Robin's Hood (a.k.a. Sherwood Forest )

Just to say "I'm going to Sherwood Forest today" sounds a bit fanciful, like "I'm going to the moon today." It conjures up images of men running around in green tights, arrows flying past your head and carts selling the "wares" of the day bumbling and jingling over dirt paths. In reality, Sherwood is no more these things than the moon is made of cheese (but it is still nice to imagine the flavor).




The museum was quite bi-polar its focus, a bit of fun and a bit educational, which clearly was geared toward children. Maybe bi-polar is a bad way to think of it: maybe it's more like 'you can eat dessert, but need your veggies, too'. The first part has the interactive walking through the scenes and history of the tales--my only wish is that there was a canal of water and small boats that took you through, a la "It's a Small World" (that would fully Disney-fy the experience). I particularly enjoyed the digestive sounds you could hear after you made a Merry man eat a certain wooded plant ("Mmmm..."--very Homer Simpson, or, "blekkk, ugk, ugk"--heard if what you ate killed you)! After dessert, the museum fills you with veggies (very Robin Hood--fun first, then business): you walk through a scientific exploration of the Forest, learning about the different flora and fauna--not really my thing; I get why it's there, but I like dessert better. I guess it is important to science and some people like that, but who really is reading Robin Hood as a biology text book?

The gift shop, however, gets you back to the fanciful so that you aren't totally annoyed that someone made you eat vegetables. It is filled with costumes and stuffed animal versions of the characters as well as all kinds of "weapons" and trinkets to get your brain back to the idea that you are, indeed, on the moon and it is time to sample the cheese! Very satisfactory on the whole.

Sherwood Forest puts you right into the stories. You feel healthy and alive walking through the calm woods surrounded by trees that are several hundred years old. It helps you imagine that a story like this could have actually happened amongst these trees. I particularly enjoyed trees that had become hollowed out with age; I could imagine them as hiding places for Robin and his buddies when the evil Sheriff's men were riding about hunting them down. Sadly, I did not hear any hoofbeats while I leisurely crept about the paths, but I could feel nature protecting me all the same. Walking around solo gave me the true feeling of not only exploring and serenity, but I knew I was on my own and had to fend for myself if anything were to happen. Even though nothing did, it put me in the independent mindset of a man who has been exiled from town and now must figure out how to care for himself away from all that he knows.
On the whole, Sherwood was an enjoyable trip. For a lover of the stories, I recommend the dessert that lets you have the fun of being a part of the stories, and don't worry about veg--mom will forgive you just this once!