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| Jenny 1977 - 2010 |
In August of 2010 i got a tragic phone call telling me that one of my dear friends had been killed in Sturgis, SD during the annual motorcycle rally. It was her dream trip and it ended in a nightmare when a SUV pulled out in front of her and she had no choice but to lay the bike down. She hit her head and was severely injured. She was alive on the scene but never made it to the hospital. It sent shock waves through our group of friends and all the people whose lives she touched.
The funeral was to be held in Friendship, WI. So we immediately started to make plans to get to there. Since it's about 2 hours away and a bunch of us were going we decided to stay overnight. After jumping on the internet and searching for lodging in Friendship, WI i found the Wisconsin Dells were being referenced constantly. We really wanted to stay as close to where the funeral was being held as possible. After some digging i found a place called the Akron Inn on
Trip Advisor. (Side note: I rarely book anyplace that doesn't have a decent Trip Advisor rating or their own website). I actually had to pick up the phone to call and ask about rates and availability and i hate, hate, hate to do this. The price was VERY low at $50.00 per night and it made me feel a little suspect about the potential quality. The woman on the phone was extremely nice and with limited time to do more research and not many hotels in that exact area i booked it for 3 rooms for 3 couples. I passed the word on to a few other couples in case they wanted to book their rooms at the same place.
We went up on the Friday night with plans to stay for two nights as did the other two couples. We all arrived at different times though. We were the first to arrive and check in. It was an old school motor lodge, but you could see some updates to the exterior so i was already feeling a little better about the location. Yola, we later found out her name, helped us at registration. You could actually see behind her to an open door into their living room so they lived onsite. I'm not certain of her nationality, but her accent was strong and you could just feel the old world personality coming through. We mentioned why were there and because Friendship, WI is such a small town, she knew about the funeral the next day. She also quickly picked up on the fact that we were lesbians. This didn't matter at the time, but she did make certain to let us know later Saturday afternoon how she felt. "You wanna be a girl loving a girl...that's ok with me". LOL.
The funeral was sad, but it was packed with all sorts of people from Jenny's life. It was good to know how loved she was. It's hard losing a good friend, especially one so young and full of life. I will digress from the funeral and continue to talk about our stay.
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| Jenny Throwing One Back |
The reason i even felt we should add this review is because of how Yola made our stay warm and comfortable. After the funeral we went to grab some brews and ice to head back to the hotel. Jenny would've wanted us to throw one or two back in her honor so we decided to sit around and tell stories of her. When we got back tot he hotel we noticed a little fire pit area with chairs and two picnic tables nearby. There were 8 of us so we all headed to that area with our makeshift cooler and brews. Just as we were getting comfortable Yola came over to inquire about the funeral and how we were all doing. She was so sweet. She told us that she'd have some wood brought over and as long as we could start and maintain the fire we were welcome to have one. She sent her son to bring over the wood, which he did, and we got a blaze going. Jenny would've really loved this! We ordered some pizzas to be delivered and while we were waiting Yola brought out a "fresh plate" of pickles, fresh cucumber and tomato slices from her garden. The pickles were AMAZING! Turns out, behind the hotel Yola had a huge garden, that was well maintained and flourishing. Needless to say we had a blast sitting around the fire telling Jenny stories.
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| Jenny would've loved this! |
I cannot stress enough how Yola made our stay at Akorn Inn (or Akorn with a "K' as we started to call it) a memorable one. Sometimes it's not about the bells and whistles of your room, but the people. Now, to be fair, the rooms were really good too. Microwave and fridge available, clean bathroom, clean bedding and clean room. The furnishings were more country and not completely matching and the TV was the old box kind. But it was enough for what we needed. The customer service could not be beat. So, if you're ever in the Wisconsin Dells area and want something a little more homey and quiet and a little away from the hub-bub of the Dells, then please, try the Akorn Inn and ask for Yola.
