Detour to Viroqua, which is in the middle of nowhere, and check this place out. I expected a little storefront, and instead found a huge former tobacco barn converted into a bookstore and performance space.
It was worth the trip just for this.
If (generic) you are a fiber artist, head a little farther into town and go to Ewetopia. I’m wearing a t-shirt advertising that store right now. 
They’re running again. Lake Delton drained in 2008 when a highway that stood between the lake and the Wisconsin River (not the dam itself) washed out during a flood. The damaged area was rebuilt, and the lake refilled by the summer of 2009.
Did anyone else first think of Yemen when reading the title? I sure did.
Yes I have been there.
http://widenyourhorizon.com/dar-al-hajar-rock-house-of-imam-yemen/
Don’t forget The Rock In The House (not far from the House On The Rock).
I think it’s awful. Just horrible. It seems to go on forever and there’s no way to bail out once you’re inside.
It’s painfully ironic that it’s located in an area that is a paradise for Frank Lloyd Wright fans. HOTR is pretty much the diametrical opposite of everything Wright stood for.
This sums up my feelings, already expressed in those earlier threads.
On our sole visit to HOTR, we spent the better part of 4 hours earlier that day touring FLW’s school of architecture and visiting some of his local buildings (tho not Taliesin as it was closed). Then we went to HOTR. The resulting cognitive dissonance was alarming.
If you’re in the area, don’t miss the Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bicycle Museum in Sparta, Wisconsin!
And by “don’t miss it” I mean, make sure you go so you can tell me about it because I’ve never been there but have always marveled at it from afar.
Thanks for the tips everyone. I do like cheesy weird things so it sounds up my alley. Thanks for linking to previous threads, I should have known there would be some.
I’m not coming up only for the House on the Rock, if it truly was in the middle of nowhere then I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it, but since it is close to Madison and Milwaukee I thought it might make a fun trip. I didn’t go anywhere last year other than to Austin so I’d been trying to think of what would be a good trip. And I figured probably cheaper than going to San Francisco or New York or other places I’ve been recently, although I haven’t researched prices so I don’t know for certain.
One last note from me on HOTR:
Despite my disclaimers and criticisms and cognitive dissonance, I don’t regret going to see it. It is noteworthy for its kitschy tackyness and overall weirdness. Plus it does contain many interesting things.
I would go back a 2nd time only to take a certain type of friend to see it so they could also experience it.
I couldn’t agree more. It’s a stain on a beautiful and interesting part of the state. I was desensitized to the kitch in 15 minutes and everywhere you turned was like watching a bad movie scene on an endless loop. The best part was getting out at the end and seeing trees and the sky again. I would have paid admission again if someone would lead me out a side door partway through.
You could also visit the Central Hotel in Boscobel, where two men, stuck sharing a room for the night, conceived the Gideon society. I think it was done in a SFW way, though the result, well, I guess if you run out of TP …
I’d wanna go…let’s be friends! 
I love places like House on the Rock. When I hit the road on vacation, I scour websites like Roadside America for places to visit along the way. I’ll make side trips of 50+ miles if the place looks interesting. Sometimes the “attractions” turn out to be amazing, sometimes they turn out to be meh. Sometimes they turn out to be run down and sad(prime example: Jackrabbit Trading Post in Arizona). Good or bad, most places have at least one really cool/weird thing that makes the trip worthwhile.