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canyonwalkerJust knowing that there was a Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum, dedicated to the history of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin was enough to justify an easy afternoon trip out there from my sister's house 45 minutes away. But wait, there was more! In addition to, well, the lake, there was also the house Gary Gygax lived in and not one but two memorials to Gary Gygax: a Gary Gygax memorial bench in the lakefront park, and a Gary Gygax memorial brick in the plaza.
A brick.
"It's a brick," I repeated to my spouse as she kept reading from the things-to-do-in-Lake-Geneva list she found online.
"Yes," she gushed, "A brick dedicated to Gary Gygax and—"
"But it's just a brick. One brick."
"Yes, and we can see—"
"How far are we going to walk to see a brick?"
The answer, BTW, was almost a mile. But it was a pleasant mile because the weather was nice and we made lots of jokes along the way— about us being characters in a horror movie, or possibly foolish adventurers in a D&D game, walking into a horde of cicadas. Plus Gary Gygax's house was on the way.
And it did take a bit of searching once we got to the location, but we found the Gary Gygax Memorial Brick!
It would have been perfect, of course, to roll my dice on this memorial brick. Legend has it that a d20 rolled on this brick will roll 20s twice as often and never a 1 thereafter!
Alas I didn't pack any dice on this trip. We actually did plan to buy dice at the dungeon hobby shop museum— a shrewd suggestion by my brother-in-law— but then the museum was closed when we arrived. So we arrived at this d20 memorial brick empty-handed. There would be no blessing of dice.
Down by the waterfront was also the Gary Gygax Memorial Bench, the things-to-do-in-Lake-Geneva list told us. There was even a photo of it, so it we knew it's real— or at least was real as of when the photo was made last year. We reconnoitered most of the park without finding it. Then, in the distance on the other side of the library, I spotted a dragon! Surely the Gary Gygax Memorial Bench would be the one next to the dragon sculpture....
Alas, there was no memorial placque on the bench in front of the dragon. We left the park without finding the special bench. ...But that was okay because at least we found the brick, right?! 🤣
CICADAPALOOZA!
I'm not sure what Cicadapaloooza is... like, do people dress up as 6-foot tall cicadas? Are there cicada floats? Deep-friend cicadas on sticks?... but it sounds metal. Too bad we were a day late.
A brick.
"It's a brick," I repeated to my spouse as she kept reading from the things-to-do-in-Lake-Geneva list she found online.
"Yes," she gushed, "A brick dedicated to Gary Gygax and—"
"But it's just a brick. One brick."
"Yes, and we can see—"
"How far are we going to walk to see a brick?"
The answer, BTW, was almost a mile. But it was a pleasant mile because the weather was nice and we made lots of jokes along the way— about us being characters in a horror movie, or possibly foolish adventurers in a D&D game, walking into a horde of cicadas. Plus Gary Gygax's house was on the way.
And it did take a bit of searching once we got to the location, but we found the Gary Gygax Memorial Brick!
It would have been perfect, of course, to roll my dice on this memorial brick. Legend has it that a d20 rolled on this brick will roll 20s twice as often and never a 1 thereafter!
Alas I didn't pack any dice on this trip. We actually did plan to buy dice at the dungeon hobby shop museum— a shrewd suggestion by my brother-in-law— but then the museum was closed when we arrived. So we arrived at this d20 memorial brick empty-handed. There would be no blessing of dice.
Down by the waterfront was also the Gary Gygax Memorial Bench, the things-to-do-in-Lake-Geneva list told us. There was even a photo of it, so it we knew it's real— or at least was real as of when the photo was made last year. We reconnoitered most of the park without finding it. Then, in the distance on the other side of the library, I spotted a dragon! Surely the Gary Gygax Memorial Bench would be the one next to the dragon sculpture....
Alas, there was no memorial placque on the bench in front of the dragon. We left the park without finding the special bench. ...But that was okay because at least we found the brick, right?! 🤣
Cicadas, part 3
Oh, and we found a lot more cicadas. The place was lousy with them. They were bouncing off our faces, landing on our shoulders, getting squished underfoot, etc. We also spotted this:CICADAPALOOZA!
I'm not sure what Cicadapaloooza is... like, do people dress up as 6-foot tall cicadas? Are there cicada floats? Deep-friend cicadas on sticks?... but it sounds metal. Too bad we were a day late.
