Old World Wisconsin is an enormous outdoor museum that recreates the farms of 19th-century immigrant communities. Essentially, it's a museum of buildings. All (but one) of the more than 60 buildings are authentic, not reconstructions. Homes, cabins, barns, sheds, and outhouses were relocated to the museum from all over the state. Entire farms were recreated there within the lovely Kettle Moraine State Forest. Today the farms are worked using the very methods that the original farmsteaders used. It's a beautiful setting, and so big that each farm feels isolated. We've visited plenty of "living," "open air" museums, but never before had I been able to get such a good sense of what life would have been like and felt like.
The place is huge. Too big for our family to tackle in a day. It's divided into different areas based (more or less) on ethnicity. We decided to entirely skip the village area--I think we got a decent sense of a 19th century town when we went to Nauvoo--and focus on a few of the farms. As I said before, David and Mary were each "in charge" of two areas each. "In charge" meant having the camera. It is a beautiful, interesting setting, so it was hard for me to relinquish control of my little camera to the kids. There were some wonderful things I didn't get pictures of. But the kids felt important, and it magically made what could have been tedious a lot more fun.
I did snatch the camera away now and then. I have a few (okay, a lot of) pictures to share. I took these in this post, unless otherwise indicated. Later on in the week I'll show you pictures from the four specific farms.
These are just other random pictures from the day taken between farms....
We happened to visit on the grand celebration of the reopening of Old World Wisconsin after a tornado ripped through it last summer. I believe only a couple of buildings by the parking lot were damaged (and are now repaired), but you could see clearly the path the tornado took through the forest. The trees were mowed down. (After our experience last week, David was really interested in identifying tornado damage.)
The celebration meant there was a band
and cake! Lucky us.
We found the cake inside this big octagonal barn.
In case you didn't know, octagonal barns are something to get really excited about. (I personally do not find them to be as aesthetically pleasing as a regular barn. I suspect that may be blasphemy, so don't tell anyone I said that.)
Fortunately for my kids, there were trams to carry their lazy bums to the different farms. (To be honest, my lazy bum was happy for the trams too.)
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| David took this important picture. Trams are more exciting than farm houses after all. |
I don't know what it is about trams, but they inspire me to take a million pictures of my kids.
We did, on occasion, make our children walk (gasp!) through the woods and fields.
I would like you to notice my children walking on their own two feet. I am sure I will have to show them this picture to prove to them that they are capable of walking on their own two feet.
I would also like you to notice that David is NOT being eaten by a bear in the above picture. I am sure that I will need to remind him that he has survived the woods without being eaten by a bear.
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| David took this picture. I should give him the camera more often! |
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| David also took this picture. Maybe I should not give him my camera more often. Or maybe I should! |
For lunch we ate at the restaurant in the octagonal barn, where an effort is made to include some Old World fare on the menu. I felt inspired to take pictures of Mary drinking her not-so-Old World milk. (David and Mary were convinced the milk had come from the cows they'd seen on the Finnish farms. Hey, it did say Wisconsin on the label. But then again, don't all dairy products say Wisconsin on the label?)
After lunch we hopped on a tram and headed for the German and Polish areas. Then we were pooped. (Does anybody visit the whole place in one day?) So we drove home through the Wisconsin countryside.
Greg and I loved how each farm felt isolated. But they were all in one location, so you could visit many different farms in one day. It was fascinating to compare the different types of construction, customs, farming techniques, and so on among the different ethnic groups. And it's all in such a beautiful, peaceful setting.
We may not have Europe. But we do have Wisconsin.
P.S. Coming soon, pictures from "Finland" and "Denmark."
Thrilling prospect, isn't it? (When you have to scroll through a million boring pictures on my blog, just remember how complete my blog to book family photo album is going to be. When I get around to making it....)
