High Water Everywhere

June 9, 2008 5:50 PM

For decades, showman Tommy Bartlett ran a Wisconsin Dells "Thrill Show" featuring waterskiers performing all sorts of stunts on Lake Delton. His bumperstickers were on the station wagons of tens of thousands of families across the midwest. This summer, Lake Delton is no more.
posted by timsteil (38 comments total)

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posted by desjardins at 5:54 PM on June 9, 2008

Those were some fond childhood memories.
posted by desjardins at 5:55 PM on June 9, 2008

Though I have no childhood memories of Lake Delton (fond or otherwise), in solidarity with desjardins, in his time of grief, I'd like to also pay my respects:

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posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:00 PM on June 9, 2008

A swirling chocolate malt of angy liquid escaped through the 400- to 500-foot gap.

Tragic and delicious.
posted by hal9k at 6:04 PM on June 9, 2008 [7 favorites]

My parents never stopped.
NEVER.
posted by Dizzy at 6:04 PM on June 9, 2008 [5 favorites]

Isn't this the show that incited Fonzie to jump the shark?
posted by caddis at 6:09 PM on June 9, 2008

A swirling chocolate malt of angy liquid

hal9k beat me to the "swirling chocolate malt" part, but "angy"? And even if the writer meant "angry"- then, well, "angry"?
posted by ethnomethodologist at 6:09 PM on June 9, 2008

I just want to be reassured that House on the Rock was destroyed.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 6:10 PM on June 9, 2008 [5 favorites]

We PLANNED vacations there. Our family scrapbook resembles a Lileks screed. Growing up in Iowa, that place was the Riviera.
posted by hal9k at 6:10 PM on June 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

I was just there last year. I mean, I didn't stop or anything. But US 12 is the shit for motorcyclists wishing to avoid the madness of I-90.
posted by ba at 6:16 PM on June 9, 2008

Wisc Dells is just fricken insane during the summer... mindblowingly insane.

Course S Wisconsin is a weird place to start with, about 1/2 hour from there (Wisc Dells) is the Forevertron
posted by edgeways at 6:22 PM on June 9, 2008

Considering what Tommy Bartlett did to the livelihood of the hard-working android community when he changed Robot World to the Exploratory, I have only one word... karma.
posted by pokermonk at 6:32 PM on June 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

This video clip of the flood sweeping away a home and eating the road right before your eyes sure looks angry to me - yikes. Not sure if it is lake Dalton, but it is part and parcel of the force that destroyed the lake.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:38 PM on June 9, 2008

Since my parents had a little parcel of land near the Dells/Lake Delton, I have tons of childhood memories of the place, from riding the Ducks to playing mini golf.

It just seems so impossible that a lake would just go like that (unless it wasn't meant to be in the first place, and we were trying our damnedest to keep it there).

The inner-snark in me wonders if they'll change the town name to Delton.
posted by drezdn at 7:10 PM on June 9, 2008

Been saving now for over a year
Let's pack the kids get outta here
We'll leave behind our troubles for a week
We'll borrow the pop-up from Phyllis and Steve
Just tell the boss I gotta leave
Be the best week of our lives as I can tell
We'll take our dream vacation in the Dells

We'll see the robot world and the water show
Go anywhere you wanna go
Circus world Museum in Baraboo
We'll play mini-golf at the Jellystone
And we'll finally see that house of foam
And if the kids wanna buy a t-shirt what the hell
It's our dream vacation in the Dells

And at night when the kids is all asleep
Then off to the lounge for a nightcap we can sneak
I know our lives they ain't the stuff of dreams
But for one full week we can live like kings and queens

So let's board the dogs lock the door
We'll roll down Interstate 94
Be the best week of our lives I can tell
We'll take our dream vacation in the Dells

And at night when the kids is all asleep
Then off to the lounge for a nightcap we can sneak
I know our lives they ain't the stuff of dreams
But for one full week we can live like kings and queens

So let's board the dogs lock the door
We'll roll down Interstate 94
Be the best week of our lives as I can tell
We'll take our dream vacation in the Dells
Gonna take our dream vacation in the Dells
posted by Muddler at 7:16 PM on June 9, 2008

The thrill show is gone.
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posted by stet at 7:23 PM on June 9, 2008

i went to the dells once with my ex.

we didn't see a THRILL SHOW, or go to the exploratory (closed for the season, what WHAT?...

...but i DID see gummo for the first time on a tiny little TV in a rent-a-cabinette on christmas mountain.

good times, man. good times.

didn't ride the ducks either, boo.

RIP lake delton.
posted by CitizenD at 7:44 PM on June 9, 2008

I'm actually planning to visit some of my friends in Lake Delton this August. They're both retired and have comfortable fixed incomes and own their house, so this won't hurt them a whole lot, but damn, this is gonna destroy that poor town.

At least there's gonna be fewer tourists.
posted by Avenger at 8:01 PM on June 9, 2008

Is it really gone for good? For the season, maybe, but what you bet they rebuild it? Tourism's a huge draw there, and it's the only draw. If it's as (relatively) simple as building a bigger better dam, I bet they'll do it. I could even see our tourism board convincing the DNR to divert some small portion of the Wisconsin River to refill the lake.

Gotta keep those flatlanders coming up and spending.
posted by echo target at 8:03 PM on June 9, 2008

I remember seeing my first laser show at Tommy Bartlet. The Devil Came Down to Georgia even had fireworks!
posted by blahblahblah at 8:10 PM on June 9, 2008

Approximate location of hte breach

The lake will return -- it's artificial anyway, and they have to rebuild the highway. Probably won't be up and running anytime this year, but you never know.

I'm two counties south, and I'm not surprised in the least. We got absolutely drenched. They had just recently taken the sandbags away from the downtown riverwalk here, and today they started putting them back.

The economy there is not strictly tied to the lake. Most of the Dells has nothing to do with Lake Delton itself. I suspect a lot of people will do just fine by adapting for a month or a year or so. From what I read the gas prices are actually helping vacation spots like this by making more people from Wisconsin "stay home".
posted by dhartung at 8:54 PM on June 9, 2008

We had one of those bumper stickers on the back of our car for a while when I was a kid.
posted by clr at 10:32 PM on June 9, 2008

Gotta keep those flatlanders coming up and spending.

HEY!!!!

Who you calling an flatlander cheesehead???? Swear I'll whack you upside the head with a pitcher of Old Style and a summer sausage the size of your leg and talk about your grandma while I'm doing it. Plus I'm gonna buy some fireworks and shoot em off in my Chicago backyard when the Packers lose, which they will, to a 7th grade girl's team

Run your mouth again and you know who I am gonna send up there? Tom Freakin Skilling, You want a piece of that??

OK../.border rivalry over
posted by timsteil at 2:19 AM on June 10, 2008 [2 favorites]

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posted by princesspathos at 3:55 AM on June 10, 2008

dhartung writes "Approximate location of hte breach"

Pfft. It's spelled "teh". Amateur.

Better call the in-laws, they are currently en route to the Dells with their motor home. Of course, with them the casino is probably the real reason they want to stop.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:37 AM on June 10, 2008

What I want to know is are the "Upper" Dells OK? The Upper Dells boat tour, where you got off on the islands and walked through the sandstone formations and cool fern glades and watched a dog (or the tour-boat kid, in case it was drizzling and "too dangerous" for the dog) jump over a small gap between two rock formations about 50 feet up, beat anything in the Lower Dells, including the Ducks (though the Ducks were always a good follow up). And except for Tommy Bartlett, most of the rest of the Dells Tourist Trap didn't have much to do with the river and lake. Hell, even 3/4 of Tommy's show is vaudeville stuff on a stage on the shore.

But, for the people who lost their homes or livelihoods:

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posted by Reverend John at 6:47 AM on June 10, 2008

timsteil, "flatlander" is pretty mild. I would have just called you a FIB.
posted by desjardins at 6:49 AM on June 10, 2008

FIB is old, all the cool kids are calling them FISH now.
posted by echo target at 8:16 AM on June 10, 2008

sad
posted by tiburon at 8:34 AM on June 10, 2008

I'm just happy to see the the world's best vegetarian restaurant is still there.
posted by thanotopsis at 9:10 AM on June 10, 2008

FIB is old, all the cool kids are calling them FISH now

Man I haven't heard FIB in years, and I'm pretty sure I know what FISH means.

OK Echo...me you and Skilling. He predicts a 20% chance of someone getting their ass kicked tomorrow, then launches into 7 solid minutes on El Nino. Then we throw down.

Summer sausages and Cow Pies at 20 paces.

However cheesy (pun intended), That damned MIR exhibit at Bartletts was pretty frickin cool. Also, my son (a Star Wars freak) got to hold Darth Vader's original light sabre.

Years ago, when my wife proposed a family vacation, I told there is just two places I DO NOT want to go. Disney World was to far, and you can guess where we ended up. Turned out to be some sweet memories with our kids.

I hope they can refill/build the lake. It's just one of those American treasures you would hate to lose. Plus, I don't think there is a high school kid within three counties that hasn't made his first college tuition payment by working there all summer.

/sappy
posted by timsteil at 9:11 AM on June 10, 2008

timsteil: "Gotta keep those flatlanders coming up and spending.

HEY!!!!

Who you calling an flatlander cheesehead???? Swear I'll whack you upside the head with a pitcher of Old Style and a summer sausage the size of your leg and talk about your grandma while I'm doing it. Plus I'm gonna buy some fireworks and shoot em off in my Chicago backyard when the Packers lose, which they will, to a 7th grade girl's team

Run your mouth again and you know who I am gonna send up there? Tom Freakin Skilling, You want a piece of that??

OK../.border rivalry over"

Shut up FIB. ;)
posted by symbioid at 9:57 AM on June 10, 2008

Damn. That's just depressing, so many of my favorite weekends of drunken debauchery were carried out on those very shores.

I'd pour some of my drink on the ground for the homies in Camp Delton, but that place was so awash with our spilled booze that I don't think anyone would notice.

And for anyone coming up from the South looking for something to do in in that general area, I give to you Dr. Evermor's Forevertron. It's free and freakin' awesome. (The next door neighbor, Delaney’s Surplus, is one of my favorite places ever.)
posted by quin at 10:36 AM on June 10, 2008

Oops, guess I was late to the party with FIB. *sigh*.

Learn to preview, symbioid. That said, how depressing. Our CSA was damaged by the flooding I guess, though they still have some stuff growing.

I got to drive home Sunday in massive torrents of the rain (I live in Madison), and while it wasn't very floody, boy, visibility was shit! Good thoughts to all those who've had to deal with the horrors of this.
posted by symbioid at 10:40 AM on June 10, 2008

RIP Lake Delton. Out of my hazy childhood memories, I recall the duck tour (and the jumping dog!). The duck driver/m.c. had us all look out the back of the duck boat at one point and fix our gaze on some distant object. After we all obediently did so, the driver said, "Great! now you can all tell your friends that you have had a look out of a duck's ass!" Everyone tittered, but my sister and I were shocked, just shocked that an adult could use a swear word so casually, and no one got upset.
posted by msali at 11:14 AM on June 10, 2008

That show was definitely not thrilling, but:

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I remember them slapping the bumper stickers on every car in the parking lot, whether you liked it or not. Oh, the nonconsensualness of the '80s. I also remember his stupid future museum.

Yeah, I think Noah's Ark was the only worthwhile part of the Dells.
posted by ignignokt at 3:37 PM on June 10, 2008

What I want to know is are the "Upper" Dells OK?

The whole area is very waterlogged, but this discharge was below the Upper Dells. I doubt it has affected the natural formations all that much given that they were created by a glacial outwash many times greater than this lake could ever hope to hold. In the 15000 years since I'm sure they have seen major floods that would put this year's to shame.
posted by dhartung at 11:30 PM on June 10, 2008

Noah's Ark wasn't/isn't the best part of the Dells (though I may have been scared by my dad's waterslide injury and my horrible sunburn from 4 hours on the lazy river), it's all about the old penny arcade with the shooting gallery. Plus the mini-golf.

Now, I mainly go for the kitsch, fudge and "antiques."

I regret that I never visited the wonder spot though.
posted by drezdn at 7:48 AM on June 11, 2008