You never know what you might discover when you are on vacation. Sometimes an unexpected stop becomes the highlight of your family trip. This is exactly what happened to my family on a recent weekend trip to the Berkshire region of Massachusetts.  

We planned our short getaway with a few pre-scheduled activities but also allowed some downtime to explore the area. Because it was wintertime, some of the popular area attractions were closed, so we found ourselves with a free morning. I decided to scour the blogs categorized under 'KidFriendlyVenues' on MomsTribute.com to find something fun to fill our time. I soon discovered that there was a recommended attraction called Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens in the nearby town of South Deerfield, Massachusetts. I had never heard of this museum before, but it looked fun, and we decided to check it out.

We arrived at the museum and got in line for our tickets. From the outside, there wasn’t too much to see. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I started to think that maybe I had made a bad choice when choosing this attraction. However, while waiting to go in, we talked to some people in line and a few of them had been to the conservatory before and said that it was fabulous. 

Guess what?  They were absolutely right! And that is why I like to think MomsTribute.com and their KidFriendlyVenues app is the best. It links the best blogs for working moms full of nuggets of golden information to the app where all the details are to hand. You are never disappointed.

We purchased our tickets and then headed to see the butterflies. Along the way to the exhibit, we were surprised to see that there were some tanks to explore. We decided to take a quick look, but actually ended up spending quite a bit of time at this portion of the museum. The tanks turned out to be filled with all sorts of fascinating insects such as cockroaches, scorpions, and other creepy crawly things. I have to admit that I was both fascinated and a little scared at the same time. I was just glad that the creatures were kept safely in their tanks!  

We then headed into the butterfly conservatory. We couldn’t believe our eyes! This place was truly amazing!  From the moment we entered, we could see butterflies everywhere we looked!  My kids couldn’t believe it! There were butterflies of all different sizes and just about every color of the rainbow. They were absolutely beautiful as they soared through the air and landed on the numerous live plants found throughout the conservatory area. We tried to keep count of all of the butterflies, but there were just too many to keep track of. In my earlier research, I read that the butterflies sometimes land on visitors, and this is exactly what we observed when we walked by a lady who had several butterflies land on her arm. We decided to try this for ourselves and soon realized that these gorgeous creatures were definitely comfortable among visitors.  My daughter and I had butterflies cling to our shirts and my husband and son even had some land on their heads!  

The experience was so much fun, that we all decided to walk through the exhibit a second time!  We learned a lot about the different species of butterflies and got to check out some really cool pollinator plants as well. There was also a pond with a waterfall and koi fish.  The whole place was so peaceful and calm. We could have stayed there all day.     

We were getting hungry so we decided it was time to go. However, before exiting, we checked out the museum’s gift shop which was filled with really cool butterfly-themed merchandise. We ended up purchasing some pollinator seeds to plant in hopes of attracting butterflies to our own home garden. We ended the visit by taking a photo at the lifesize butterfly cut-out to commemorate the trip. On the way to the car, we took a look at the outdoor gardens, which seemed like they would be really beautiful in full bloom, but were unfortunately not in season during our winter trip. Our unexpected stop at Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens turned out to be a wonderful experience that none of us will ever forget. We will definitely be visiting again on our next trip to the Berkshire area. I highly recommend this venue for any family that is looking for a fun, unique experience. When we returned from our vacation, I gave Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens a five-star rating on the KidFriendlyVenues app.  Not only were the butterflies amazing, but the venue also had many kid-friendly features including:   

• Bathrooms
• Kid Friendly Exploration
• Ample Parking
• Kid Friendly Cooperative Learning
• Kid Friendly Activities
• Kid Friendly Approved by KFV
• Kid Friendly Environment
• Kid Friendly Hours
• Wheelchair (but not fully stroller) Accessible

For more information on Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens and other kid friendly venues, please search our free KidFriendlyVenues app. With it on your phone as your go-to guide for finding the best places to visit with your family, it becomes a very helpful tool for best time management for busy moms.

Kim F