Did you know that Wisconsin is the water ski capital of the world? I didn’t, but for those who have been vacationing in Wisconsin, I’m sure over the years you have been to, seen the billboards or at least heard of the TOMMY BARLETT WATER SHOW in Wisconsin Dells. Was this ski show the reason for Wisconsin having that world title? I’m pretty sure it is, but in 2008 Lake Delton was drained and the Tommy Barlett ski show is just a memory. My sister and I came close to and then saw this famous water show but before I convey my story, did you know there are great water ski shows in the Northwoods that you may or may not know about? Depending on where you live or staying here are water ski shows you might want to bring your family to.
* Minocqua there is MIN-AQUA BATS,
* Three Lakes – AQUA DEVILS
* Sayner – PLUM SKI-TERS
* Rhinelander – HODAG WATER SKI SHOW
* Conover – CHAIN SKIMMERS WATER SKI SHOW.
* Manitowish Waters – SKIING SKEETERS WATER SKI SHOW

If you would like to know how I came CLOSE to experiencing the Tommy Barlett water show, read on. For those who visit this site, know my family vacationed in Mercer for many years and one of our trips up north we stayed at a motel in the Dells that was owned by a friend of my father. The first afternoon of our two days stay, my sister and I were in the motels pool and asked if we would like to see a water ski show. My dad’s friend informed him, there was no need to drive there, you guys can just walk behind the motel to see the water skiers. While the two of us dried off my farther and his buddy made a cocktail and the four of us walked down a dirt path behind the motel until we overlooked Lake Delton. This is where we sat on the ground waiting for the great water show to start. Let’s just say we got a really good look at what goes on behind the scenes of the famous Tommy Barlett show. Let me explain. Our viewing area was the back bay of the lake and if you were sitting in this location, you could see the skiers and even hear them talking to each other while getting into position before heading back out into Lake Delton to pass what I believe were the bleachers of people that actually went to the show. I say this because all we could hear was a muffled voice announcing what was happening and a crowd cheering. The next day my farther must have thought about how lame our water show experience was and before leaving the Dells, we sat on those bleachers cheering for the skiers. Leaving the show, we thanked mom and dad for taking us and all was good until dad saw the Tommy Barlett sticker plastered on his chrome bumper. While writing the end of this, I realized seeing the skiers positioning themselves in that back bay before heading out into the main lake was a huge plus and we saw things other people didn’t. Looking back, our stay actually wasn’t too bad. We swam in a pool, had backstage passes to THE TOMMY BARLETT SHOW and then saw the real thing, so it was really a win win.