When booking the Sturbridge Jellystone in our previous post this was my number one attraction in the area to visit. It’s less than a mile away from the campground and is much like the Old Bethpage Village Restoration in Nassau County Long Island but much larger. In fact it’s rated as New England’s largest outdoor museum. The admission isn’t cheap but once you get inside it’s apparent what you’re paying for. There are so many actors around the grounds dressed in 1800’s garb and they farm and smith all their own products the old fashioned way. Linda and I could’ve stayed all day as it was so informative but we had to keep the attention span of our children in mind. That being said, we stayed nearly four hours on an oppressively hot morning. With a few minor hiccups, the children were engaged. In the video below I was able to catch Sarah a few times really paying attention. We moved quickly through the village just catching a glimpse of what life was like back then as we had to to keep the kids interested. We saw a cow being milked, how farm animals are taken care of and used for farming, crops be picked and cultivated and wool being processed and dyed. We visited a blacksmith shop, a tinsmith, a grist mill, a carding mill (prepares wool), and church and general store. We realized just how much we take for granted each day. Life was work back then.
As I stated in the Jellystone post previous to this one, there’s so much to do here I feel we barely scraped the surface here at the village and also in the area as well. There’s a hike nearby at the Tantiusques in which you can hike to an old indian lead mine and cave and a nearby creamery that I wanted to visit but I had to leave them both on the table. Traveling with my children is very rewarding and I want to show them the world but it’s very hard at the same time. They’re still so little so for now I’ll plan to the hilt and crank it down from there. There’s always next time. We’ll be back in a few years and they’ll get even more out of it when they’re a bit older. Thanks for stopping by.
travelingterrells.net 