On This Date in 1998: April 11

In spite of our being away from home, on vacation if only for a day, we were all in bed by ten o’clock last night.  After the conclusion of an animated version of “Robin Hood” on the Disney Channel, the boys argued over what to watch next.  I said I’d make the choice and told Andy, in control of the remote, to surf through the selections.  He stopped at a rerun of “Mad About You”, which JoAnna quickly endorsed.  Andy agreed with Mom’s choice, and Eddie made no comment.  I’m not particularly fond of this show; I would have preferred a further exploration of our choices.  After 5 minutes, I took off my glasses turned onto my stomach, and let the drone of the TV soothe me to sleep.

            
After our initial visits to the pools yesterday afternoon, we cruised the main streets of Wisconsin Dells and neighboring Lake Delton looking for a place to eat dinner.   Prior to our departure from the Aloha Pavilion, the larger of the two indoor pool areas, Andy had been urging us on with his insistent pleas, “I’m really hungry!:  Back at our room, I checked the yellow pages listings in the phone book.  JoAnna wanted fish, which immediately brought a whiny and negative reaction from Andy.  We assured him that any restaurant we went to would have other items on the menu.

            
I recalled a placed I had eaten at last year, after a librarians’ meeting at the new Wisconsin Dells public library.  We found it located right next to Fischer’s Supper Club, the one listing in the phone book that had caught my attention.  The Cheese House (had forgotten the name of the restaurant) serves a specialized menu with a lot of vegetarian items.  No fish.  So we ended up at the supper club, which has a very stylish, almost 1930s/1940s Hollywood ambiance.  Low ceilings.  Dim, but not dark, lighting.  The spacious floor plan eliminates a feeling of confinement or crowdedness, though.

            
This being the off-season, we were seated immediately.  JoAnna ordered salmon and I ordered the broiled cod, which we shared, and the boys selected chicken strips from the kids’ menu.  Before our meals arrived, though, we were served a basket of rolls, which included warmed corn fritter with honey butter, and a relish tray, the signature supper club side dish.  The food was excellent.  Jo’s baked potato looked tasty, and my hash browns were done to perfection, crunchy on the outside, initially hot to the taste on the inside.  I could have made a meal of a plateful of them.

            
Back at the hotel, we spent another two hours at the pools before calling it a day.  While the boys frolicked in the waterslide and basketball pools in the Aloha Pavilion, Mom and Dad retreated to the glass enclosed Tiki Bar & Grill, where we played Casino (a two-handed card game) and drank margaritas (just one apiece).

On This Date in 1998: Friday, April 10

It’s Good Friday afternoon.  JoAnna took the day off, and I worked a short day, from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.  I would have gone in earlier, but the crown work JoAnna was having done at the dentist took longer than expected.

“They had to make two impressions,” she explained.

In less than an hour, we should be on the road to Wisconsin Dells.  We have a reservation at the Polynesian, a hotel with a indoor water park.  These types of establishments, and there must be at least a dozen of them now, have helped to revive the Dells’ economy, which is primarily built on tourism.  It makes the area less dependent on the summer months.

We’re staying just one night, at least that was the original plan.  We don’t have any plans for Easter Sunday, outside of giving the house some attention and continuing with the early season yard work.  Last Saturday I swept off the patio, cleaned all the patio furniture, brought out the picnic table umbrella, and set up the swing.  Then I turned over the soil in the area by the patio where we always plant annuals and spread the extra soil over the area where we dug up two cedars last fall.  I need to begin some serious lawn doctoring.  The front, at least the portion near our bedroom window, is suffering from some blight, which I think I correctly identified last year, but now the name escapes me.  The back, the “center strip” area specifically, never fully recovered from the summers of waffle ball and kickball, four years ago now, I would guess, and is usually under a wide canopy of shade provided by the silver maples.  Maybe we need professional help.

                                                            Later in the day

We checked into our room at 4:15 and immediately changed into our swim wear.  The hotel has two indoor pool areas, one of them just a few steps from our room. We managed to find a patio table and four chairs in spite of the crowd.   The hotel has 250 rooms, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve already hung out the “no vacancy” sign.  In fact, my guess is that no rooms are available this or most weekend without a reservation.  The Chicago Sun -Times recently ran a feature story on the Dells in its travel section and named the Polynesian as the best place for families with children under 12.   It certainly is a kid-friendly place.  None of the pools is designed for adults, which is the reason I remain in my chair and provide you with a report of our overnight getaway.

Outside, it’s almost warm enough to swim – in a well-heated pool anyway.  The temperature hit 60°, according to the digital display on the van’s dashboard.  The sky is clear so an uninterrupted sun is warming the air.  The hotel has an extensive outdoor waterplay area, but that probably doesn’t begin operating until Memorial Day.  I can imagine the crowd here then!