Glendower Mansion

Last Saturday was the Smithsonian Magazine's Museum Day. I first found out about this event two years ago from a co-worker - and I love it! It provides an opportunity to go to a museum (for free!) that we wouldn't otherwise go to. There were a list of museums in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky that were participating (the list changes a little every year) and I ultimately picked the Glendower Mansion. Located in Lebanon, it was less than an hour drive away and it advertised that it was Civil War Encampment weekend at that there would be cannon fire. I was pretty sure Hulk was going to love that. I was right. Little Viking Girl did not. I should have brought headphones. 

Embarrassing story: while at graduate school at UC, there was another student in the lab I was working. He went home to visit family in Lebanon. I thought he meant Lebanon, OH. Nope. He meant the country. -.-

We started off by exploring the grounds. They're not that expansive but they're well maintained. As advertised, there was a Civil War camp taking up half of the grounds. We learned about the different guns and artillery used during the war and were able to see a few demonstrations. The disparity between the guns used at the beginning of the war and the guns used at the end is incredible. At the beginning of the war, it took nearly three minutes to load and fire a gun. By the end of the war you could load a gun with several rounds and shoot them off in sequence. It was at this point Little Viking Girl decided she is terrified of guns. They were loud! I can't imagine being a soldier during the Civil War, battles must have been deafening.  

After the artillery demonstration we walked around the Civil War camp. It wasn't very big (you can see it in the background of the picture to the right) but we were able to see the bunk tents, a laundry station, a meal prep station, telegraph tent, and a music tent. The people participating in the camp were very friendly and they were excited to teach us about what life would have been like during the war. Hulk was only interested in the music tent and the tent with all of the guns on display. But after he let me drag him around the camp for a while we went back to our car for snacks before touring the mansion.

Service tip: when going out with kids (be it a museum or a nearby park) always bring snacks and water. Seriously.

The house was well maintained and had a lot of interesting antiques spread throughout. There were several friendly tour guides that lead groups through the house. I thought the tour was interesting but my kids did not. Baby #3 slept through it and Viking Girl entertained herself by running through the rooms. I was able to stop Hulk's whining by giving him my phone with instructions to take pictures of the things he liked. This now means that I have roughly 129,048,093 pictures of antique furniture, portraits, and other random objects on my phone. I was able to keep the kids from touching anything and the tour guides thought my kids were cute so I am still considering the day a win. 

Little Viking Girl's favorite part of the house was the room that was set up as a nursery. We walked in and her face just lit up when she saw the baby dolls. There was also a rocking horse in the room. And I was able to keep her from touching it while maintaining a good mood. If that's not a mom win, I don't know what is.

The tour guides provided information on the history of the house, the families that lived there, the furniture, and local legends. My favorite antique were the early piano/organs (there were at least three in the house). I want to know what it would have been like to play one. There was also a wooden flute. I played the flute in high school and I will occasionally let Hulk play with it, so we were both excited to see an antique flute.

I had never been to Lebanon before. We didn't see much of the town but the part that we did see was very neat - larger old fashioned houses. I don't think we'll visit the mansion again any time soon and, aside from the Civil War Encampment, it was not kid friendly at all. But we didn't break anything and no one seemed upset by our presence. It was a good experience :)