One of our favorite places to go in the area for family fun is Historic Pointe Basse.
We LOVE historical sites and especially doing things outdoors so this is perfect. The atmosphere is amazing and we always learn something new everytime we go! If you're in the Rapids area you HAVE to get here! The kids will love it! Even if you don't have kids.... you'll love it, too :)
For those of you who remember me posting : we attended Heritage Hollydays in December (this was a couple weeks after we had left Missouri) and we loved it. Imagine an 1840's settlement completely covered in fresh white snow, lanterns illuminating the glistening snow along the path through the woods, and listening to "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by candlelight.
Photos I posted to facebook of Heritage Hollydays are below: just click the link to view them :)
Today was the Pioneer Fest and it was amazing.
The admission fee was $5 / adult and kids preschool & under were free. Ages 7-12 were $2.
So the total cost for 5 hours of fun? $5 ..... sure can't beat that!
The Wakely House was built in 1842 and has been completely restored to it's original look. (I just found out today that my grandma's friend lived in the house as a child before it was turned into a historical site! Cool, huh?)
All of the actors today were dressed up in authentic gear from the period; some were representing settlers and had more "rustic clothing" and some were representing the upper class from the time and their camps reflected their social status. In the camps of the upper class, the clothing was very proper and elegant, & the tents were elaborate and came with all of the 'modern conveniences' (which - at the time - included a wash-basin and rope bed) Our first stop today was the schoolhouse where we got to see what they used in the clasroom instead of a water fountain: a porcelain (I believe!) water cooler that you can see in the picture in the video above. The boys were very shocked to see that the lunchboxes in the 1800's were actually just re-purposed tin pails! Christopher purchased a "Jacob's Ladder" from the schoolhouse and Ryan purchased some wooden dice with "Pioneer Games".
Then we walked through the woods and stopped at the admissions where we picked up some furs to trade at the Fur Trade Camp with the French Trader. (You can see this part in the video)
Then we came out at the "settlement" that had a shed, blacksmith shed, teepee's, a camp, the Wakely House, a garden, food tent (where we tried fry bread and "Prairie Dogs" which are actually just hot dogs covered in fry bread.... for those of you who are curious!) and lots of activities that pioneers from that time would've done! (making tools, starting fires, spinning yarn....)
Then I think one of the boys' favorite things to do (besides be in the blacksmith shop: we were in there for 45 minutes) was "High Tea" at 2 p.m.
We sat in a tent and sampled three different types of tea that had been brewed over the fire in one of the "wealthy tents" of the well-to-do settlers ;)
1.) Blueberry
2.) Chocolate
3.) Cinnamon & Sage
we were also treated to some desserts!
lemon meringues, chocolate chip cookies, cranberry oatmeal scones, and scrumptious blueberry bread.
While we were enjoying our tea one of the re-enactors showed us what the different meanings of "fan waving" meant for the wealthy girls who had gone to etiquette school!
Ever wonder what people did without cell phones and texting? They had a secret code!
This was so that a girl could communicate with a potential "suitor" from across the room simply by using gestures with her fan that she had learned in etiquette school. Some of the gestures were.... well.... let's just say they were a little shocking for such proper ladies to be saying! We got a good laugh out of that.
The boys stayed extra long at the tea tent and the wonderful women there even served them 2 extra rounds of blueberry tea even after everyone else had left! Then after tea time we walked around the camp - at this point it had stopped storming - and got to see a handmade cedar boat, talked with a Scotsman, saw snowshoes being made (they got to feel rawhide!), watched a woman working at a pottery wheel, and just enjoyed talking with each settler outside of their tents. Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot about the HOMEMADE ICE CREAM!
Yeah.
It. Was. Delicious.
Tasted like whipped cream a little bit, too. Mmmm.... so yummy.
And the cool part? The ice was harvested from a local lake (Lake Nepco -- fun fact: Nepco stands for Nekoosa Edwards Paper Company ... it's an acronym!) anyways. The ice was harvested from the lake at the end of January and they store it in the shed on the property covered in saw dust. The man said that the ice they harvest in January will usually last them until their last demonstration in September! How's that for being resourceful?
And it was so cute: Ryan had this big gloober of ice cream on the side of his mouth and the man making the ice cream handed him a napkin. So instead of using the napkin, Ryan wiped his mouth off with his hand, blew his nose into the napkin, and then gave it back!!!! Thank goodness the guy had a great sense of humor ane he just laughed. Ryan's face was so priceless.... he was completely clueless as to why this is not an acceptable thing to do!
The boys had such a blast! And, of course, on the way out they had to say good-bye to their favorite: the blacksmith man :) Christopher told him that he was going to keep his ring forever and tell everyone about the blacksmith man. (They haven't taken their rings off yet and it's been 6 hours!)
Overall: if you're in the area....I really hope you go! It's such a cool thing that's right here in the backyard for those of us who live in Central Wisconsin. And for cheap family fun? You definitely can't go wrong. There's so much for the kids to do. For $1 you could even take a canoe ride down the river!
If you'd like to read about all of the places we got to visit today, click the link here:
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the video from our "trip" today!
If you'd like to leave a comment please do so on the main page. Love hearing from you all!
Also feel free to click around the links and check out the site as new things are being added weekly.
Hope you all have a great weekend and are enjoying the beginnings of summer!
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