The Lobby

Regards first to Jay and Deb, my brother and sister-in-law. Today is their 30th wedding anniversary. Traditionally the Pearl Anniversary, I think, though modern etiquette says an iPhone with 30 apps may be substituted.

The resort we visited last weekend has a lodge-in-the-woods motif, and is one of chain of a dozen such waterpark resorts in the nation. Like all of the hospitality business, it's been a difficult year or so for the waterpark resort business, though you'd never know it by visiting the chain's Wisconsin Dells three-room indoor waterpark on a Saturday afternoon. The outdoor part of the waterpark would probably have been just as popular, too, but it was unseasonably cool over the weekend.

I didn't take any pictures of the waterpark itself. My camera is dodgy enough without exposing it to a lot of humidity and the danger of splashing. But I did spend some time in the lobby taking pics, where the lodge theme was at its strongest. I liked the clock. It had feather-shaped hands.

There's a dissertation somewhere in the study of faux totem poles, and just how much influence Disney has had on them. I leave that to more learned minds than my own.

It wouldn't be a lodge without a few antler chandeliers.

Google that phrase (in quotes) and you get about 82,000 hits. A cottage industry for sure -- there must be artisans making them; buyers, collectors and enthusiasts; and levels of authenticity. Maybe the most authentic is one made from antlers of beasts you've slain yourself, but I wouldn't know. Of course, there are many decorative possibilities for antlers.

I saw two signs that said Memory Worth Repeating, and there were probably others around the property. In the context of that camera pictograph, the sign seemed to suggest I take a photo of the item it was attached to, the better to remember the item (though a "repeating memory" is an onion of an idea; too many layers to deal with here).

Instead of the item, I took a picture of the sign itself.