I almost didn’t write about this because I didn’t want to relive this failure of an outing. NOTE TO SELF: Maymont is not for kids. At least not my kids. At least not this time of year. (There is a Children’s Farm open other times of the year that might be nice… but not right now). Maymont is a Victorian estate in Richmond. There is a historic mansion to tour, various gardens, and even some captive animals including bears, eagles, owls, and other fauna native to Virginia. The place is huge (around 100 acres). It sounds lovely, and it really is, but my experience there was less than fabulous. I made the mistake of bringing my huge double stroller. There are tons of hills, no shade, and a dead end I reached where I could have made the 30+ minute walk back uphill in the sun or walk up some stairs in the shade. Luckily I brought my Ergo as backup, and somehow I managed to get my two kids and the huge double stroller up the stairs (and there were A LOT of them). At the end of it I was exhausted and had collected a few mosquito bites. I wanted to cry. Eva wanted to cry. She was crying, actually. But our journey wasn’t over yet. I really, really wanted to tour the mansion, especially since it was Halloween and they were having a “Mourning” exhibit. When we finally made it over there, the upcoming tours were booked and I had to wait about 40 minutes until the next one. I had made the hour drive from Stafford, and I knew I’d probably never be back, so I decided to stay. Big mistake. It was getting close to nap time. The kids were restless. By the time we made it in the mansion they were behaving like little terrors (mostly the two-year-old), so I had to leave after only two rooms. ???? As you can see from the pictures below, it’s a beautiful place. But I will likely not go back any time soon.