| Iceman Celebration Day 2018 - The House on the Rock |
| The next part was the original house that Alex built... on the rock. The lighting inside (and the 70s decor) made it difficult to focus, so I didn't take a lot of pictures. They wouldn't have turned out anyway. Other than the funky smell, this was pretty cool. It wouldn't be practical to actually live there now because it is missing so many modern day functions/amenities. But it is a really cool trip back in time as nothing has changed. |
| I have no idea how much it cost over the years to design, build, add to the collections and maintain this place. I suppose that is why they opened up the house in 1959 to paying guests. Over the years more rooms and items have been added with the last one being in 2008. I'll admit that the price I paid to tour this joint was rather high, but I guess that is why you only go twice in 25 years. But this is an experience like no other, so I guess that kind of thing comes at a premium. But at the end of days, I won't think about how much money I spent. I will only think about the cool memories that I had because of spending that money. |
| I have no idea how much time we spent in that part but time would soon not be relevant. Jenny had brought some gummies and once they kicked in we would transcend time and travel everywhere we needed to go. But that still wouldn't take effect until much later. |
| From there we went back into the original House and were treated to some lovely stained glass windows and really cool lamps and lighting fixtures. The way that things were lit in here added to the weird ambiance because it took advantage of natural light when it could and then substituted with muted lighting when it could not. This plus using rocks and trees in the design makes it feel like you are simultaneously indoors and outdoors, which is a weird feeling. Speaking of weird feelings, I remember asking Jenny for more gummies at this part of our Tour. If this place wasn't a strange trip, it was about to be once that extra boost kicked in. And it is only a matter of time until it happened. |
| I realize now that I left out a pretty important detail - the real reason I wanted to come here is because the last time I visited was with Cub Scouts when I was a child. And like most children, I didn't appreciate the history and artistry of this place. A return visit as an adult had been my plan for many years and this seemed like as good of time as any to do that. We purchased the Ultimate Experience, which allows you to check out all 3 sections, starting with the Alex Jordan Center. This guy was interesting and I can't do him justice here. You'll just have to go there to learn about him. It's worth it. |
| You can walk pretty far to the end of the room before it gets too small and probably too dangerous to carry that much weight. At the furthest point there is a window on the floor that lets you see how high you truly are above the tress and it isn't for the cowardly like me. You see, I'm not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of falling from them and getting hurt or dying. So I didn't spend a ton of time out here. When I leave this World, this is a pretty good way to go out. But I'm just not ready to leave yet. I would like a few more Celebration Days to goof around at places. |
| For my money, there is nothing in the World better than hotel breakfast. By now you know this about me as I say it every time I travel somewhere. I'm a simple kind of man in that all I ask for is a bagel, a muffin, a yogurt and some coffee to get my day going. So this place did it for me. The House on the Rock was about 10 minutes away from The Inn and we got there a little after 10am. The House itself is open from 9am - 5pm, so this would give us plenty of time to experience everything that this place had to offer. And I was ready to dive in and see all of the weirdness. |
| This place was real tight on space but made the most of it by incorporating the nature aspects into the design and also building around and on top of existing natural materials. I can dig it. This may copy other styles, but there is no place in the World like it. |
| The grounds definitely had an Asian design and probably would have looked really nice once Spring brought the plants and tree life back. Outside there was a Buddha statue that said "Rub his belly for good luck" so I decided to see if anyone would do that to me. Even if there were more people here, the odds someone would do it were low. |
| This video should give you an idea of the infiniteness of the room as I walk from one end to the other. This place is just nuts to me especially when you are able to look directly below you and see that the fall would kill you. Trying not to think about that, I took some more photos on my walk back. The nice part about my Celebration Day being in May is that anywhere I go should be relatively free of other people (being an offseason tourist time). But then you don't always get the best weather and as you can see by the color of the trees, the best view of the scenery. May can still be rather blah in Wisconsin, but I didn't choose my Celebration Day. I guess I can blame my parents for that one. |
| The Infinity Room is the most memorable part of the House and probably the coolest thing here. It is suspended above the ground and jets out about 220 feet from the side of the building. I don't understand the architecture of this design and how it has no support beams under it and just hangs there 160 feet above the ground. Guess I'm just not a mad genius like Alex Jordan Jr. Although I'm sure it is safe to walk on (or else they wouldn't let you), but it creaked and swayed a little bit when I did. It kind of freaked me out and I don't think I would feel comfortable doing it during peak season when there are tons of people here. But today we barely saw anyone else and got these amazing pictures. |
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