Wanna get away? Wisconsin Dells

As I alluded to in my "Tickle Me Tuesday" post, I spent last weekend with my family in the Wisconsin Dells celebrating my cousin Jessica's Birthday.

Now, those who live in Wisconsin have most definitely heard of 'The Waterpark Capital of the World'.

The rest of the world either hasn't heard of it, or wonders why they would put it in Wisconsin of all places...

No matter which boat you're in, the Wisconsin Dells is definitely a place you should check out. There is plenty to do and the whole town has a, 'walk around in your bare feet, everything is fairly inexpensive and 50% of the people have tattoos', kind of feel to it.

Aside from the plentiful indoor waterparks (we are talking about Wisconsin after all, there's got to be something to do for the other nine months out of the year) there are two major attractions in The Dells: Mt. Olympus and Noah's Ark 'America's Largest Waterpark'.

My cousin Loni happens to currently work for Noah's Ark, so she was able to get us in for free.

Loni is on the left and Jess is on the right.

I hadn't been to Noah's Ark for twelve years, which is crazy just to say. (God I'm getting old.) It was as much fun as I remembered but of course you have the crowds to deal with when the weather is beautiful and its a Saturday.

As I stated in my 'Weekend Wisdom', make sure you get there early and grab a spot in the shade for the times you need a respite from the heat.

The park doesn't allow you to bring food in, but they do have a number of picnic areas scattered throughout the parking lot. My Aunt Lynn is an amazing woman and managed to bring along a feast in honor of Jess's Birthday. (She included the Summer Salsa which will be in a later post because this thing is AMAZING). Noah's Ark is also really good about accommodating groups. For only $75 you can reserve an area for the whole day as long as you have more than 15 people.

Oh! And check out this grape! Yes, that's right, its a grape. Crazy heh?

It's really hard to do everything in one day, especially on a Saturday, but we were there from open to close. (9am to 8pm). It was so much fun.

We also explored other things that The Dells has to offer. The downtown part of The Dells is known for cute, inexpensive shops, yummy restaurants and stores which sell candy, fudge and cheese. Mmmm

Loni and I entertaining ourselves as we waited for our sister's fashion show.

We checked out Marley's for a bite to eat as well as taking a peek at there club. It switched locations a year or two ago and is super nice now.

You can eat inside or outside on there patio. They have live music most nights of the week. This guy was really, really good. And not too shabby to look at either... :)

The food was amazing! And there drink specials were wonderful. We'll definitely come back.

We popped our head in and took a look at there club. It opens at 9pm, but naturally the party doesn't get started until later. It looks pretty neat and they had flat screens on the wall which showed how busy they get later on in the evening. But we didn't want to wait around that long, so we headed downtown to shop. The stores stay open until Midnight!

The Wisconsin Dells is a great place to go for a weekend or a week. If you're not into waterparks and theme parks you can take it easy on Lake Delton or hike around the area. It makes for a wonderful, laid back vacation, except when you're fighting with a six-year-old over an inner tube for the lazy river...

Ahem, Ahem. A wonderful poem about the frustrations of air travel.

Hello Milwaukee where down there.

It's me, Kelley, up here in the air.

I should have been home yesterday night.

But I couldn't due to the overbooked flight.

The trip went well, the customer's happy.

And getting home a day late only makes me a little crabby.

There's much to do, things don't stop when I'm gone.

But this happens all the time, I just chug on and on and on.

At least they gave me a nice hotel

Two free meals and wished me well.

The voucher will help me visit my friends.

So you see Milwaukee, how this story ends.

I'm home a day late

The work piles high

But the headache is worth it.

A free flight in the sky.

Ireland Week!!! The "Must-Sees" of Ireland: Connemara and Bru Na Boinne

First things first. I get to announce the WINNER of my first blog contest!

It was super easy to enter, all you had to do was leave a comment on last Monday's post. (Extra points for facebook/tweeting and for following this blog).

And the winner of $30 to Amazon is:   Abbey Rymarczyk!!! Congrats girl!

I'll send you an email with your prize in it!

Thanks to everyone who participated. I promise there will be more contests so stay tuned :)

Okay, now that we've done that... on to...

Our last day for Ireland Week. The five previous posts were:

1. Dublin
2. Glendalough, Rock of Cashel, Ring of Kerry
3. Dingle
4. Sea Kayaking in Dingle
5. Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Aran Islands


On our way from Galway to Westport we stopped in the Connemara region. The region is known for its diverse landscape, especially the bogs, which are prevalent in this area. 


One of the most popular sites in the region is Kylemoore Abbey. (Otherwise known as Katie's house. It's so nice of her to let us tour it, isn't it? ;))

And this is Katie's view:

Ok, you're right, its not Katie's house. It actually used to be a school for girls until last year when they decided to close it off. It started out as a castle for Mitchell Henry who built a church for his wife after she died. The church is lovely.

He fell on hard times and it went into disrepair until the Benedictine Nuns who fled from Germany made it there home and later turned it into a school. They let you tour the inside of both the Abbey and the Church. It wasn't expensive and is worth a stop if you're in the area. The Victorian Gardens were okay, but they are currently doing a lot of repairs in the gardens so it might be better in the near future.


We went on to Connemara National Park. The skies were threatening rain while we ate lunch and contemplated on whether or not to do one of the three hikes in the park. We decided to try, as all three started and ended in the same place, they just differed in how high up Diamond Hill you wanted to go


And. Let me tell you my friends. Diamond Hill is a misnomer. This is not a hill. It is a mountain. 


And. Let me also tell you my friends. Beware of your conniving friends when they tell you that they only want to do the easy trail. When you get to, what I now call, "The Rock of Peer Pressure", they will be sneaky, and annoying and convince you that even though it is hailing and you are soaked from the rain, that it is a good idea to keep climbing up a mountain.


Don't tell me I didn't warn you... ;)

This is Katie and I after I gave in and said I would keep climbing the mountain...

And we climbed

And we climbed

And we climbed. This was the point where, "Are you kidding me!?!" escaped my lips every 100ft or so as I couldn't believe we weren't at the top yet. (It was a very deceiving mountain.) Everytime you got over a crest, and thought you were at the top, there was more to climb.

But finally we made it! And the views were some of the best on the trip.

Then we walked down the mountain to our car.

Do you see those little white patches, almost directly over my head? That is Kylemoore Abbey. When we were down there, looking up at the mountains Katie said, "If I lived here, I would climb those mountains." We all laughed. Turns out the joke was on us :)


We left Connemara and headed for Westport. Westport was a nice city, but in our opinion there's really no need to go there. If we did it again, we would have gone back to Galway after Connemara. 


But we did get to see this raindow, which we now dub, "The Rainbow of Abandonment" as we were able to convince Katie to get out of the car to take a picture, which allowed us to drive away without her. Hehehe.

After Westport we drove cross country to Trim. Another nice city and it really is a perfect place to stay the night before your flight leaves. (That way you don't have to deal with a whole lot of Dublin traffic.)


We visited Trim castle, which was where the movie Braveheart was shot. It was okay. They make you take a tour if you want to see the inside. I think it was worth it, even if it was a bit long.


The day before we left we visited one of the most talked about sites in Ireland Bru Na Boinne. They are one of the largest and most historic megalithic sites in Europe. Bascially a combination of Neolithic tombs, standing stones and henges.

It was pretty neat, but this was our last out of ten days and I think we were all a little nutty as you can tell from the numerous crazy pictures we took while waiting for the tour... We might have appreciated it more at the beginning of the trip...

And that was our trip.

I'm sad its over... I so want to go back.


Just a word of advice for comfort sake. Pack really light. Not only are most rooms in Europe really small, but you're going to want a small vehicle so that you can manuever the 'one-lane' roads in Ireland. They are seriously skinny roads, people :)


This was our trusty steed: A Volkswagen Polo. It was a good car. Did the job.

Hope you enjoyed the Ireland recap. Be thinking about 'Weekend Wisdom' for the post on Monday. Last week's were wonderful!

Ireland Week!!! The "Must-Sees" of Ireland: Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Aran Islands

I know you've all been dying for this series to continue. ;) As I explained in an earlier post, I have all our pictures on my sister's laptop which I didn't have access to so I couldn't finish this series last week. But... now I can :)

Quick recap: Myself and two wonderful ladies (Katie and Jen) spent 10 days on the Emerald Isle. I thought it might be helpful if there are some who are thinking about going, and if you're not, hopefully it will be entertaining and/or amusing :)

Post Recap (and links to them if you wish to check them out):
1. Dublin
2. Glendalough, Rock of Cashel, Ring of Kerry
3. Dingle
4. Sea Kayaking in Dingle

The first stop on today's post is The Cliffs of Moher (pronounced 'More'). Katie came up with a 'great' story as to why they are called that. If you see her, you should ask her sometime... :)

The Cliffs of Moher are on the way from Dingle to Galway, and are one of the places to see, so we decided to make a stop. At first, we weren't all that impressed. After you park and walk across the street you can take a look at the visitor's center, which we didn't think was a much.

Then you can walk up to a lookout tower (which no one recommends that you pay to go up in). We didn't pay, but as we looked out at the view pictured above we were like, 'Eh, its nice but....'

Before we left we walked a ways up another path and ran into this sign

Naturally, seeing something that says 'Please don't go beyond this point' made us do just that.

And then the party started!

The views from this side of the cliffs were much better. See that little thing sticking out the top of the cliff? That's the tower we were at.

Once we were on this side, we just kept going, to places only those that owned these little beauties ever went:

The views were amazing, and the rebel feeling we got helped too. So if you go to The Cliffs of Moher, walk on by the sign that says 'don't walk by this sign'. Its much better there :)

After the Cliffs of Moher we went on to Galway, which is tied for our most favorite place on the trip. (Dingle shares the #1 spot with it).

There are parts in Galway that are pedestrian only and have the most amazing shops, food and live music we saw on our whole trip.

And just in case you don't believe me, take a look at this.

We just walked right into a bar (no cover), batted our eyes at a few gents so we could grab there extra seats, and sat in the front row with our Guinness. We went in four different pubs that were like this, all with slightly different kinds of music, but all amazing.

The next day we spent in the Aran Islands. It was a great day trip. We drove from Galway to Rooseveel (about 40min) and hoped on a ferry. We spent the whole day on Inishmore (one of the three islands). We recommend renting bikes if you want to see a lot, but DON'T take the 'high road'. It's probably the toughest bike ride we've ever been on, and there is nothing to see that you can't see on the 'low road'. If you ever go, you'll know what we mean. :)

This is an example of why you shouldn't take a picture of yourself while riding a bike:

Ha. Jen. (She's gonna hate me for posting that...)

Anywho... as you ride around on your bikes singing the 'witch's theme song' from the Wizard of Oz, you can get off at various marked spots to see old Iron Age forts. Lots of climbing, but the views are quite nice.

The biggest attraction, and of course the one that is farthest away from where the ferry's drop you off, is Dun Aengus. It is known as the 'most magnificent barbaric momument in Europe.'

We were impressed with the actual structure, but the view blew it out of the water. The fort literally ends at the cliff.

We had lugged our lunch with us, which consisted of two chocolate cakes, trail mix and soda. Where we ate was by far the most beautiful place I have ever eaten.

All three of these places are ones I would do again.

The last post for 'Ireland Week' is tomorrow! Join us as we climb up a mountain.

Ireland Week!!! The "Must-Sees" of Ireland: Sea Kayaking in Dingle!

Wow... it's Thursday already...

It's also another post for Ireland Week! The first three can be found, here, here and here, if you feel like you want to catch up, or they were just so awesome that you need to see them again. ;)

Not only is this a continuation of Ireland Week, but it is also the first post in a series that I'm naming Try Something New (TSN). I know, real awesome name. But sometimes I feel its easy to become complacant and just 'go with the flow'. We need to challenge ourselves to live our lives! Branch out! So, hence why I'm starting the series.


I think this quote is perfect for it: 
“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”

When we were in Dingle we decided to try our hand at sea kayaking. That's right people. Us, in the ocean, in little boats, using little sticks with fins to paddle ourselves around.

It. Was. Awesome.

And... I got so sick... haha.

We went through Irish Adventures. Not only do they do sea kayaking, but they'll pretty much take you on any adventure you'd like to go on.

Those were our two fearless leaders... I don't remember the name of the one in the yellow jacket, but I know the one in the kayak is Peter. Really funny guys.

Shawn is the 'lucky' guy that got to tag along with us... ha.

They give you all the equipment. Don't we look HOT? ;)  I'm sure I said something incredibly witty...

All we needed were the suits and we're super heros angles.

They start you off with a short tutorial about how to work a kayak. Go over a few safety rules. And make sure that you understand that unless you are dead, there is no reason to lose your kayak or your paddle in the ocean. Wonder how many times that has happened before. :)

It was cheap, at least we thought so. $50 and we were out there for a good three hours. Peter also offered to take one of our cameras and snap pictures of us for free. Luckily Jen and Katie both have cameras that are 'everything proof' (including water) so we were able to bring them with us!

As long as you have something that remotely resembles upper body strength, and don't have a fear of water, I highly suggest that you try kayaking. It's really fun.

I was totally fine until we came out of the bay and into the ocean. Once we were out there, bobbing up and down in the waves, I got what you call... sea sick. It was like a horrible ride that you can't get off because you are sitting in the middle of the ocean.

But I will repeat again. It. Was. Awesome. Even though I felt really sick, I am SO glad we did this. I will never go sea kayaking again, but I will most defintely go kayaking on a river or lake.

So, if you get any type of motion sickness, don't do sea kayaking. If you think you can handle it, then try it. Its amazing.

While we were out in the ocean, Peter and 'the guy who's name I don't remember but was really funny' took us through a cave. That was really cool.

This picture of Jen definitely looks like it should be used for one of those inspirational posters, what with the soft glow of light as she comes out of the dark cave.

I may look like a pro (ahem, ahem) but I was shakin' in my wetsuit. It was not easy manuvering in that cave!

Katie here looks like a warrior, off to take out the opposition.

They also told us why parts of the ocean looked like the top of a Guinness.

Apparently when the water beats up against the rocks it pulls some minerals and air in, which then creates the bubbles you see here. (At least that's what they told us.)

Before we headed back they took us into a cove surrounded by huge cliffs. It was very impressive... and calmer than the ocean for which my stomach was grateful...

Overall, it was a fantastic experience. (Peter says that awesome is his most hated word, so for his sake, I won't call it awesome anymore.)

Tomorrow's post will be on the Cliffs of Moher and Galway. See you then!