To all our friends and guests who helped make 2011 such a success, thank you so much. We enjoyed having you stay with us and will look forward to seeing you and your friends next year. I’ve uploaded many pictures of Hamanassett decked out for Christmas on our face book page. Tried to upload pictures here but word press is acting persnickity. All the attractions with Christmas decorations such as Longwood Gardens, Winterthur, Hagley Museum, and the Brandywine River Museum keeps their decorations in place through the first week of the New Year so you still have time to visit us.
We were honored at Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast to take part in the Bed and Breakfasts for Veterans program. Started last year in West Virginia, the program is now part of the Better Way to Stay program at the Professional Association of International Innkeepers. As a result, hundreds of bed and breakfasts across the United States offered free rooms to our veterans on 11-10-11 to thank them for their service to our country. This year we had the Army, Navy, and Air Force represented.
In addition to the rooms offered by Hamanassett, the good people at the Delaware County’s Brandywine Valley Conference and Visitor’s Bureau secured donations from many of the attractions and local businesses in the area. Included were items like a WALK FOR THE WOUNDED T-shirt (a major fundraising event that draws thousands of people to Delaware County each year to honor soldiers who have been wounded overseas), plus a bottle of Chadds Ford wine, a box of Fudge made by a local candymaker – and a variety of free admission passes to places like Longwood Gardens, the Simeone Car Museum, the American Helicopter Museum, the Brandywine River Museum and more! There was also a $20-25 gift certificate to a local restaurant in each bag.
If you are planning on visiting Longwood Gardens this holiday season it is important that you purchase your tickets in advance. This year there will be no admittance unless you have a pre purchased timed ticket. Tickets are issued for a specific date and time and tickets are available for advance purchase on their website now. There is no admittance to the Gardens without a timed admission ticket if you are not a Garden Pass Member. For more information or to purchase your tickets, click here.
pen House at t Wineries December 3 & 4
The 7 wineries of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail will be hosting a holiday open house the first weekend in December. In addition, they offer special events all through the fall. For more information click here
The final fireworks and fountains light and sound show for this season will be Labor Day weekend, Saturday September 3. If you don’t catch this show you’ll have to wait until the Christmas season for their spectacular shows. The annual multi-sensory evening series is an absolutely-can’t-miss summer event. And you’ve got one last chance to enjoy it:
Enjoy the fountains and fireworks at Longwood Gardens
• Summer Pops (September 3): A night featuring American composer Leroy Anderson’s best known works, including “Blue Tango,” “The Syncopated Clock,” and “Home Stretch.” Bring or rent a folding chair for a front-row experience of the gardens’ lights and sounds! Tickets are $38.00 per person and can be purchased online at www.longwoodgardens.org or by calling 610-388-1000.
Hamanassett only has one room left for that weekend plus the two cottages which are each 2 bedrooms with 2 baths so grab your friends and family and don’t delay in making your plans.
Celebrate National Public Gardens day with free admission to Longwood Gardens on May 6, 2011. You can click the link below to see other gardens in our area as well as your area to see who is participating. But we really think you should come see our beautiful area. Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast is only a 15-20 minute drive to Longwood Gardens. We also have nearby Tyler Arboretum. Chanticleer Garden and Mount Cuba about 30 minutes from us. In fact, our area has so many increditble gardens within 30-45 minutes of Hamanassett, you could spend a week here and not see all of them. For more information of Philadelphia area gardens www.greaterphiladelphiagardens.org.
Enjoy an evening of the classics on Friday, April 15, 2011 in the conservatory at Longwood Gardens. Olga Kern is the Russian Gold Medal winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano competition. The program will include the music of Robert Schumann, Sergei Rachmaninoff and others. You may start your evening with a preshow dinner at Longwood’s 1906 restaurant. For more information http://www.longwoodgardens.org/OlgaKern.html. Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast is only 15-20 minutes from Longwood Gardens and we have a few rooms left for next weekend. We also have a couple of rooms for Friday night only also.
Both Longwood Gardens and Winterthur are fabulous DuPont estates located only 10 minutes apart in the beautiful Brandywine Valley. Between now and April 30 they are offering a Twice As Nice package which allows you to go to both gardens for the low price of $25.00 per person, a savings of $11.00 per person. Now through March 27 is the Orchid Extravaganza which culminates in the Orchid sale on April 2 from 6-9 PM.
Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast is about 15 minutes from Longwood Gardens and 20-25 minutes (depending on traffic) from
Winterthur. While you are here add in a visit to one of the Brandywine Valley wineries or visit Philadelphia which is 30 minutes from Hamanassett. So much see and do in such a small area of southeast Pennslyvania. Check out our Activities button to see everything there is to do in the Brandywine Valley.
Please be our guest for Dinner On The Orient Express. Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast’s Brandywine Cooking School still has space available for our next cooking class beginning Sunday, March 13. Take a culinary Grand Tour of Europe and Asia with menus inspired by the Orient Express, which for over a century was the symbol of luxury travel. A trip evocative of excitement, romance and intrigue, your “tour” will feature cuisines associated with such exotic destinations as Paris, Venice, Vienna and Istanbul, prepared by you with guidance from our chef.
You will arrive Sunday afternoon and join your hosts, Ashley and Glenn, along with the other students for a get aquainted social hour with wine and light snacks. You are then on your own for dinner.
The following morning, after breakfast in England, you will board your” train” (our professional kitchen) for your exciting culinary experience. The rates quoted include your room for two nights for two people, breakfast two mornings, and lunch and dinner with wine on Monday, March 14. Rooms are first come first serve so book early to ensure getting the room of your choice. We limit the classes to five couples to ensure your receiving personal attention.
If you love trains like I do, you might want to include a visit to the Strasburg Train Museum. Strasburg is a delightful 45 minute drive from Hamanassett. For our guests who come for the cooking school which includes Sunday and Monday nights in your rate, we offer a special rate of only $150.00 per night for each additional night you stay until Friday. For more information on the Strasburg Museum and railroad (where you can actually take a trip on a train) click here. Longwood Gardens, only 15 minutes from Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast is also having their Orchid Extravaganza during this time so there are lots of reasons to extend your stay, beyond the great rate.
All year long we consider ourselves so fortunate to live in such a beautiful area. This is even more true during the holiday season. Below are just a few of the events going on the Brandywine Valley during November and December. Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast is within a 10-25 minute drive of all the attractions and we still have availability for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Not to be missed, the always enchanting Longwood Gardens. See their 52 baskets of poinsettias in the conservatory. This year they are hanging white poinsettias rather than the traditional red. For railroad buffs, there is the garden railway display. As always, the Brandywine River Museum has an incredible train display. It is one of my favorite places to go during the holiday season.
GARDEN RAILWAY DISPLAY
Imaginations embark on a journey through a marvelous landscape and fanciful miniature railway in the Idea Garden.
This year’s display features Thomas the Train along with new bridges and new water features.
The Garden Railway will operate 9am to 5pm through November 24 and then transform into the Christmas Railway from November 25 through January 9, 2011.
This event occurs on the following dates:
Daily from Tuesday, September 07, 2010 through Wednesday, November 24, 2010 9:00 AM — 5:00 PM
Daily from Thursday, November 25, 2010 through Saturday, January 09, 2010
9:00 AM — 9:00
November 20, 2010-January 9, 2011
Experience traditions of the past and dazzling holiday entertaining displays in this special wintertime tour. New this year are vignettes depicting mid-1800s Christmas celebrations at Winterthur and the January 1938 wedding festivities of Pauline Louise du Pont. Garden-inspired trees and the perennial favorite, Winterthur’s magnificent dried-flower tree, will also be on display. A full series of special events, performances, and workshops will help to make your season bright.
Winterthur is open on Mondays throughout the Yuletide season. Tuesdays, December 7, 14, 21, and 28 feature extended hours with evening tours and shopping and dining opportunities.
Tour reservations are recommended. Purchase tickets there or call 800.448.3883 or 302.888.4600.
Even Nemours is decorated and open for the holidays. Their hours for holiday tours are from 11/5/10 through 12/31/10. Reservations are definitely suggested.
A toy monkey found in the attic of the Nemours Mansion sits under a Christmas tree in the main foyer Monday. (The News Journal)
Well, this word “culinature” is Longwood’s word. I’m amazed how many new words keep cropping up to define the simple task of eating. But this special event is anything but simple. Take a culinary tour of the Gardens and savor an amazing seasonal feast as you travel to different Garden spots for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, dinner and dessert.
Enjoy dinner music and watch Longwood’s chefs create your meal with local Chester County and Brandywine Valley produce in “field kitchens.” Delight in the flavorful tastes of autumn—fresh from the harvest to your table. The menu includes passed trays of specialty beverages, a bar snack, passed hors d’oeuvres, and the chef’s field kitchen featuring pulled BBQ duck crepes. The first course is an apple and butternut squash bisque. This is followed by a salad and an entree of pumpkin seed French cut chicken breast, celery root, squid ink pasta cake, brussels sprout slaw and roasted carrot with Longwood thyme emulsion. The grand finale is a dessert reception. You will be invited to the main fountain garden for dessert and fountain show where you will be greeted with passed trays of spiced rum apple cider with morello cherry coulis, local wine poached seckel pears stuffed with cinnamon mascarpone, pumpkin gingersnap trifle, and cnocolate pecan tarts. Please note: menu is subject to change based on availability of fresh menu items.
Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast is only a 15 minute drive from Longwood Gardens and we still have a few rooms and the cottages available for that weekend.
$175 per person
Garden Pass Members receive a 15% discount ($149 per person)
Prices include Garden Admission. Buy tickets online or by calling 610-3885
Bed and Breakfast Directory
If you are planning on visiting Longwood Gardens this holiday season it is important that you purchase your tickets in advance. This year there will be no admittance unless you have a pre purchased timed ticket. Tickets are issued for a specific date and time and tickets are available for advance purchase on their website now. There is no admittance to the Gardens without a timed admission ticket if you are not a Garden Pass Member. For more information or to purchase your tickets,
