Reflections on American Kitsch

This weekend Kathi and I were up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - better known as the "good land" - attending a wedding of a co-worker. Congratulations, Jason and Danielle! It was an interesting wedding. After a string of contemporary evangelical weddings, this was a nice change of pace. Organs, choirs, bagpipes were the order of the day. Pretty liturgical too. The bride was greeted at the altar by the groom while the congregation sang "Holy, Holy, Holy."

On our way back, we stopped at one of our favorite place in all Wisconsindom: Mars Cheese Castle. This place is basically a barn full of Wisconsin cheese, summer sausage, and wine with scantly-clad women on the bottle. Classy. They also advertise an art gallery on site, but we have never been able to locate said gallery. We ended up buying a big block of cheddar and an elephant ear.

There's just something about Wisconsin. For those who haven't been, it is the only state in American where off of every highway exit you can find both a cheese and fireworks store. It's just a great piece of American kitsch.