If you’re like me, you think of things like sleep-away camp
in the woods, with lakes and Indian belts and ice cream and gaggles of squeely
little girls with lanyards that dream of the year they get to be a counselor.
Friends, we have found the quintessential summer vacation
experience—it is in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that Minocqua is like
something out of a Wes Anderson movie.
 |
| Moonrise Kingdom |
Saturday meant no work for Jon, so the three of us packed it
up into the Rav-4 and scurried up to Minocqua to visit some dear family
friends, the Jasters. They knew that we
would be in Wisconsin this month, so they invited us up to the North Woods to
see where they lived and what they did during the summer. The Jasters own Island City Ice Cream—the
best ice cream in Wisconsin, and have a lovely home just a few miles from their
store. We stayed with them for the
weekend and they showed us around town:
The Magical Jaster Family Home
This is the view from the Jaster's back yard. Beautiful, beautiful. You can see Big Dave (Mr. Jaster), little Dave and me sitting on their floating dock admiring the sail boat.
David wanting to explore everything--this means Jenn doing everything in her power to prevent her son from running off the edge of the dock to go play in the lake.
Playing in the water (at last!) with dad.
It took D about half a second to spot their riding lawnmower...
and another half second to climb up on it and pretend to drive it.
Ice cream cupcake for D!
They were kind enough to make us some killer lasagna and MORE ice cream (we don't count calories on vacation) before taking us to...
I'm A Lumberjack and That's Ok
a lumberjack show!!! This is like the lumberjack version of Medieval Times. Each section of the audience cheers their designated lumberjack as they compete in 10 events.
Jon and I were worried that D would have trouble sitting through the entire demonstration.
There was a lot of this...
But overall he did really well and by the end of the show, he could yell a very convincing, "Yo-ho!"
Competition where lumberjacks run across logs from one platform to another--this guy made it!
The other two did not...
Settling a lumberjack dispute.
Our section's lumberjack! They were such good sports, hanging around after the show (soaking wet after that log-running episode) to talk with audience members and sign chunks of wood. Jon and I thought this was pretty cool, David was not as impressed.
The Jasters with Sam--a pro lumberjack.
The Jasters with Ol' Wiley, the show's...em, commentator/host.
Jon and I with Sam the professional lumberjack. Again, D more excited about the prospects of jumping into the lake.
The Cook Shanty
The following morning, after sleeping for eight glorious hours in an actual bed, we all woke up and got ready for breakfast. Once last picture by the lake, we were so sad to leave!
But we had to go in order to eat at Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty, which came highly recommended by the Jasters, the Hills, and everyone in Minocqua. And now we highly recommend it.
It was a popular place.
But fortunately the wait was fairly short.
D and I explored the (rocks and) fiberglass Paul and Babe in front of the restaurant.
Ta-da!
Group shot--almost to the front of the line! When I pointed to the bear and asked D what it was, he looked at it, then me very seriously and said, "Dat! Ees uh burr." That's right, baby. Dat is a bear. And then we got inside...
I believe that, somewhere in some heavenly pantry, God has the recipe for these donuts. I don't know if you can see, but D is using two hands to eat--he seriously went to town on it.
Amused by D's donut-eating skills
And you can't leave a place like Paul Bunyan's without ox horns. SUCH a great way to start the day. Truthfully, we left feeling so full that we probably could have foregone lunch and dinner. That probably would have been the responsible thing to do. Instead, we went to the zoo and then stopped off at the Jaster's ice cream store for more ice cream and goodbyes.
Where the Goats Chew at Your Dress Hem
Minocqua has a privately owned zoo that was the perfect follow-up to our breakfast feast. It was very interactive, causing D to be squealing with delight one minute, then running in terror from the turtles and goats the next minute.
Nemesis #1
Nemesis #2
D believes that turtles have their place in the eco system, and that that place must always be at least five feet away from him.
There were lots of deer roaming around the park--Jon got to feed one!
David came unglued when he saw this.
Jon, observing the prairie dogs.
Minor, animal-related melt down.
Traversing the park in style with dad.
Pile-o-turtles
We didn’t want to leave. We really didn't. It was the best, and sadly, the shortest family vacation the three of us
have taken. We drove back to Madison
with strengthened conviction to make Minocqua an annual summer vacation
destination. So many fond memories created in such a short amount of time!
Thanks so much to the Jasters for being such gracious hosts!
