Little Norway: Lawn Gnomes Included

I finally got a chance to take advantage of my free pass that would grant me admission into select museums this past Friday, when I headed to Little Norway just outside of Madison. I decided to take along my boyfriend Chris pictured with me to the left (that’s us waiting for the tour to begin) to not only have someone I knew who I could “ooh” and “ah” with me at all of the pretty buildings, but he was also willing to drive the distance and cover the gas money. This made even more excited to travel (note: I repaid Chris later by buying him a hearty lunch that afternoon…appetizer included!). With the brochure of Little Norway I grabbed from Stonefield’s gift shop in hand, we set out on the open highway to finally visit the museum whose sign had intrigued us so many times we had cruised 151 North. When we took the road that promised to lead us to our destination, we immediately realized we were heading down a winding path into a forest.

What a wonderful surprise! Being as I have never been to Little Norway, I sort of expected the museum to be in the middle of some campground a few hundred feet away from the highway. But, when we had to drive deeper and deeper into the woods, I knew I was going to experience an authentic piece of history.

The moment we parked the car in front of the gift shop, I got a little camera happy.

Once I was done hamming it up, Chris and I jumped in on the next tour. The group I was with was greeted by our guide who was decked out in traditional Norwegian garb. After she gave us an overview of what we were going to see and when we could take pictures (I really paid attention to this advice) we hustled to the first of the four buildings we would visit. I was once again pleasantly surprised to see that all of the places we stopped had been altered from their original purpose (i.e. the farmhouse changed to an actual home) and filled full of personal items and antique treasures.

Throughout the entire tour, our guide kept throwing in information about Norwegian superstition, which Chris and I both thought was a nice touch. Some other information I learned was that Norwegians are not short. You see, the buildings we walked into had been revamped, meaning that the original dirt floors were no longer in sight, because they had been covered by wood flooring. Well, the “new” floors shortened the height of the buildings, and made us unknowing tourists believe that the people who once lived here were indeed not tall. Don’t be fooled by this!

The entire tour kept the group going in and out of buildings, and made Chris and I more and more excited to explore the streams, flowers, and nature encompassing the museum after our tour would finish. With all of the places one would get to see, and a replica Norwegian Church included, this place was definitely worth the trip. I got a chance to learn some Norwegian quirks, see some very impressive craftsmanship on both furniture and clothing, and I can now say that I went to Little Norway. It was a good day.