Enjoy Wine, Polo, Food and Music every Friday night from June 3 through August 26th! Watch polo, enjoy concerts, bring a picnic (or buy food on-site) and sip great local wines from the wineries of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail. The Polo field is in Toughkenamon, Pa. Where the heck is that you ask? It is 18 miles due south of Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast just off Route 1, about a 30 minute drive. For more information on this family friendly event click on our Activities button and then click on calendar of events.
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.
When you visit the Brandywine Valley, don’t forget that we are only 30 minutes southwest of Philadelphia. I just learned about this super way to tour Philadelphia. London isn’t the only city that has double decker buses. Right in our own back yard (almost, Philadelphia is a 30 minute drive from Hamanassett or you can take the train into downtown Philadelphia). The Big Bus is a tour that takes you around the major tour spots in Philadelphia. Included on the tour are The Liberty Bell, Elfreth’s Alley, The “Love” Sculpture, Betsy Ross House, Independence Hall, Independence Seaport Museum, Boathouse Row, Museum of Art, Row Houses, and Carpenters Hall. The pass is good for 24 hours and allows you to hop on and off as you choose. I’ve always liked to take a full tour and then decide which ones to disembark for. A full tour takes about 90 minutes. Tickets are only $27.00 per adult and can be purchased on line. For more information on the Big Bus Tour www.bigbustours.com/eng/philadlephia/default.aspx.
Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast in the Brandywine Valley has ties to the Civil War as it was once home to General Montgomery Meigs, Quartermaster General to President Abraham Lincoln.
On Sunday, April 3, 2011 from 2-5 pm, the Western Delaware County collaborative, Legacies and Lessons will host “The Civil War Homefront: a Sunday Afternoon at Hamanassett”. Hamanassett was home to General Montgomery Meigs, who had been Quartermaster General to President Lincoln during the Civil War. General Meigs recommended that property in Arlington, Virginia owned by Mary Custis Lee, the wife of Robert E. Lee, be used as a military burial ground. Based on this recommendation, Arlington National Cemetery was created in 1864. In October of that same year, his son, First Lieutenant John Rodgers Meigs was killed at Swift Run Gap in Virginia. He is buried at Arlington Cemetery.
There will be tours of the historic mansion as well as civil war re-enactors and refreshments. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. They can be purchased at the Rachel Kohl Library, Darlington Arts Center and at Newlin Mill in Chester Heights, Pa
The national commemoration of the American Civil War is underway and Southeastern PA is part of it. “This mighty scourge,” as Lincoln described the Civil War, changed how we live and indeed the course of the nation. The national Civil War sesquicentennial will be a four year event (2011-2015) and is a fresh opportunity for a new generation to rediscover our nation’s rich history as well as the key role many Pennsylvanians played in the war and in which the war impacted our region.
In Southeastern Pennsylvania a collaboration of 11 organizations ranging from local school districts and inns to area historical societies and a community arts center have joined together to prepare appropriate and historically accurate state-sponsored activities to commemorate the richness, diversity and significance of the PA Civil War experience.
The collaboration has been meeting for the past fifteen months, planning programs that will continue throughout 2011, and possibly beyond. Lectures, demonstrations, at least one re-enactor encampment, concerts, games and various other activities are planned to appeal to all ages. The centerpiece will be the Pennsylvania Civil War Road Show, which will tour the state for the next four years. We are especially honored that Delaware County was selected for the first year. A large semi-trailer filled with exhibits and interactive displays, the Show will arrive August 11, and remain on site at Garnet Valley Middle School for five days. During its stay, Legacies & Lessons (the name of our collaborative group) will host a lively History Fair at the same site, showcasing local talent and collections, with food and entertainment.
The Road Show also aims to reassemble Pennsylvania’s Civil War history, one story at a time. Through a “Share Your Story” recording booth, individuals will be invited to share their own Civil War-era family photographs, artifacts and other material and stories—digitally and/or orally, to be uploaded into a public, online repository that will grow as the Road Show travels.
The local Civil Collaborative worked hard to get an appearance by the Road Show and plans to use it as a cornerstone of its Civil War 150 commemoration plans. The group plans a web site, promotional materials and advertising for all its activities. With the publicity surrounding the three day visit from the Road Show, the collaborative anticipates about 5-6,000 people will attend the Road Show itself and there will be increased interests in other aspects of Civil War 150 commemoration activities
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.
I’ve been writing about all the activities in the Brandywine Valley and in nearby Philadelphia, which is only a short 30 minute drive from Hamanassett. Today I’ll tell you about a really neat trip that is about an hour’s drive east of us. My husband and I made the drive over to Strasburg, Pa. about 6 months ago to go through the train museum and it was fascinating. This article is compliments of Gregory Coin who writes for Wilmington Tourisn Examiner.
Great day trip: Strasburg, Pennsylvania IS Traintown USA!
Learning in Motion educational program at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
Photo: Photo from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
If you or your family like trains, Strasburg, Pennsylvania needs to be your very next whistle stop – and it’s less than hour drive from Hamanassett in Lancaster County! Just follow Route 1 south from Hamanassett Bed and Breakfast and then take Route 41 north, and turn left on Route 741/Strasburg Road. There is a huge clock tower by this intersection. (If you get to Route 30, you’ve gone too far!).
It all starts with the massive Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, a world-class transportation museum with everything you (or anyone else on earth) ever wanted to know about trains. The museum houses well over a hundred vintage locomotives and rail cars dating back to the early 19th century. There’s a wonderful education center in a late Victorian period freight station on “Platform One” of Rolling Stock Hall, as well. There’s a huge model train layout. And don’t miss the exhibit of trains in classic movies, or the watercolor paintings and photographs of trains. You can even hear songs about trains – lots of them! And last but certainly not least, their Museum Store is fabulous. If it’s about trains, they’ve got it. Just up the road from the train museum are two huge antique malls.
Once you’ve immersed yourself in railroad history at the Museum, the next step is surely a ride on the historic Strasburg Railroad right across the street. Take the whole family through Amish Country on a coal-burning steam train. Ride the the minature Cagney Steam Train; operate a hand-powered Pump Car or watch the kids “steer” the pint-sized Cranky Car. And be sure to visit the Strasburg Railroad Shops, including the Thomas™ Toy Store. Plan ahead so you can enjoy lunch or dinner onboard or the Railroad’s popular Wine & Cheese Train. For a less “moving” experience grab a bite at their Trackside Café.
Don’t you just love all of the train lingo in Strasburg? Your next stop — especially if your party includes children — should be the Choo Choo Barn. It’s Lancaster County captured in miniature, featuring more than 140 animated figures and vehicles and 18 operating trains. From the baseball game to the circus, from the zoo to the operating quarry, from the Amish barn-raising to Dutch Wonderland and the Strasburg Rail Road, it’s a truly comprehensive overview of the region. They guarantee you’ve never seen anything like the Choo Choo Barn and I bet they’re right! Admission is just $6 for adults (13 and up) and $4 for kids but Choo Choo Barn is closed from January 5 to March 6, so you better hurry!
Now that you’ve experienced the hustle and bustle of the locomotive world, you might want to end your day with a calmer form of transportation. Consider a uniquely relaxing journey through Amish County in an authentic Amish buggy. Ed’s Buggy Rides offers a three-mile tour through the back roads of Lancaster County where Amish families work and play on some of Pennsylvania’s most picturesque landscapes. You’ll even visit an actual working Amish farm where you can purchase the real thing in Amish foods and craftwork.
Of course, no visit to Strasburg would be complete without dinner at the – what else – Iron Horse Inn. The Hotel Strasburg and Conestoga Transportation Waiting Room, as it was originally known, has been serving up great food and fine spirits for more than 100 years. In the spring, summer and fall you can dine on their porch to the unique “clip clop” pulse of horse drawn Amish buggies on Main Street.
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