WWRwp—The Hoard on the Rock

among the collection of "what is this?" at House on the Rock

I've seen a lot of bizarre in my life, no doubt about that. I've done my share of weird so I've got nothing against weird or eccentric, or "interesting." I've even done my share of weird for weird sake. However,
until this past weekend in the quaint hilly Uplands of Wisconsin's Spring Green, I experienced a new kind of bizarre, as though my entire dreaming history—including the nightmares, sublimes, the flying and the falling, not to mention all the ones I forgot—were externalized and projected into the space of a gargantuan museum.

So what happens when The Twilight Zone meets Willy Wonka meets Wizard of Oz meets Jimmi Hendrix meets that universal sequence of dreams we all have where we go from room to room opening doors into strange and frightening and surreal rooms and mazes where hallways wind and wend and never get you where you want to go or think you want to go or even imagine you could be going? House on the Rock happens, is what. Been there? Well then you know what I'm saying.

Not been there, but heard of it? What you've heard can't begin to touch the reality.  Planning to go, but have no idea what to expect? And how! It's best that way. If you knew the whole of it, you might not go. Nothing I read or viewed online prepared me, which is what most folks say about it when they come out of the Three (very different, each) Part Tour, not unlike, come to think of it, Gilligan's famous "Three Hour Tour... a three hour tour...."     As Dada, Jude, and I reached the end of our surreal tolerance, we were desperately looking for a way out of there, hungry for something "real life" to engage with. It was as though we'd been inside one large music box that went on and on and on without end.

"What was that?" we adults puzzled over for the next few days, for surely we had to remind ourselves it was the most bizarre thing we'd even seen, excepting Jude of course who found it more or less normal.  "Where were we again?" we asked. "What was that supposed to be? Was this guy some kind of hoarder?" I think it took me daring the Howling Tornado ride at the Dells Great Wolf Lodge to shock the House on the Rock trip out of my system. I'm still coming down from that one.

Want to go, but haven't gotten there? Definitely go. Ignore all warnings and remember that bizarro is good for you. At the very least, go and tell me what happened. Not only that, but if you only listen to the stories about how weird or "creepy" (for shame!) this place is, you'll never get to witness the extreme beauty and miracle of the place. After all, it begins with a beautiful sprawling lotus garden and ascends into a cozy circuit of little rooms with gongs and lounge chairs and low ceilings with birch still growing, all built into this enormous, well, rock. Mid-tour I stopped in my tracks and said to Dada, "Oh, I get it! Literally, it's a House built on a Rock." Dada rolled his eyes. He had to explain a lot, especially about the giant octopus eating the whale, though he was stumped by him about the creepy doll carousel. Still, still, still. Don't let that stop you. If it does, you'll never get to see how the generosity and creativity (possibly "madness", but so what?) of one man's passion, heart, love grew began with a vision and how he honored that vision and created a dream. Disneyland's got nothing on this place. I give it 5 stars.

So...What does this have to do with writing? Sharing stories about the odd, unusual, confusing, eccentric, etc is always validating. Not only a good laugh, deeply satisfying, perhaps even our modern version of Ghost Stories! Also, looking at the details of the same place from different eyes is mind blowing. We all see different things, remember different things. And and and... endorsing or shining light on the "positive" aspects of any given majority ruling "creepy" or odd, counterculture thing/person/etc is crucial to any story/writing, etc as it shows empathy, etc.

So... What is the most bizarre/weird/eccentric tourist attraction or otherwise you have visited? And/or, what is your version of House on the Rock?