Any time I travel to a new place, I check @atlasobscura to find weird stuff to visit. They’ve guided me to sites in far off places like Albania, Laos, Mauritania, and this time Wisconsin. The House on the Rock is beyond question the weirdest place I’ve ever seen. I thought it would be a short visit with a couple photo opps. No. After paying $25 (this made me mad but we drove an hour+ from Madison to get there), I asked the lady what exactly this place was. She told us it was the second largest attraction in Wisconsin - except when Lambeau Field is open, in which case it is the third largest and it would take 4-5 hours to complete. Other than that, the only info I got was that there were 8000 Santas on display, a bunch of collections, and the world’s largest indoor carousel. She also wanted us and everyone around us to know the carousel HAS NO HORSES.
Anyway, I was skeptical. The first building was dedicated to the weirdo who build the place. Then very long hallway of Santas. Then some creepy music machines with old dolls playing music. Weird lighting, weird architecture, low ceilings, all kinds of asian artifacts, and music machines powered by compressed air in just about every room. Erika aptly pointed out that the place was definitely constructed with orgies in mind.
After this, we walked into a warehouse with a sculpture of a 50 foot tall whale being attacked by an equally giant squid. Why not. We finished with more music machines, some other obscure collections, and finally the carousel. This place left me speechless and we only saw 2/3 of it. Building #3 was closed for the season.
The House on the Rock is bonkers beyond words and you absolutely must put it on your list.