Things To Do In Baraboo

Runners embarking on the Honky Tonk Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5K won't need headphones to hear twangy country tunes. That’s because the hilly Wisconsin Dells course features live bands and DJs along the route to keep participants energized as they race toward the finish line. The party-like atmosphere doesn’t end with the race, as a full-blown celebration complete with food, beer, and line dancing awaits runners and their family and friends. Aside from age-group awards for the top three males and females in each race, finish-line gifts include a Honky Tonk cowboy hat and goodie bag for all participants, a finisher-medal buckle for marathoners and half marathoners, and an ice bath for those who decided to pogo stick the entire 26.2 miles. The Honky Tonk marathon and half-marathon course is USA Track & Field certified and is also a Boston Marathon qualifier.

Knucklehead's Bowling & Indoor Amusement Park's 80,000-square-foot facility is bursting with a dozen family-friendly attractions. In the bowling alley, a light show illuminates pins and balls to the tune of festive music and a black light adds an eerie neon glow to cosmic bowling. You can also bowl under conventional lighting, of course, opting for automatic bumpers to prevent gutter balls and marshmallow pins to muffle noisy strikes. Elsewhere, go-karts zoom around a track, bumper cars collide, and visitors swing hand-over-hand through a weblike ropes course. A roller coaster zooms throughout the space, and the arcade whirs and flashes with video games such as Dance Dance Revolution and Madden, as well as traditional games that award prize tickets to their deftest handlers.

The Crystal Grand Music Theatre allows audiences to get up close and personal with top performers in an intimate 2,000-seat setting. Night Ranger—’80s arena-rock legends and sellers of millions of albums—takes to the recently renovated stage for one night only, treating fans to their signature melodic fusion of hard-rock intensity and radio-friendly hooks. Rock out to the band's beloved epic power ballads including “Sister Christian” and "When You Close Your Eyes," as well as ripping guitar-driven hits such as “(You Can Still) Rock in America,” a pointed response to the Regan administration's brief ban on scissors and paper. The Crystal Grand Music Theatre's size ensures every concertgoer has a clear view of the stage, and its innovative design and updated acoustic technology ensure that every chord, beat, and "motoring" evokes the appropriate head-banging response.

Pool balls sinking into the pockets of five billiards tables, bullseyes landing on two dartboards, royal flushes sweeping the digital tables of five poker machines. With all the gaming available at Pumphouse Sports Bar & Grille, it's possible to forget to stop and eat. Possible, but not probable, since cooks here coat wings in more than 21 flavors, such as garlic oregano and buffalo ranch.

Equally hearty, the remaining menu includes juicy burgers crowned with cheese curds and bacon, brick-oven pizzas topped with taco fixings, and Wisconsin mozzarella deep-fried in tomato-basil breading. Beneath an antler chandelier, bartenders complement feasts with local craft beers from 16 taps, while five 50-inch HD TVs show the day's biggest games and coaches' best imitations of Edvard Munch's "The Scream." Live music graces the bar on weekends, while weekly leagues meet for billiards tournaments, bean bag games, and, in summer, volleyball on three sand courts adjacent to Pumphouse's outdoor patio and tiki bar.

Throughout a golf career that encapsulates a stint as a collegiate player at Weber State University and a Class A membership with the PGA of America, Jared Shears has had ample opportunity to identify what works and what doesn't on the golf course. While many approaches have been tried—from rote drills to hypnosis to becoming one with the golf ball by going on a couple's retreat with it—Jared believes that improvement can realistically be narrowed down to five keys. He's come to this conclusion only after spending hour upon hour studiously watching film of hundreds of the game's greats. His analysis? These elite players keep their head steady and weight forward, maintain a flat left wrist, control the clubface, and guide the club's sweetspot on a diagonal swing path. Jared believes that, with practice, each of these key skills can be achieved by golfers of any skill or experience level.

Dells Watersports, a boating haven founded in 1979 by Steve and Kathy Zowin, creates adventures aboard its high-speed and leisurely paced watercraft. Atop the waters of Lake Delton, inflatable tubes bounce over waves as they’re pulled by rental ski boats, and rental waverunners heed the stop signs held up by mermaids. Taking more leisurely trips, kayaks and canoes carry groups on scenic floats by sandstone bluffs, white pine trees, and the Timme Mill dam. Back on shore, staff members man a full-service marina department stocked with boating equipment. Dells Watersports also maintains sister facilities for watercraft rental at Mirror Lake, Castle Rock Lake, and inside all the world's fishbowls.