The other item that was interesting was the "House on the Rock", it was interesting to see. The last item of interest was Mid-Continent Railway working museum. I will describe more about these items in the attractions.

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The layout of the place was nice; there was a living room with a gas powered fireplace that was very romantic even in the summer. The screened-in back porch with a downdraft grill/stove was great and made cooking out there very nice. The second bedroom was a little small and it had two twins in it. It would have been nice to have the option of queens in both bedrooms. There is not much yard, but sufficient for the resort. The on-site golf course looked very nice, though it cost around $70 per person per 18 holes. The only other small inconvenience was that the main activities building was clear on the other side of the property so you had to take a car to get there. That made it real inconvenient to participate in any of the resort activities.

Overall, it was nice and very convenient to access all of the Dell's many sights and activities. I had a friend stay at the cabins at Christmas Mountain Village, which are smaller than the timbers, but her unit was much nicer than ours that is for sure.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Fair
• Unit Satisfaction: Fair
• Family Friendliness: Good
• Service: Good

The meal that we decided on was pizza. The pizza is homemade. They make it right there while you wait. They make it similar to the way pizza is made in Chicago and has a very similar taste other than they use Wisconsin Cheese. It is loaded with toppings of your choosing. The dough is homemade also. While waiting for your pizza to bake, you can talk to both of them about how they got there and what there is to do in the Dells. Their story is pretty interesting of how they ended up in little LaRue at the end of an old railroad track. You can also play pool or listen to the jukebox. When the pizza did arrive it was delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed eating here and talking with the owners. The place is not very busy, and if you want some great pizza, stop by and get it. Kids are welcome also, they just can not sit at the bar. We had some appetizers that were fantastic also.

I am not sure how the rest of the food would be, but if the pizza and appetizers are any indication it would be some of the best food you have eaten. I have had the Chicago deep dish from Chicago and I think this was just as good. Give it a try and enjoy the food and enjoy the many stories that you can listen too from the owners and their interesting life they have had.

We started by playing the intermediate difficulty level course. This course was very challenging. There were a couple holes where all but one of us had to pick up after the six-shot limit as that is all that is alotted to try to keep the game moving. These are not your typical holes where you have to bank once and you get in; these holes are very challenging to get around the obsticles and things. After playing this 18 holes we decided to play another 18 holes as they give you a discount on each course you play after the first one.

This time we chose an even harder or more challenging one. We wanted to go to the hardest one but there was about a 10 minute wait on it, so we went to the second hardest. We only got through about eight holes and then it started to rain. The course would give you a free pass to come back and play in the next 12 months, but we were leaving the next day so we did not go on. This course was definitely harder but we were still having a blast playing. Our 11-year-old loved it even though he was having a hard time making a lot of the putts.

I would highly recommend this to a family that likes to be challenged and likes to have some friendly competition. I could have easily spent a better part of a day there and would have loved to take a picnic lunch to eat and let the kids enjoy the playland. It really was not that expensive, especially for the type of challenge you get and the views you get. If we go back to the Dells, this will be a lot higher priority on our list of things to do. I would eventually like to play all five courses. It even has a couse that is handicap accessible. This was a fun time for all and is definitely something we will try to do again.

We paid our admission and then, of course, they want you to purchase food for the animals, so we did. The price of the food was not too bad in comparison to some of the other places I had been to. As for the grounds, when we entered, I thought they were a little run down and not very well maintained. When we first walked in, everything looked bare and deserted. We saw some deer, but they were down in a gully and did not want anything to do with us. Then a ranch hand came out and rounded up some deer from the back of the property and led them to our area. The deer were free to roam throughout the complex. Once they figured out that we had food, they came right up to us and took the food from our hands. That was the best part to see the kids feeding the deer out of their hands. Some of the deer looked a little ragged and unkempt though. We continued through the park, but most of the cages were empty and as soon as we were out of food, the deer left us alone. We did get to see one bison, but we never did see any pheasants. There was one elk, but, like the bison, it stayed clear to the back of its pen, so it was hard to see. We did get to see three little pigs, some rabbits, a turkey, and a lemur.

Overall, I was disappointed in the layout and the look of the whole park. I also was disappointed in the animals and what they had on display. They claimed to have a lot more things, but we did not see much of anything and the few animals we did see were so far in the back of their cages that it was hard to see them. The youngest child enjoyed it the most, but our 11 year old was not overly impressed since he has been around a farm a lot of his life and goes hunting and such. This is another one of those activities that is okay if you have time to kill, but I would not make a special point to do it unless you have some really young kids or kids that have never been that close to animals before.

The platform you depart from in North Freedom has also been restored, but is the original platform built in 1894. You have to purchase tickets just like you would have back when these engines and coaches were running the rails. After the train ride, you are permitted to explore the grounds of the museum where there are numerous train cars, engines, and tools on display. There are many types of cars that are tarped or torn apart as they are slowly being restored. The engines are in various stages of restoration.

The Coach Shed houses several coaches that have been restored and even a type of engine that is both the engine and passenger car combined into one. The latest edition to the collection that has now been completely restored is the Copper Range coach. The interior is all oak and all the upholstery has been redone. It has taken over 3 years to restore this unit. I could go on and on about this great place but it really is something you just need to see. I have put some of the photos of this place on this journal. Also go to their website and check it out, it is fascinating. It is www.midcontinent.org. The fares are as follows: adults $11, kids 3-12 $6. Enjoy!

Now, as far as going into the house, there are a lot of amazing things in the house. The rooms in the house are very small and the ceilings are low. It is very hot in the various parts of the house and displays, and it can be rather dimly lit. First, I was amazed at all the animated, automated music machines that people could play for 25 or 50 cents. They were fantastic and it is the largest such collection. It even has the world's only mechanically-operated symphony orchestra. The other display that is world renowned is the world's largest carousel. It is inside the house also. It has over 20,000 lights and 269 hand-crafted carousel animals, and not one of them is a horse. There is also a weapons display, aviation history disply, a history of sea building, armor collections and a royal crown jewel collection. These things are all pretty neat to see.

On this trip, it was 4 adults, an 11 year old, and a 3 year old. They do not allow strollers, so we had to carry the 3 year old the whole time. It was a little boring for the 11 year old, as he was not interested in all the old tools and equipment. It cost $20 per adult and the 11 year old was $12, so it was pretty expensive for what you got to see. I would say that it is something to see once, but if you were deciding between this and lets say seeing the Railroad museum, I would tell you to save some of your money and go to the Railroad museum. This is not a must do while at the Dells, but more of an attraction to see if you have time to spare. I would say to not take younger kids, but wait until they are in their mid-teens. Also, be ready for a lot of walking, being very warm, and going through small, cramped rooms. If I went back to the Dells, I would probably go to the Frank Lloyd Wright houses and studio that is around that area.