May All Your Days Be Circus Days (Roadtrip Post #3)

Baraboo, Wisconsin

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a circus junkie. So, leaving Menomonee Falls, WI and headed for Fargo, ND, it was a given that I would have to stop in Baraboo, Wisconsin, home to the Circus World Museum and winter home to the Ringling Brothers Circus in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. I made it there right as it opened and had the place mostly to myself for several hours. I was in heaven!

I always loved the circus as a kid and even threatened to run away and join the circus as a teenager. My dad called my bluff on that one, laughingly encouraging me to “enjoy my time shoveling elephant shit.” He was right. I had no real skills to offer. But I knew that circus people were my people. 

As a kid, I loved the movies, Dumbo and Toby Tyler. I adore Water for Elephants, both the book and movie. I deeply identify with the novel, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which is in my top 3 books of all time. The first time I read it, I recall reading late into the night for several nights and intentionally pausing for about an hour the night I finished it, so I could finish at daybreak. It was that magical. And if there was ever any doubt, the 2017 movie The Greatest Showman cemented it for me. I cried the first three times I saw it. 

I loved taking my kids to the circus when they were little, so when I accidently found myself in trapeze classes in 2011 – that is a separate story that most of you already know, but I will just say here that Burning Man was responsible – and my girls wanted to join in, I was ecstatic. They actually got quite good at it, and even did some shows. My aerial skills in trapeze and lyra never quite reached the level of joining the circus (I'm blaming my late start in circus life - the mind was willing, the body less so), but I loved every minute of it. The closest I ever truly came to running away to join the circus was when I went to Las Vegas as a VIP for Cirque du Soleil's Cirque Week. That was an amazing experience.

I didn’t know what to expect in Baraboo, but it did not disappoint. I really just expected exhibits and historical pieces, but they had so much more – from dioramas to costumes, live animals to an outdoor trapeze rig, carousel to funhouse, vintage circus wagons to a clown class. There was even an actual show, under the big top tent, and although it was a one-ring circus, the performances were top-notch. 

For much longer than I probably should have, I stayed in my happy place. To quote P.T. Barnum himself, "The noblest art is that of making people happy." Thank you, Baraboo, you done good.

If you came to this through the blog, know that there are more photos in the related Facebook post.

Bonus: During the pandemic, I started writing and posting “My Virtual Smithsonian” on Facebook and one of my favorite pieces, of course, was the Smithsonian Circus edition. If you haven’t gotten your circus fill from this post, you can revisit that 2020 piece. There are tons of links in the comments of that post to circus-related things at the Smithsonian.

Google Album of these photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aRigA8P6Jg3Jmkb57