goats!!!!

duck mafia

will you just look at that buttery light

Sly: “You look so happy on a farm. Maybe we should live on one?” Me: “Can we have pigs and goats and dogs and cats?”

We always seem to find little friends wherever we go

Note: Sly took the bulk of these photos.

After breakfast we poured over an area brochure found in the hotel lobby. Natural Bridge Park looked promising and wasn’t too far. Then we checked the ticket price and never mind. Why was the admission to Natural Bridge Park more expensive than entrance into Shenandoah NP? Instead we went with option number two: Frontier Museum.

Initially I thought the museum would be all indoors with displays of like Native American baskets, frontier wagons, and farm tools. Instead the first part consisted of a series of houses — many that were transferred piece by piece from their original locations — depicting the lives of settlers prior to coming to the US. The second half depicted Native American life as well as the progression of frontier life — from single log cabin to a much nicer log house with a one-room school. Period dressed reenactors were at each station working on crafts, tending the farm, and/or answering questions. I wanted to look and touch (and photograph) every little detail and what made this place even more awesome was that you could touch and interact with pretty much everything. We have been pretty obsessed with the BBC historical farm tv series lately and had a major nerd out moment when we got to the Irish Farm. It was set up almost exactly like the Edwardian Farm! Too vague a reference? If you like period houses and recreated villages (obviously we do) then you’ll love this place. And if you don’t, it’s still a really beautiful place to walk around. We only really planned on spending an hour or so there but we lost track of time and found ourselves there for nearly three hours. I guess we must have really enjoyed it.

DETAILS

Frontier Culture Museum / $10 adult/$6 child. (I could have sworn it was cheaper than this when we went but this is what the website says // If you’re the type of person that likes places like colonial Williamsburg, Renfests, and the Tenement Museum, then you’ll pretty much love this place. I think any kid (or kid at heart) would go nuts here because you can touch and play with everything! Bonus points if you can recognize all the reenactors on site that are in the video they show before you tour the grounds. Additionally, there are a bunch of special events that sound really cool — sheep shearing, lantern tours, holiday workshops. The grounds are pretty expansive and there are a couple of trails that you can explore. If, however, you don’t feel like walking, there’s a little golf cart shuttle that will take you from point to point. There is a little artisan workroom at the old dairy farm. We didn’t explore this (not sure if you can) but a lot of artisans seem to work onsite making things like period furniture and crafts, some of which can be found in the gift shop. TIP: bring a picnic lunch. There are lots of picnic tables throughout.