Ever since reading Not-So-SAHM's review almost a year ago, I've wanted to check out the Mansion on O Street. But, well, way leads onto way and we never seemed to make it there. Luckily, this winter Living Social offered a discount on the Mansion's youth scavenger hunt package, which felt like fate telling me we needed to visit (fate and Living Social collaborate quite a bit lately).
The Mansion on O Street experience escapes easy definition. Basically, the Mansion consists of rooms full of stuff. Lots of stuff. As in, EVERYWHERE. Decorations vary from the seemingly ordinary - chandeliers, guitars, bookshelves - to the completely bizarre - taxidermy, mannequins, a gigantic chess set in the bathroom (all of which is for sale, by the way). Prepare for sensory overload. Add in the fact that many of the "walls" are actually secret doors and you have preschool nirvana.
We began our "tour" by searching for items on the museum's scavenger hunt list. But T had way more fun pointing at random discoveries and shouting "you have to hurry over here to see this!"
The Mansion also operates as a hotel and for the kids the fun resided in running from room to room (they all seem to blend together, haunted house style), whereas the adults contemplated where we'd stay if given an unlimited budget (I'm all about the log cabin suite).
Eventually, we took a break for some cookies and milk. I didn't except much, but they brought out tons of fresh baked delights, including the most fabulous coffee cake ever (seriously, much better than the stuff they serve at the Ritz's high tea). And then we explored more. The house is HUGE (five interconnected townhouses, over 100 rooms) and the kids loved every minute of it (we stayed for about 2 hours).
If you're interested - click here to learn more about the tours and options.
Hidden doors = amazing.
Scavenger hunting is exhausting - luckily these chaise lounge chairs offered an opportunity to chill.
OK....this sounds like my idea of heaven!
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