Thursday we left the house around 9:30-ish so we’d “miss” the morning rush-hour traffic. We made it to the Dells around 12:30 pm just as we anticipated.
We located our hotel just so we knew where it was but it was too early to check-in, so we rode around the area scoping out where everything was. The first thing we did was play 18-holes of miniature golf at Pirate Cove’s Golf. We hiked up to the hardest course, Pirates Challenge 18, and enjoyed the sunshine while working up an appetite.
After golf we headed to the downtown area to find a place to eat. I had read about how good the burgers were at a place called Monk’s, but we got really poor service and didn’t end up eating there. I gave them a lovely review over at Yelp if you’re interested. Instead we ate at Sharky’s Sports Bar and Grill. The food was your typical bar fare but at least we were waited on promptly. Plus they had a dart board with which we occupied ourselves while waiting for our food.
After lunch we walked around the downtown area for a little bit but there’s only so many t-shirt stores (it seemed as if they sold nothing but clothing that said Wisconsin Dells on it) and candy shops one can take, so we made a pit-stop at Walgreens to pick up some snacks and then headed back to the hotel to check-in.
The hotel I chose, the Hilton Garden Inn, was a good pick. Not only was it very clean and modern, the rate was reasonable ($99/night) and since it doesn’t have an indoor waterpark, it wasn’t overflowing with kids. Our room had a king bed, fridge, microwave, and a desk with a complimentary high-speed internet access. The alarm clock had a line-in which allowed us to listen to our iPods which was nice touch. The bathroom was very clean and bright. Inside was a sink with a granite counter-top and a shower with more than adequate water pressure. Complimentary Shampoo, conditioner, mouth wash and lotion were provided. My only complaint was the lack of fan in the bathroom. Otherwise this was one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in.
I got online at the hotel to scope out places to eat and we decided on Buffalo Phil’s Grille which turned out to be really good (their coleslaw is the best I’ve ever had) and in retrospect the best place we ate at during our stay. Before dinner we checked out the attached place called Knuckleheads Bowling and Family Entertainment Center. In addition to the bowling, Knuckleheads has pool tables, air hockey, go-karts, small rides for the youngsters, and an arcade. We played air hockey, skee-ball and some other games before dinner and afterwards played a few more games including Deal or No Deal and a Lord of the Rings version of a pinball game. I’m not a fan of LOTR but I do love pinball machines. In addition to the pool, air hockey and poker tables I plan to have in the game room of my dream house, I would like a pinball machine.
The restaurant and amusement center are located directly in front of Tanger Outlet Center so we headed over there before they closed because I wanted to check out the Old Navy store. What a disappointment! There’s nothing outlet about their prices. I saw no better deals than at the regular Old Navy store at home. It’s official – I’m completely over outlets and won’t bother ever shopping at one again.
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