Even if standing in line with elementary school kids while waiting to go down the water slide made us feel unusually old. However, considering how hard we work during the school week, every college student deserves to carelessly slide down a plastic water soaked tube every now and then.
Our trip was rounded out with a ride on one of the famous Wisconsin Dells duck boat tours. The duck boats, which can travel by both land and water are a must-do. Not only do they expose you to even more great Wisconsin vistas, but they are also one the most well-known attractions in the Dells.
After two days of hearing cheesy tour guide jokes, photographing interesting rocks, breathing in fresh air, and riding boats, I felt re-energized and eager return to campus.
And my roommate was happy to cross something off her long ‘U.S. study abroad’ list’.