freshvintage

Christmas at Longwood Gardens

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA with a group of local bloggers to learn about their Star Blogger program. They plied us with peppermint-chocolate cupcakes and star-tinis (martinis made with star fruit) and told us about all the star-themed holiday festivities at Longwood. They could have given me star-shaped pinecones to eat, and I still would have been happy to be there.

photo credit: alifeinbalance.net

Chris and I had a family membership for several years, so I was already very familar with Longwood Gardens. Pierre S. Du Pont bought the former farmland in 1906 because he didn't want all of the trees to be cut down and turned into horse carriages or golf clubs or whatever people used wood for back then. Pierre preserved the land and turned it into a magical place with a huge conservatory, open air theater, Italian fountains and every plant and flower you can imagine. Over one thousand acres of indoor and outdoor gardens.

During Christmas in the 1940s, Pierre and his wife Alice would host grand celebrations for all of the Longwood employees and their families. They would give gifts to each of the many children in attendance. 

In 1957, Longwood Gardens opened their Christmas celebration to the public and all hell broke loose. People would travel from all over the country to see the spectacular spectacle that is Christmas at Longwood Gardens. I visited on a Saturday night a few years ago, and it seemed that everyone from the state of Pennsylvania had the same idea.

photo credit: longwood gardens

But when I visited Longwood last week, on a Thursday night, it was a completely different experience  - and not because I drank too many star-tinis. The crowds were slim. I didn't see any moms battling for room on the walkways with their strollers. It was actually peaceful, and I was able to enjoy all of the Christmas displays. Like the 1,600 handcrafted star-shaped ornaments. And the Christmas trees decorated by the students of local elementary schools. And the 500,000 twinkling outdoor lights - including the illuminated full-size trees that were floating in the lake. I still haven't figured out how they did that.

My favorite part was the table-for-48 that was set for a Christmas celebration, similar to the Du Ponts of old. I bet the person who folded all those napkins is riddled with carpel-tunnel syndrome.

photo credit: colleen allison

I'm planning to bring my kids and Chris back to Longwood next week, on one of the off-peak nights  - preferably Tuesday through Thursday. They love the indoor Children's Garden and the Garden Railway. And I've always had a special place in my heart for the employees at the Children's Garden who have secret stashes of towels for the rowdy kids who stick their heads in the children's fountains. Other people's kids. Not mine.

Longwood is a lovely place to visit any time of year, but visiting in December really gets you into the holiday spirit. And take my advice - avoid the weekends, if possible! Leave work early or do whatever you have to do to get there during the week. I promise - your experience will be so much better. It's cheaper during the week, so there's that, too. Off-peak days are Monday-Friday, except for December 26-31. There are a few Mondays that are members-only days - December 10th & 17th. If you aren't a member, you will need to buy timed tickets online. It's an easy process, but you should plan ahead to make sure there are tickets available for the day you want to visit. 

 

photo credit: longwood gardens

 

Before your visit to Longwood, you should also consider a stroll through downtown Kennett Square, the quintessential American main street (and, lucky for me, only five minutes from my home). Great restaurants, vintage shops (Scout & Annie and Green-Eyed Lady) and, always a freshvintage favorite, a wine-tasting room! It's also the home of world-famous Talula's Table - a gourmet food market that closes its doors at 7pm and becomes a one-table restaurant. Every foodie's dream.

If you are planning a trip to Longwood, and you need any other advice about area restaurants, antique shops, etc., feel free to email me with questions. Longwood Christmas runs until January 6, 2013.

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In exchange for being a Longwood Gardens Star Blogger (and telling you about a place that I was already in love with), I received compensation from Longwood Gardens. My opinions are my own, as usual.

And, if you visit this Christmas, tell them that Colleen from freshvintage sent you, and they will give me free mums for life. Just kidding - don't do that.

My attempt to squeeze some antiquing into our family trip

Here's some of the lovely junk that I picked up during my vacation in April. My in-laws met us in Savannah, and we all drove back to Pennsylvania in our minivan: four adults, two kids and lots of luggage. This did not stop us from filling any available space in the van on the way home from Georgia. The cubbies and the green cart (pictured below) were not purchased on the road trip. Those were found a few days later while we were antiquing at some local shops. But I was still on vacation, so I am counting those in my pile of "vacation finds". And I didn't even take pictures of the stuff that my antique-dealing in-laws bought. They had to ship a few boxes back to Yakima!

I love this metal No Parking sign - it was hung along the streets of D.C. during Johnson's Inauguration. My dad was involved in politics long ago, so I am always attracted to stuff like this. I found this at Keepsake Corner in Selma, NC. (Hi, Amy!)

At the same shop, I found a pair of Peters' red children's skis and poles from their Juvenile Ski Line. Skis are always a huge seller in the winter. My grandfather, dad, brother and nephew are named Peter. And I have a Peter Heater.

Would you like to touch my Pet Coolie...

sign? I said, "my Pet Coolie sign", you pervert.

Coolie fruit drinks were made by Pet Diary, and came in little cartons that were served in school cafeterias. We didn't have Pet Diary in NJ growing up. Did you ever drink a Coolie? Chris bought this enamel sign at Reid's Country Sampler in Selma, NC.

Cubbies! I have no idea what they were used for, but I think there used to be a door on the front.

This Golden Seal blanket still has its original $1.95 price tag. The colors are right up my alley.

My father-in-law, Jim, told me that this green cart was used on the Railway Express Agency.

 I immediately pictured some poor soul dragging it along railroad tracks across a barren stretch of land, a la O Brother Where Art Thou. But, of course, I was wrong. Railway Express Agency was the train version of FedEx. This cart was used to move freight & packages to the trains for delivery. It was not actually used on the tracks, dummy.

There's been a lot of hub-bub lately about finding vintage dressforms. Well, I found one, too! Meet Sally Stitch. I adopted her from the enormous Blue Crow Antique Mall along the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Sally sat snugly between the kids in the back row of our minivan during the last 5 hours of the trip home. They hate her.

I found this mantel shelf at Blue Crow, too. My father-in-law kept telling me not to buy it because "they are a dime a dozen". Maybe in Yakima, Jim, but not in PA! That long white thing beneath it is a painted safe deposit box with a key.

How about this porcelain shower head!? Have you ever seen one before? It looks like a giant cabinet knob with tiny holes. The milk glass jars came straight from Mary Kay Andrew's booth at Seaside Sisters. I'm trying to decide if I should keep them or sell. I love the blue lids and art deco style.

I love this basketball chalkboard by Korney Board Aids (I know - weird name). I found this in Selma, NC at His n' Hers Antiques.

I grew up with a dad who was obsessed with basketball. We went to Sixers games and we watched college basketball, especially the Big Five teams from Philly. My Dad still has the Villanova NCAA Championship game from 1985 that he videotaped while we were on vacation in Florida. We just wanted to go to the pool and meet boys, but he insisted that we watch this local team upset Georgetown.

My sister, Erin, and I played basketball in grade school and in high school. But, guess what? We went to different high schools, so we played against each other. It was a big family occasion when our teams duked it out. In one of our first games, Erin drove up for a shot. I immediately put my hands in front of her eyes and screamed into her face. She was way taller than me, so it was the only thing I could do to prevent her from scoring. And I didn't touch her, so it wasn't a foul. She missed the shot, and was furious. She got all pissy, and her coach took her out of the game. Woo-woo!! I loved watching her face turn the same color as her red hair. She one-upped me when she went on to play in college and was really good and won championships and whatnot.

But, sometimes when we are at yard sales together and we both see something good at the same time, I cover her eyes and yell into her face. Aw yeah...I still got it!

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Here's a list of the stores that we enjoyed on our trip. There were a few others that we visited, but they might have been too expensive for us, or just weren't our style.  And believe me, I wish there were many, many more on this list. But, as my husband had to constantly remind me, this was a family trip, not an antique-buying trip. Buzzkill.

Georgia

• Seaside Sisters, Tybee Island
• Wright Square Antique Mall, Savannah
• Paris Market & Brocante, Savannah (the only thing I bought was the metal number 4 in the top photo, but I LOVED this place.)

Selma, North Carolina (all within two blocks)

• His n' Hers Antiques
• Reid's Country Sampler
• Keepsake Corner

Virginia's Eastern Shore

• Antique Addicts, Exmore
• Blue Crow Antique Mall, Keller

Our Breeze Inn Vacation in Tybee Island

We spent six nights at The Breeze Inn in Tybee Island, Georgia, and every day I would find something new that I hadn't seen the previous day. I didn't want to leave!

I originally learned about the house from the Better Homes and Gardens article last summer. In many of the articles in home decor magazines, the featured homes are carefully staged and lots of outside props are brought in to improve the story & photos. I was a little concerned that the Breeze Inn was slightly over-hyped in the article. Boy, was I wrong! The home is exactly as it appears in BHG.

You can find photos of The Breeze Inn on BHG and on the home's own website. Instead of repeating those fabulous photos, I wanted to show some of the thoughtful details in the house, along with photos of the stuff that I wanted to steal. You can poke around in Mary Kay's blog archives to read about the full renovation of the house, starting with her initial purchase of the home.

Instead of using store-bought hollow doors and cheap-o knobs, Mary Kay scored some antique doors and an array of doorknobs for the house. I didn't realize that the doors weren't original until I re-read her blog archives.

Here's the drying rack hanging above the huge farmhouse sink. I will certainly be on the look out for one of these - I never find them in this smaller size.

This aqua cement sea horse is to die for. I need to ask Mary Kay if she painted it herself, or if it came in this color.

The upstairs hall bathroom has a window and shower curtains made from yards and yards of barkcloth with a pattern of flowers and dancing folks. (I cropped out the toilet in this photo, because I don't want to remind you that you need to go to the bathroom. Because then you might get up from the computer and forget to come back and read the rest of my post.)

This was on my top of my "Must Steal" list:

These boat paintings caught my eye, because I realize that I never would look twice at one of these if I saw it at a flea market by itself. But they looked so cute with the beachy decor of The Breeze Inn, particularly because they were grouped together.

Here's a pair of bird prints. There's another matching pair on the other end of this wall.

And a colorful painting featuring seashells in one of the bedrooms:

That green metal sconce, and its twin on the other side of the bed, would have fit perfectly in my suitcase. Mary Kay has bedside wall sconces in all three bedrooms, which is something I've never tried in my house. I am always worried about attaching something to the wall (hardwired or not). What if I eventually move my bedroom furniture around, and then I would have two holes in the wall? But, how often do you move your bed? Not often, dummy, so just try it.  (Sorry - that's how I talk to myself.)

Chrome lamps in the master bedroom:

Brass bedside lamps in the kids' room:

Did you catch the walls in those last few photos? No drywall to be found! All of the walls in the house are either white-washed horizontal boards, or vertical beadboard. The walls add that special touch to the house that makes it extra cozy and warm.

The back porch was a fun place to hang out after coming home from the beach. Here are three generations of Allison men having a laugh:  (there's that green glider that I threatened to bungee-cord to the top of our minivan.)

These bookshelves fill up a whole wall in the family room. Can you spy the three vintage globes? It was a good thing that I already had them in my own collection, or else I would have been tempted to commit a crime.

My mother-in-law had never read any of Mary Kay's books, but she grabbed Blue Christmas from the HUGE assortment of novels, cooking and home decor books and started reading it. Now she is planning to buy it, because she didn't get a chance to finish it while we were there. That's quite a sneaky sales ploy, Mary Kay! I recommend that my MIL just steal the book, but I guess she has morals and ethics and stuff like that.

Here's Finn at the bottom of the stairs. I don't know what Mary Kay calls this room, but it has a stacked washer/dryer in the corner, all of the sun hats and beach bags, a beautifully-painted turquoise daybed and access to the back porch. The stairway walls are covered in old photos of sunbathers. And look at that vintage hanging light!

 

I love that Mary Kay left the original plank ceiling in the master bath unpainted. (Be sure to look at the BHG photos of the sink and built-in shelves, too.)

This mirror in the master bedroom dressing area is just stunning. STUNNING. It is about 3' high by 4' wide, and the frame was bordered with one-inch square mirrored tiles.

I bet some of you think that I stayed at The Breeze Inn in exchange for this gushing post about the house. Well, of course! I mean, really, why on earth should I have to pay for anything? Country Living pays for my groceries. American Pickers pays my mortgage. And Antiques Roadshow sponsors my weekly cases of Cupcake Chardonnay.

Alas, I made an exception in this case, and we did pay for our stay. It was worth every penny. We were only a five minute walk to the beach, where the kids spent a few hours each day.

Savannah was about 25 minutes away, and we visited there nearly every day. We ate at The Distillery & Uncle Bubba's, took a trolley tour, ate pralines, did a scavenger hunt among the city squares, visited a national park, and shopped at The Paris Market & Brocante. I could go on and on about Tybee and Savannah, but I will spare you. Book a trip there now! That reminds me, I need to get the Georgia Tourism Board to sponsor me for something. Oh - maybe a trip to Scott's Flea Market in Atlanta?

"Okay, kids. Smile nice and pretty next to the tombstones!"

 UPDATE! Here's what we bought on the drive home.

Any Tybee Island & Savannah Tips?

We only have a few short weeks left until we leave on a family road trip to Tybee Island, Georgia. We'll be renting the Breeze Inn Cottage, owned by NY Times best-selling author Mary Kay Andrews. She spared no expense when she renovated the cottage in 2009. To top it all off, she painted it a fabulous color and decorated it with her favorite vintage finds - which also happen to be my favorite vintage finds. The house was even featured in Better Homes & Gardens magazine last summer  - that's where these photos are from.

The only reason I am renting this cottage is because I want to be Mary Kay Andrews. Is that so wrong?

My in-laws will be flying in from Yakima, WA to meet us in Georgia. And then they will have the pleasure of driving back with us to PA. Well, let's hope it's pleasurable. The drive is around twelve hours, but we will be splitting it up into two days (both on the way down, and on the way home).

We need some ideas from you southern gals (and guys). We'll probably go to Savannah a couple of times while we are there (it is about 20 minutes from Tybee). It is the first time for all of us, so I would love to hear from those who have visited Savannah and/or Tybee Island. Favorite restaurants? Antique stores? Thrift shops? Flea markets? I already have Seaside Sisters on my list - Mary Kay has a space there.

The kids are hoping to go swimming in the ocean, but I don't know if the weather will be warm enough. We'll probably take them on a dolphin or beach-combing tour, though.

Kelly from High Street Market just visited Savannah, so I will be studying all of her recommendations. Also, Stephanie Howell recently wrote about some of her favorite places in Savannah. Thanks for making my decisions a little easier, Kelly & Stephanie!

And I already met Paula Deen, so there is no need for me to go stalking her again. She also has a beach house in Tybee that is available for rent through Mermaid Cottages. But since we are BFFs, she offered to let me stay with her in her main house in Savannah. I was all like, "No, thanks. Your cooking totally gives me gas."

Anyway, on the way home from GA to PA, I would love to stop at any junk shops or flea markets that are easily accessible from Route 95. Preferably a shop with a public bathroom that I can use under the guise of a "rest stop". Does anyone have any ideas? We will be driving home in the middle of the week, so I know that the possibilities are limited. We'll most likely sleep in the vicinity of Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

I can't wait to sit on this apple green glider with a big glass of cold Chardonnay...all the while concocting a plan to steal it without Mary Kay (or my husband) noticing that it is strapped to the top of our minivan.

P.S. Paula Deen was a doll when I met her. This video clip is precisely the reason why I love her so much. And Part 2 of that clip is even better.