We just got back on Sunday from our "honeymoon," which was really just a whirlwind weekend away to Wisconsin Dells and House on the Rock. A "mini-moon," if you will. (Which also either sounds like something entirely inappropriate, or a slightly momentous lunar event.)
I've wanted to take Mark there ever since I went with Jessica, Sandi, and Kim several years ago. I thought it was the most magical place I'd ever been to, and still generally speak of it in a wistful, awed tone of voice.
Plus, we're watching American Gods (omg it's so good) right now, so it only seemed fitting to go (even if they didn't actually get to House on the Rock this season). We also wanted to go somewhere we haven't been together, and somewhere we didn't know anyone. Wisconsin fit the bill pretty well.
The thing about us is that was really suck at vacations.
We do. We actually kindof dread going. We're overbooked introverts, after all. We pounce on things like "free time" and "staying home." So the idea of taking that precious free time, getting in a car, and paying to stay somewhere that's not home? It's not the most appealing, to be honest.
But, we pry ourselves away from our couch and our comfort zone anyway. Because, well, adventure is out there, right?
In American Gods, Thursday explains to Shadow that tourist traps are "places of power." They draw people in, without reason or explanation. And that's exactly what House on the Rock is. It's unexplainable, indefinable. My mom has asked me for years what House on the Rock is, and I still don't have a good answer for her.
It's somewhere between a waking dream and a nightmare. It's a hallucination. It's a curated obsession. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
And, best of all, it doesn't try to. There's nothing else in the world like it. And that's why people go. That's why we went. It's why I've been twice, and why I would go again.
It was, in spite of our general trepidation about vacations, a very good trip. We stayed in a kitschy motel in the Wisconsin Dells complete with a hot tub (and a shower that was probably from the 70s). We ate at touristy places and did touristy things like take pictures and buy cheese and souvenirs and take an "old-timey" photo.
We spent the whole weekend alone together (which was a huge step up from my first honeymoon that we basically spent with friends) and did exactly as we pleased.
And we returned exhausted and with plans to go back in the future, Kaylee in tow.
Maybe vacations aren't so bad, particularly if you're with the right person.
Just don't expect us to go on another one anytime soon.
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