Wisconsin Dells - Waterparkmania

Weather report at noon today: 82F (27C) and 69% humidity.

My daughter loves water and naturally begged me to take her to a waterpark. I hate waterparks, especially indoor ones, so naturally I decided if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right. We went to the Wisconsin Dells (about a 2 hour drive from Milwaukee) and spent 8 hours at Noah's Ark: "The LARGEST WATERPARK IN AMERICA!!!" I was afraid the name of the park would be prophetic and it would rain or I would end up wishing it would rain but it actually was really fun. Luckily it was hot because we ran around an amusement park in our swimsuits and bare feet all day. Most rides were totally fine for a middle-aged mom and a 9 year old child. On only one of them (a rubber saucer that they stick you in and then push you over what feels like a cliff onto a giant skateboard ramp that you slide down one side and up the other, hanging on for dear life) did my bloodcurling screams make a whole line of teenagers mock me in laughter. But it was okay! My favorite part was actually seeing a Sponge Bob Squarepants movie in "4-D" - in our bathing suits of course! I have an unexplainable love of Sponge Bob and my guffaws were surely the loudest of anyone in the theater.

My ex-colleague Dave in North Carolina asked me what one should do with a few days in Milwaukee in August. Well Dave, here are some suggestions of "typical" Milwaukeean things go do (mostly foody things since I guess you are working in the daytime):

1. Vist a Polish restaurant, like Polonez
2. Eat beer n brats at a pub in the third ward
3. Buy some brats to take home from Usinger's
4. Got to the Milwaukee Public Market downtown
5. Go to any restaurant or pub on a Friday for a Milwaukee Fish Fry (or The Comet Cafe on Farwell on any day of the week)
6. See a Brewer's game if they are in town
7. Take a walk/jog on the lake (you can also rent bikes/rollerblades/kites) there
8. Go to a festival (like Irishfest Aug 19-22)
9. Visit the Milwaukee Art Museum. If you don't like art, just go look at the building (Quadracci Pavillion), designed by Santiago Calatrava.
10. Go to a German restaurant, like Karl Ratzsch's Restaurant

If you have a couple of days off and have the kids with you then, of course, go to a waterpark!