The Yellow Barn

If you’ve been following my last few posts, you’ll know this is a continuation of my recent fun visit to the Shenandoah Caverns complex in Quicksburg, Virginia. If you haven’t been reading my blog recently, be sure to see the previous post when you are through here. Assuming you enjoyed this post, of course. The post before that one describes my trip to the caverns and introduces you to the giant frog mentioned later in this post.

Anyway, continuing the visit story…

Once I’d finished immersing myself in parade relics at the American Celebration on Parade (ACOP) building, I went back across the road to see The Yellow Barn at Shenandoah Caverns. I’d only planned on visiting the parade building, but how could I NOT investigate the big yellow barn with a giant frog in out front?

According to the Web site, The Yellow Barn (TYB) is Shenandoah Valley’s “…newest attraction and entertainment venue. It offers visitors a whimsical look at our agricultural heritage and rural life with historical displays that include restored antique farm wagons, equipment, carriages and vehicles.” That sort of makes it sound like it was built for that purpose. But you want to know what I think? I strongly suspect it was built to house the overflow from the owner’s super-cool collection of parade artifacts. Calling it an “entertainment venue” justifies its existence. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Where ACOP was on the dark side, lighting-wise, and crammed full of some things that could maybe scare little ones (if they’re the gentler sort who are creeped-out by clowns, Santa, the Easter Bunny, etc.), TYB is bright, airy, and jammed pack with cuteness.

TYB’s Web site summarizes the building’s contents as such:

Exhibits ranging from a 25-foot-long tobacco press to horse drawn wagons to early 20th-century tractors to a Model T Depot Hack once used to pick up passengers at the railroad station fill the 15,000-square-foot space. A 35-foot-tall treehouse sits inside one end of the building and is home to a family of five-foot-tall squirrels.

I guess you could call the exhibits educational. I just call them delightful.

After passing through the building’s lobby and entering the exhibit hall, I was amazed by the sheer volume of stuff displayed.

 

 

 

 

My cuteometer must have been firing because the first centerpiece exhibit I was drawn to was that squirrel treehouse mentioned above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like at the ACOP building, I had to take my time and really look to see all of the delights tucked around the building.

 

 

Speaking of bees… this guy was there, too.

 

I thought he looked a bit creepy. All I could think of when I saw him was that movie, The Fly, with Jeff Goldblum.

There was a real beehive, too. I even captured a video for you. It’s very short, and might make you feel a bit buggy.

There were some cool ants, too.

 

 

 

Here are some cute donkeys.

 

Do you see a face when you look at this tractor?

 

And that’s what I saw inside of The Yellow Barn.

Do you love the squirrelly treehouse as much as I did?