Eastern Home & Travel – Fall 2013

Dream in a Romanesque Castle

Take a

Gastronomic

Road Trip through

Talbot County East Coasts Gifts for the Giving

Fall/Holiday 2013

www.easternhomeandtravel.com

Make House Guests Feel Welcome

Seek Specters at Point Lookout Lighthouse

Virginia!

A Touch of Old World Charm in Wessex Hundred, a 300-acre farm overlooking the James River, less than five miles from Colonial Williamsburg, the historical capital of Virginia, is home to: THE WILLIAMSBURG WINERY

For the past seven years, rated as one of the World’s best wine producers by Decanter Magazine in London.

WEDMORE PLACE

A European style country hotel featuring wood burning fire places, king sized beds and decorated with antique furnishings and paintings from several countries.

THE CAFÉ PROVENÇAL

One of the top ranked restaurants in Williamsburg featuring upscale Mediterranean-inspired cuisine.

THE GABRIEL ARCHER TAVERN

Specializing in lighter fare such as small plates, salads, and sandwiches.

Come and discover…

THE WILLIAMSBURG WINERY 1 WEDMORE PLACE T H E G A B R I E L A RC H E R TAV E R N 1 C A F É P ROV E N Ç A L

5810 Wess ex Hundre d, Wi l li amsburg, VA 2 3 1 8 5 | (7 5 7 ) 2 2 9 - 0 9 9 9 | w w w. w i l l i a m s b u r g w i n e r y. c o m

SHOPPING

Where Outside is In!

Allen Edmonds

Potomac River Running

Ann Taylor

Pottery Barn

Appalachian Spring

PR at Partners

Apple

Prime Cleaners

ArtInsights Animation & Film Art Gallery

South Moon Under

at&t wireless

Talbots & Talbots Petites

Athleta

Victoria’s Secret

Banana Republic

Wells Fargo

Bow Tie Cinemas

White House Black Market

Brighton Collectibles Charles Schwab Chico’s

DINING

Cigar Town

American Tap Room

Crunch Fitness

Ben & Jerry’s

Davelle Clothiers for Him & Her

Big Bowl

Eyewear Gallery

Coming this Fall

Williams-Sonoma

Busara Thai Restaurant

Faber, Coe & Gregg Sundries

Chipotle

FedEx Office

Cosi

Clyde’s of Reston

Francesca’s Collections Edibles Incredible!

...see more online at RestonTownCenter.com/events Light the Night Walk for Leukemia & Lymphoma Saturday, October 5

Gap

Il Fornaio

Gap Kids/Baby Gap

M&S Grill

Greater Reston Arts Center

McCormick & Schmick’s

Hyatt Regency Reston

Oktoberfest Reston & Carnival

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers

Friday, October 11 – Sunday, October 13

Jouvence/Aveda

Obi Sushi Panera Bread Paolo’s Ristorante

Washington West Film Festival

L’Occitane

Potbelly Sandwich Works

Thursday, October 24 – Sunday, October 27

Le Shoppe for Hair, Nails & Skin Care

Starbucks

Reston Town Center Ice Skating Pavilion

Market Cellars

Daily, from early November until March

Mayflowers

Reston Holiday Parade Friday, November 29

11900 Market Street Reston, VA 20190 703.689.4699 Route 267/Dulles Toll Road, Exit 12, Reston Parkway

Sweetgreen Tavern64

Midtown Jewelers

Ted’s Bulletin Opening Fall 2013

One to One Fitness Center

Uncle Julio’s Rio Grande Café

Origins

Yogiberry

PNC Bank

...and much more!

The City of Hagerstown Fall & Winter

EVENTS Thunder In The Square September 27, Registration at 5 p.m.–10 p.m. at Hagerstown’s City Center Faire Off The Square September 28, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Elizabeth Hager Center Lot.

Enjoy HAGERSTOWN &

Washington County

Community Yard Sale at Fairgrounds Park Stables October 12, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Use Cannon Avenue entrance Harvest Hoedown at Fairgrounds Park October 12,1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Cleveland Ave. ½ mile north of Dual Hwy. Haunted Hager House Tours October 18, 19, 25, and 26 Tour times available: 7 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m.

City Center Ghost Tours October 25, beginning at 7 p.m. at Hagerstown’s City Center

Hayride Ghost Tour: 7 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Walking Tours: 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Greater Hagerstown Gallery & Arts Tour Fall 2013 October 26, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Spooky Sprint 2 Mile Run/Walk October 26, 5 p.m. — Starts at Fairgrounds Park Alsatia Mummers Parade October 26, 6 p.m. at Hagerstown’s City Center City Wide Trick-Or-Treat Thursday, October 31 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the City of Hagerstown City Farmers’ Market Each Saturday, 5 a.m. to Noon at 25 West Church St. Pumpkin Art Appreciation Day October 26, 5 a.m. to Noon at 25 West Church Street Holiday Happenings at Historic City Farmers Market | 25 West Church Street Every Saturday, 5 a.m. to 12 p.m.

November 9 — Autumn Taste of the Market November 23 — Thanksgiving Basket Giveaway!

December 7 — Holiday Faire December 14 — Songs of the Season December 21 — Gifts For Our Customers Tree Lighting in Public Square

Public Square, City Center Hagerstown

December 5, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Holiday Faire Off The Square Elizabeth Hager Center Lot | December 5, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Hollyfest | Maryland Theatre | December 5, 7 p.m.

City Park Lighting

City Park on Virginia Avenue | December 6, 7 p.m.

Storybook Holiday 2013 | December 14 Hagerstown’s Police Athletic League presents Reindeer Run and Walk City Center | December 21, Registration begins 7:45 a.m.

Events and times subject to change.

For more information, call 301.739.8577, ext. 116 or 183 or visit our website, www.hagerstownmd.org The City of Hagerstown A Great Place to…

Live,Work

Visit

Hagerstown Premium Outlets

Antietam National Battleeld

Washington County Museum of Fine Arts Come Enjoy Shopping, History and Heritage, and Museums in Hagerstown and Washington County, MD! Home to 5 national parks, 8 state parks, over 30 museums, and the Hagerstown Premium Outlets. Visit the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, see Antietam National Battlefield, experience Fort Frederick State Park…or hike, bike, kayak, canoe, fish, climb, and more! Also, enjoy our wonderful dining and lodging choices.

www.marylandmemories.com • 888-257-2600

contents features 12

A castle built for a bride Buhl Mansion Guesthouse and Spa

20 The Most Haunted

Lighthouse in America

12

30 when science meets design 40 R emoved to the mountains The Presidential Homes of Charlottesville

30

50 S ofties, Beaten biscuits, and haute cuisine

Dining on Maryland’s Eastern Shore

58 T he return of the green fairy: Absinthe

50 Eastern Home & Travel

5

contents features 66 Hospitality is in the details 70 SMall Town, Big Spirit 66

departments 26 East Coast Finds 38 great reads: The Unheralded king of preston middle

80

46 curiosities: all buttoned up 57 Tastings: Award-winning sheep’s milk cheese

64 OUTside: Chrysanthemums 80 Presentations: Nod to the Roaring 20

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Eastern Home & Travel

s

Celebrate Beloved Traditions — and Make New Ones!

Christmas on the Potomac at Gaylord National Resort

featuring

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in beautiful National Harbor, MD! November 15, 2013 – January 5, 2014 Make it a Christmas to remember at Gaylord National® Resort, where two million twinkling lights, amazing indoor snowfall and the stunning spun-glass Tree of Light create a holiday atmosphere like no other. Delight in fine dining, eclectic shopping and festive entertainment, including ICE! — more than two million pounds of colorful, hand-carved ice slides and sculptures featuring ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. It’s a holiday celebration you’ll never forget.

Packages from $269* including UNLIMITED ANYTIME admission to ICE! and a $100 Resort Credit.**

Book your holiday getaway today!

ChristmasOnThePotomac.com or call (301) 965-4000 ICE! PRESENTED BY

Conveniently located just 8 miles south of downtown Washington D.C. and across the Potomac River from Old Town Alexandria, in National Harbor, MD. * Valid for one night stay.

Price is per room, plus tax, resort fee, ticket handling fees and parking for standard accommodations. Based on availability at time of reservation. Atrium upgrade may be available at prevailing rates. Advance reservations required. Not valid in conjunction with groups or other offers. Not retroactive. Package pricing, components, show schedules and entertainment subject to change without notice. **One (1) $100 resort credit per stay, applied upon arrival and valid toward your purchase of DreamWorks Experience activities, dining or seasonal spa treatments. No cash refunds or substitutions for unused resort credits.

Other restrictions may apply. Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and all related characters and properties © 2013 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C. Pepsi and Pepsi Globe are registered trademarks of PepsiCo, Inc.

from the

editor There is just something about an adventure. Whether it’s traveling to a new city, sampling a chef’s latest creation, or having your photo taken while underwater, (more on that in the upcoming winter 2014 issue!), there are few things in life that ignite one’s passion for the simple pleasures of living life to the fullest.

Our latest adventure here at Pulse Publishing, is the launching of EASTERN Home & Travel. The eastern states represent our country’s earliest history as well as contemporary, cosmopolitan living. With an emphasis on “accessible luxury,” our goal is to bring you an eclectic mix of articles that entertain, enlighten, and hopefully inspire each of you to explore these beautiful and diverse eastern states.

While EASTERN Home & Travel won’t tempt you with the azure waters of Turks and Caicos, or feature DIY sock puppets, we will present memorable destinations, luxurious accommodations, and imaginative getaways for active travelers and adventurous diners.

When Science Meets Design Photography: Jamie Turner

SUBSCRIBE TO EASTERN HOME & TRAVEL

1-year/6 issues subscription $18 2-year/12 issues subscription $29.95 Subscribe online at www.easternhomeandtravel.com or call 301-662-6050 (ext 18).

So welcome to our big, six-issues-per-year, adventure! We trust you’ll join us on the web as well as on Facebook and Twitter, where we’ll provide additional content and a video series, as well as host exciting giveaways for events, hotel stays, and mini vacations! Our adventure could equal adventure for you, too! (We’re givers, you know). So start working on that bucket list and allow us to help you uncover some east coast treasures you just may have missed.

Melissa Howes-Vitek, Executive Editor

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Eastern Home & Travel

P H OTO G R A P H Y: B arb C a m pb e l l

On The Cover

You no longer need only imagine yourself the Lord and Lady of the Manor, when the staff at Buhl Mansion is already preparing for your regal arrival. Why let Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd have all the ghost-busting fun when Point Lookout Lighthouse is bursting with well documented apparitions? Even if your holidays will be spent entertaining at home, we have hints and tips on how to keep your overnight guests raving, as if they’ve booked a high-end boutique hotel.

Cove Point Lighthouse A beautifully renovated 200-year-old Keepers Cottage near Solomons, MD available for 3, 4, & 7 day rentals. Included with all this historic charm are 6 bedrooms, state of the art kitchens, new furnishings, Wi-Fi, and access to an expansive private beach on the Chesapeake Bay. Reserve today by calling 410-474-5370.

www.calvertmarinemuseum.com

EASTERN

Volume 2 Issue 1

Winter 14 sneak preview

&

Donna Elbert, Publisher donna@pulsepublishing.net

editorial

Design & Production

Melissa Howes-Vitek, Executive Editor

An Easy and Elegant Escape

melissa@pulsepublishing.net

Venture just a 2-4 hour drive from almost anywhere in the Northeast and discover one of the region’s most luxurious destination spa resorts. The Lodge at Woodloch is a warm and inviting escape, nestled on over 150 pristine wooded acres. Featuring flagstone walls, oak-beamed ceilings, thick sofas, high-back chairs for gathering in the common areas, and nearly constant panoramic views of the surrounding woodlands, The Lodge at Woodloch beckons visitors to slow their pace, and unwind.

Molly Fellin Spence, Managing Editor

The Dazzle of Art Deco Gatsby-inspired style with Art Deco influences are all the rage for 2014. Be it in fashion, home interiors, or wedding themes...the Deco era is it. Known for its distinct sleek, streamlined forms and modern materials: forged iron and chrome-plated steel, exotic wood veneers and lacquered finishes, Art Deco is back with a twist.

Winter at the Beach So what is it about the beach in the wintertime that makes it so enticing? The dramatic crash of the surf on the nearly deserted, positively pristine sand? The lack of crowds jostling for space on the boardwalks? The sheer beauty of the oceanfront minus the mass of humanity? Yes, it’s a little of all these things and more. Just because it’s no longer summertime and you’ve packed away the sunscreen, that doesn’t mean the beach and its charming costal towns have nothing to offer...quite the contrary.

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Eastern Home & Travel

Kalico Design

www.kalicodesign.com

Kimberly Dow, Creative Director

molly@pulsepublishing.net

kim@kalicodesign.com

Reed Hellman, Food and Travel Editor

Jennifer Tyler, Graphic Designer

foodandtraveleditor@pulsepublishing.net

jen@kalicodesign.com

Laurie Forster, Wine Editor

Distribution & circulation

wineeditor@pulsepublishing.net

Amanda Rodriguez, Social Media Director

Cathy Stracener, Manager

Advertising & Marketing

Joanne Baum, Accountant

cathy@pulsepublishing.net

amanda@pulsepublishing.net

accounting

Nuala Rooney, Director

bookkeeper@pulsepublishing.net

nuala@pulsepublishing.net

administration

Contributing Writers

301-662-6050

Barbara and Ken Beem Christine Conard Schultz James McWhinney

Publishing

Pulse Publishing, LLC 12 South Market Street, Suite 101 Frederick, MD 21701 TEL 301-662-6050

Contributing Photographers

Barb Campbell, www.studio11photos.com Dennis Crosby Shane East, www.shaneeast.com Marge Ely, www.margeely.com Jamie Turner, turnerphotographystudio.com

FAX 301-662-5102

Website

www.easternhomeandtravel.com Subscriptions: 1-year/6 issues $18 or 2-years/12 issues $29.95.

To subscribe, email subscribe@easternhomeandtravel.com or call 301-662-6050.

Eastern Home & Travel magazine is a bi-monthly publication of Pulse Publishing, LLC. Customer inquiries should be directed to Pulse Publishing, LLC, 12 S. Market Street, Suite 101, Frederick, MD 21701. All contents of this publication are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part for any reason without prior consent of the publisher. Please direct written requests to info@easternhomeandtravel.com.

For advertising information, comments, or questions, please call 301-662-6050 or email Donna Elbert at donna@pulsepublishing.net.

EASTERN

&

You could win big for liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

It’s that simple!

Our front yard is all yours.

/EasternHomeTravel @EasternHomeTravel

Explore the beauty of the beach without

We’ll share fresh content and host exciting contests.

You just might find yourself enjoying a great meal or a fabulous trip… all on us. easternhomeandtravel.com

2 Olive Avenue & the Boardwalk Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

the crowds. We’re open 52 weeks a year— and so is our Victoria’s Restaurant.

Call (800) 33 BEACH or (302) 227-7169 or visit www.boardwalkplaza.com for great package pricing.

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Eastern Home & Travel

Buhl Mansion sits quietly just off of East State Street in Sharon, Pennsylvania. The stately three-story stone façade of this Richardsonian Romanesque castle is highlighted by arches, gables, turrets, and a black slate roof — features that create an interesting vision from the roadway, but only hint at the incredible beauty and elegance inside. In fact, first-time visitors often locate the property by identifying its address in relationship to Daffin’s, the famous candy store that sits next door. The irony of this is all too apparent only after the valet takes your car and you walk through the doorway.

P hotography co u rt e sy of B u h l Mansion

A Castle

Built for a Bride Buhl MAnsion Guesthouse and Spa artic l e by J a m e s M c W h i n n ey

Eastern Home & Travel

13

The foyer of Buhl Mansion is dominated by a huge stained-glass window and an oak staircase.

In the room just beyond the foyer, marble floors, golden statues, beautiful works of art, ornate woodwork, bright chandeliers, and decorated ceilings reflect a European elegance rarely seen outside of world-famous museums. It takes only a glance around the foyer to realize that even the country’s finest luxury hotels simply aren’t built like this anymore. “Opulent” is the word that immediately comes to mind, yet you haven’t really seen anything yet.

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Eastern Home & Travel

With a sparkling glass of champagne in hand, you are escorted to your room past a series of open doors that provide quick glimpses of the beautiful guestrooms beyond. If you’ve booked the Castle Escape Package, your stay will include a tray of fresh fruit and cheese, champagne, breakfast, a large room with a sitting area, a fireplace, and a Jacuzzi nearly big enough for swimming laps.

The rooms are works of art, each decked in completely original décor. Spend some time online at www.buhlmansion.com exploring them and

choosing your favorite. The mansion is booked solid for months in advance on most weekends, so make your reservations early. Better still, plan your visit for a weekday and there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to spend part of the evening walking the hallways and taking a peek inside the rooms that aren’t being used for the night. Go ahead and enjoy; the doors are left open for just this purpose.

Designed by architect Charles Owsley, the mansion was built as a private residence for Frank H. Buhl, founder of Sharon Steel. At the request of his mother, Buhl built a “castle” for his bride.

Construction began in 1890 and continued for six years. At a time when the average worker earned 10 cents an hour, the Buhls spent $60,000 to build their dream house.

After the Buhls died, the property changed hands several times. It was subdivided and used as apartments and storage. Some of the owners sold off the architectural structures while other pieces were stolen. By the time the property was abandoned, most of the woodwork and fireplaces, except for a few on the second floor, were gone. The building sat empty and was slated for demolition when Donna and Jim Winner purchased it in 1996.

Jim Winner, born and raised in Transfer, Pennsylvania, exemplifies a true rags-to-riches story — going from a penniless farm boy to the inventor of The Club automotive anti-theft device.

He used the fortune he made to start a variety of business endeavors to jumpstart Sharon’s economy in the wake of the steel industry’s decline. Though Jim passed away in 2010, his wife, Donna, still owns the mansion.

In the lobby, you’ll find a series of photo albums that display images of the property as it looked prior to its purchase by the Winners. The photos have to be seen to be believed. They’re a true testament to the kind of transformation that only private wealth can bring, and they demonstrate what can be done when passion, not profit, is the driving force of change.

A true bed and breakfast, with no formal restaurant on site, Buhl Mansion serves afternoon tea, a champagne reception on the weekends, and a full

breakfast either delivered to your room or served in one of the mansion’s common areas. Full dining options are available at Tara — A Country Inn, (Buhl Mansion’s nearby sister property) and include a rustic pub with huge portions of hearty fare and an indescribably romantic seven-course gourmet dinner where every touch is perfect, right down to the chilled salad fork. Transportation to Tara on Friday and Saturday nights is provided via a complimentary limousine motor coach.

A h h h , T h e Spa

Like the rest of the building, the lower level was completely remodeled after the Winners bought the mansion. Six treatment rooms offer everything a spa visitor could want. A full menu of massages, facials, lip treatments, body treatments, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, wraps, manicures, pedicures, and more are available for individuals and couples.

For a free getaway guide, email info@TourDorchester.org with the subject “Warmth”

Experience the warmth of Maryland’s Eastern Shore this fall

DORCHESTER COUNTY HEART OF THE CHESAPEAKE

TourDorchester.org 1.800.522.TOUR

Eastern Home & Travel

15

…it’s highly unlikely that you’ve been anywhere like this before.

Overnight guests have 24-hour access to the sauna, steam room, and monsoon shower. If you’ve never experienced this type of shower, picture yourself standing in a high-pressure car wash with 12 powerful jets blasting out water while an overhead shower fixture delivers water from above. You’ll stand there laughing as the steady stream of water engulfs you from all angles. When you step out of the shower, robes, slippers, combs, deodorant, razor, and hair gel await — and that’s just for the men. The ladies have a dressing area they’ll never want to leave.

Castle Weddings

For the little girls who grew up dreaming of Prince Charming, a wedding in a castle is a way to bring fairy tales to life. Year-round, Buhl Mansion plays host to a variety of wedding parties. May through October, couples may choose an outdoor ceremony and reception in a grand tent pavilion that can accommodate up to 120 guests. During cooler months, ceremonies take place inside the greenhouse and receptions with up to 50 guests are set up in the Carriage House. Buhl also began to offer “Elopement Escapes” a few years ago. Meant as a special

getaway for the engaged couple and a maximum of two witnesses, the package includes champagne, a small cake, flowers for the couple, and Justice of the Peace arrangements. The grounds feature a pond, fountain, and gardens that set the scene for lovely photographs. Better still, exclusive rental of the mansion will give the bride, groom, and nine other lucky couples a grand way to celebrate in style, not to mention a fabulous backdrop for photographs that will look like they came straight out of a high-end wedding magazine. The full menu of spa services provides everything from relaxation for

Vi s i t Sha ro n, Pe n nsylvan ia The chocolates placed on the bed at Buhl Mansion during turndown service come from Daffin’s Candies — the world’s largest candy store and Buhl’s nextdoor neighbor. The aroma alone makes a visit to Daffin’s worthwhile. The candy selection truly offers something for everyone.

Interestingly, for a small town, Sharon is also home to three other venues billed as “the world’s largest.” Two of three are stores, and all are within a 5-minute drive of Buhl Mansion. A coupon in your room provides a reason to start shopping, as it offers a 10 percent discount at “The Winner — The World’s Largest Off-Price Fashion Store.” The Winner, named after Jim and Donna, is another venture backed by Buhl Mansion’s owners.

Shoppers will also be delighted to discover Reyers — The World’s Largest Shoe Store. It’s just a short walk across the parking lot from The Winner and is packed with an amazing variety of footwear in all sizes, shapes, and colors.

The world’s largest theme continues at the Avenue of Flags, where a memorial display of 444 flags honors the hostages held in Iran from Nov. 4, 1979 to Jan.

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Eastern Home & Travel

20, 1981, when a group of militants took over the American embassy. It is billed as the largest display of American flags flying anywhere in the world and is a moving sight.

Another notable shop is Kraynak’s, a store dedicated to seasonal decorations.

At Christmastime, the line to get into the building stretches halfway across the parking lot.

If you visit all of these places and still have energy left to shop, the massive outlet center at Grove City is just a short drive away. Prime Outlets is rated as one of the top 20 outlet centers in the United States, with more than 140 stores for energetic shoppers.

Mercer County is also home to more than two dozen challenging golf courses.

Golf Digest ranked the area as one of the “best golf towns in the USA.” To find out more about the area’s many attractions, visit the Mercer County Convention & Visitors Bureau website at www.mercercountypa.org.

the mother of the bride to makeup application for the bride and her bridesmaids.

Y o u r P r i vat e C a s t l e

In addition to the popular romantic getaway weekends at the mansion, Buhl offers a second-to-none weekday executive retreat package for corporate leaders seeking the ultimate luxury meeting destination and overnight accommodations. Booking the property for an executive retreat provides exclusive access to the entire mansion, including all 10 guestrooms and all public spaces. The building is closed to outside guests, access to the driveway is blocked to ensure privacy, and the full staff is available to address your every need. Catering options offer on-site breakfast and lunch, limousine service can deliver guests to Tara or another destination for dinner, and the full array of spa services are available to pamper guests before, during, or after their stay.

A n E x pe r i e n ce to S av o r

Standing on the back lawn by the fountain looking toward the house, you can’t see the cars on the road out front or hear the sounds of civilization.

It’s easy to picture the castle as your own private retreat, an adults-only escape from the workaday world. Buhl Mansion is simply an amazing place.

Take it from someone who travels a lot — it’s highly unlikely that you’ve been anywhere like this before.

If you visit once, you’ll come back again.

NEW YORK Lake Erie

Sharon PENNSYLVANIA

OHIO

Pittsburgh

n C o n tac t I n f o

Buhl Mansion Guesthouse & Spa

WEST VIRGINIA

422 East State Street Sharon, PA 16146 866.345.BUHL | 724-346-3046 www.buhlmansion.com

Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center Tours * Civil War History * Museum Pilgrimages * Retreats * Gift shop

Solomons, MD

Celebrate the Holidays at Annmarie Garden

Heritage & Holiday Events at the Shrine this Fall & Winter Season!

TAKE OUR EXCLUSIVE CIVIL WAR TOUR “Miracles Amid the Firestorm” Back from the Dead Cemetery Walk, Friday, October 25 & Sunday, October 27, 7 - 10 p.m.

Encounter Saints, angels, and martyrs as you explore St. Joseph’s Cemetery in this engaging and inspiring drama which teaches the three great virtues: faith, hope and charity. Free event!

Stained Glass Sunday, November 10, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Learn about the stained glass windows in the Basilica, participate in a scavenger hunt, and create your own stained glass piece under the guidance of expert instructor from Wentz Stained Glass Studio. $8 per person, registration required.

Museums by Candlelight, Saturday, December 14, noon to 8 p.m.

Candleight guided tours of the decorated Basilica and historic houses, festive crafts, living historians, luminaries decorating the grounds, and much more!

Free event!

339 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD *www.setonheritage.org 301-447-6606 * www.facebook.com/elizabethannseton

Garden in Lights

Nightly Entertainment Enjoy live performers

Award-Winning Outdoor Light Show during Garden in Lights Children (4 & under) December 6, 2013 to FREE January 5, 2014

artLAB

Closed Dec. 9,10, 11, 16,17,18, 24, 25 & Jan. 2

$1.00 OFF

Holiday “drop-in” setting for every age, every taste!

No registration required.

Admission with this AD 6-9pm nightly

The Gift Shop at Annmarie

Jewelry, Scarves Handbags, Home Accents, Pottery, Glass, Garden Art, Children’s Gifts, Cards & Books

Exhibits

small works: exhibition & sale Through January 5, 2014

Humor Me:giggle, chuckle, chortle Through January 12, 2014

6th Annual Ornament Show & Sale

www.annmariegarden.org Eastern Home & Travel.indd 1

FREE with admission fee

November 16, 2013 to January 5, 2014

E a s t e r n H o m e & T 9/4/2013 r a v e l 3:01:01 1 7 PM

Come spend the weekend with us!

Treat yourself to a day of pampering and romance...

Enjoy tax free shopping on clothes and shoes...

Browse unique specialty shops...

Discover the many events and attractions throughout the county...

Nestled in western Pennsylvania at the crossroads of I-80 and I-79 is Mercer County Pennsylvania. Here you will open the door to all kinds of experiences!

Relax in a 1890s castle with a world-class spa at Buhl Mansion. This deluxe full service B&B offers over 100 pampering services. Escape to the Old South when you visit Tara - A Country Inn, inspired by the movie “Gone with the Wind.” Tara offers Southern Hospitality and a chance to experience a World Class Country Inn. Shop over 130 stores at The Grove City Premium Outlets, or three of the world’s largest stores in Sharon, PA. Around every corner you will find something unexpected in any of Mercer County’s specialty shops. Enjoy the over 85 beautifully decorated indoor Christmas trees, each with a different theme, when you visit Kraynak’s Santa’s Christmasland; and bring home a souvenir from Wendell August, America’s oldest and largest forge.

Experience Mercer County in an extraordinary way!

To start planning your Escape to Mercer County, call 800-637-2370 or visit us on the web at www.VisitMercerCountyPA.com to request your free Escape Package.

Warm Up to a World-Class Weekend!

Buhl Mansion Guesthouse & Spa

Daffin’s Candies

Tara - A Country Inn

Reyers Shoes

The Original Quaker Steak & LubeÂŽ

The Winner

Shop til you drop. Eat at great restaurants. Stay at award-winning inns.

HOME OF WATERFIRE SHARON A day-long event of music, food and unique arts programming culminating with the lighting of over fifty sparkling bonfires on the Shenango River, accompanied by enchanting music and diverse performers from around the globe.

Visit WaterFireSharonPA.org for dates and specific event information.

SharonPa.com ~ 800-637-2370

Some people revel in going to the end of the road, the absolute farthest point, land’s end.

For them, Maryland’s Point Lookout has an inescapable draw. Located at the extreme southern extension of St. Mary’s County, Point Lookout has earned a reputation for extraordinary beauty, historical significance, and ghostly happenings.

The Most

Haunted Lighthouse artic l e by R e e d H e l l m an

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Eastern Home & Travel

P H OTO G R A P H Y: R e e d H e l l m an

in America

Eastern Home & Travel

21

Lithograph of P oint Loo k o u t, M D, 1 8 6 3 with V i e ws of H a m m ond G e n e ra l H ospita l and th e U . S . G e n e ra l D e pot for prison e rs of War .

With water on both sides, the point has often been a plaything of the winds and tides. To the west, the broad Potomac River washes in, ending its 383-mile downhill journey from the Fairfax Stone in West Virginia’s mountains. On the east, the Chesapeake Bay stretches 30 miles to Smith Island, lost from view under the Earth’s curve. To the south, it’s a dozen miles across to Virginia’s Northern Neck.

Point Lookout State Park marks the farthest outboard tip of the 15-mile-long peninsula, whittled narrow by the Potomac and lower Chesapeake.

Point Lookout’s location and low, indistinct profile guaranteed that it frequently impeded safe navigation. A lighthouse has stood sentinel on the point since 1830. In 1883, it was expanded and eventually replaced in 1927 by the present side-byside duplex, crowned with a cupola housing the light. The lighthouse was active for more than 135 years until the Navy purchased it in 1965 and placed an automated light offshore.

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NOT A T Y P I C AL LIGHTHOUS E

It doesn’t look much like a lighthouse — not a broadly painted, indomitable tower like Cape Hatteras, or a foppish Victorian cottage-on-stilts like the Chesapeake’s Thomas Point. But the modest, two-and-a-half story duplex at the southern tip of Maryland’s St. Mary’s County is reputed to be the country’s most haunted lighthouse.

Haunted by the spirits of former lighthouse keepers, haunted by sailors and passengers who perished in foggy-night shipwrecks, and haunted by mothers eternally searching for long-dead children.

If those aren’t specters enough, an unknown number of Confederate soldiers died while interned on the point during the last two years of the Civil War.

ply depot for the Army of the Potomac. Hammond Hospital quickly grew into a large complex of buildings at the tip of the peninsula, arrayed spokelike from a central hub.

After the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, Hammond Hospital cared for wounded and sick Confederate prisoners as well as Union troops.

Union engineers began building a prison — Camp Hoffman — to hold an expected 10,000 captured Confederate soldiers. The prison compound consisted of two enclosures surrounded by a 15-foot wooden palisade. By December, 9,000 prisoners crowded into 980 old, discarded tents. By June, 1864, the inmate population swelled to 20,000 Confederates.

TRANS F OR M ATION

LIV E S O F M IS E R Y

In 1862, the federal government leased the existing Point Lookout Resort to use as an Army hospital, a prison for Southern sympathizers, and as a sup-

The prison originally held a mélange of military and civilians — men, women, and children all included.

The youngest POW was Baby Perkins, born at Point

not just another pretty place

Lookout after his mother was captured at the Battle of Spotsylvania. Later inmates were all enlisted men, living in the overcrowded tents with little protection from heat and storms. The flat, sandy point rises only 5 feet above the tide; fresh water is scarce. Food and firewood were strictly rationed and prisoners ate whatever held any hope of nutrition.

Rats became a major source of protein along with raw seagulls, soap skim, and even trash peelings.

Lice, disease, and chronic diarrhea killed scores. Exposure due to inadequate clothing, shoes, and blankets killed others. The point’s raw, raucous weather with its damp icy winds continued the slaughter, abetted by high water that often flooded the camp, leaving knee-deep mud. Mosquitoes from the surrounding marshlands brought malaria, typhoid fever, and smallpox. The miserable brackish water supply was further contaminated by the camp’s primitive sanitary facilities.

Serving as guards rotating through Point Lookout, in some instances the African American troopers watched over their former masters.

Exacerbating the Confederate prisoners’ misery, “the bottom rail’s on top now!” allegedly became a refrain repeated by some soldiers of the United States Colored Troops (USCT).

HISTORIC ST. MARY’S CITY

NO WAY OUT

Point Lookout was one of the most secure POW camps, nearly surrounded by water with the 60-gun USS Minnesota standing guard a short distance offshore. But that did not deter Confederate General Jubal Early from planning an attack to liberate the camp in his 1864 invasion of Maryland. General Bradley T. Johnson was to drive down the length of Southern Maryland in a raid on the Point Lookout prison, supported by a simultaneous sea attack. The liberated prisoners

…this place is haunted as hell.

colorful living history and exciting archaeology on the site of Maryland’s first capital 240-895-4990 www.stmaryscity.org 800-SMC-1634

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HAUNTINGS

After the war, the point was not left deserted for long; it soon sprouted a bayside resort complete with beach houses and a sprawling hotel. In the full flower of the Victorian Era, Point Lookout offered recreation for well-off city folk arriving by land and steam packet.

But it wasn’t until the 1940s and ‘50s that unexplained sightings were first recorded, says Robert Hall, president of the Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society (PLLPS). Hall has conducted extensive research and has written a book about the lighthouse keepers. He is also an investigator with the Paranormal Research Society of North America. The lighthouse is so rife with unexplained occurrences that the PLLPS has its own Director of Paranormal Investigations.“ EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) is a big phenomenon here,” explained Hall.

Up in the cupola, a microphone for recording EVPs sits where the light once turned. On the second floor, in the northeast corner, Hall and an

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associate clearly heard — and recorded — someone saying “Abandon!” In the southwest corner room, several investigators saw a Confederate soldier leaning against the wall.

Park Manager, Gerald (Gerry) J. Sword lived in the house and reported an assortment of unexplainable noises, voices, and odors. Laura Berg, the last corporeal resident, invited Dr. Hans Holzer, a renowned New York parapsychologist, to visit the house in 1980. The doctor remarked that “this place is haunted as hell.” In 1998, The Learning Channel included Point Lookout in its immensely popular documentary Haunted Lighthouses.

P OINT LOO K OUT TODAY

Working with the park rangers, the Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society has secured the lighthouse structure and stabilized the interior enough to conduct a full calendar of events for both lighthouse lovers and fans of the paranormal.

“We now do historic education programs here, from April through November,” explains Hall. The College of Southern Maryland has even begun offering a ghost hunting class that includes an onsite investigation at the lighthouse.

Whether it’s the history, spirits of the departed, fishing, camping, or other activities, Point Lookout State Park draws the people who crave land’s end; people who stare out into the unimpeded distance and wonder what it’s like out there.

n C o n tac t I n f o

Point Lookout State Park 11175 Point Lookout Road Scotland, MD 20687 301- 872-5688 www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/southern/ pointlookout.html.

P H OTO G R A P H Y: R e e d H e l l m an

would then march on Washington, D.C., and join Early’s attack, relieving the pressure on Robert E. Lee’s forces around Richmond and Petersburg. However, word of Johnson’s preparations reached Union authorities and he had to abandon his daring plan.

To protect the prison, army engineers designed three forts. Fort 2 (Fort Lincoln), the main bastion, was 60 yards square, mounted six cannons, and housed a company of 100 guards. Today, the earthworks stand on the shore near the harbor. The barracks, officer quarters, and a portion of the prison pen have been recreated by the Friends of Point Lookout and are the focus of living history activities. A second redoubt, Fort 1, is still visible as a large depression northeast of Fort Lincoln.

As many as 52,264 Confederate soldiers eventually passed through this largest Union prison; 3,384 of them were reported to have died there. Other estimates quadruple that number.

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: C r e d i t

Husband-and-wife team Jason and Shelby Scarlatta hand craft soy candles that they prepare in small batches and then hand pour into recycled wine, whiskey and other glass bottles that they have painstakingly collected from local businesses and countless friends and family. The results are an array of amazing scents that subtly envelop the room.

Doodle with Purpose

Zentangle® has become something of a cultural and artistic sensation. It’s both intuitive and relaxing. Its therapeutic benefits have been widely documented and more than 800 people from around the world have traveled to Western New England for intensive training to become certified as Zentangle® teachers.

The great thing about this “doodle with a purpose” art form is that you cannot fail. While the book provides structure and direction, its goal is to actually help you tap into your creative freedom.

The kit is chock full of everything you need to get started on your journey. However, you won’t find an eraser. There are no erasers in life, so no erasing in Zentangle®.

THE JOY OF ZENTANGLE by Suzanne McNeill, Sandy Steen, and Marie Browning is available where ever books are sold.

The Zentangle® Kit is available exclusively at zentangle.com or from a certified instructor.

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B a by I t ’ s C o l d O u t s i d e

Woven in Scotland on centuries old looms for the Prince of Scots Nursery Collection, these precious brushed cotton baby blankets will most likely become your child’s most prized possession. Available in five soft shades, you just may want to purchase two, so you never have to say, “Sorry sweetie...it’s in the wash.”

P H OTO G R A P H Y: so u rc e

Prince Of Scots Boutique 700 Montauk Highway, P.O. Box 871 Water Mill, NY 11976 631-604-1392  www.princeofscots.com

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East Coast A l l y o u n ee d i s L . O. V. E .

Maggie Lebherz really loves olive oil and vinegar, so much so that she opened an entire storefront filled with her favorite discoveries. Everything in on tap, and customers are encouraged to do a taste test prior to having their favorites bottled while they wait. Dark Chocolate Balsamic drizzled over fresh strawberries; divine. Ripe Peach White Balsamic splashed over green tomatoes for a refreshingly different salsa option; delightful.

Sending someone you love, some L.O.V.E.; genius!

Lebherz Olive Oil & Vinegar Emporium 214 North Market Street, Frederick, MD 21701 301-228-3996  www.loveoliveoilandvineger.com

Stressed out east coast interior designer Diane Gruenwald turned to her yoga practice for some relief from the daily grind. Soon she was hooked. She quit her design business, launched a line of yoga products, and the rest is, as they say, Hunki Dori. Who better to understand the need to find a quiet corner and bliss out on a comfy yoga mat?

Hunki Dori’s products are fashionable and travel friendly. So when Aunt Gladys starts throwing verbal jabs across the holiday table at Cousin Fred, your little place of Zen is within arm’s reach.

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: Top : B arb C a m pb e l l B otto m : m arg e e ly

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When Science meets design artic l e by M e l issa H ow e s - V it e k P hotography by J a m i e T u rn e r

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Eastern Home & Travel

Homeowners Scott and Deb are world-traveling Midwesterners who eventually settled on the East Coast some 20 years ago. Their design sense is strongly influenced by their travels to such places as Africa, Egypt, and Norway as well as by their earlier years in Illinois and Iowa. Their sense of style is also guided by the fact that they both just happen to be published research scientists. So as one would expect, they approached the updating of their home as any good scientist would ‌ with an open mind and lots of research.

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Eastern Home & Travel

After seeing a bathroom they admired in a decorating magazine, the couple contacted the designer hoping only for some tips. When they discovered the designer was located in their area, they held several meetings to go over potential plans and the process of redecorating their home began.

The first step on the design agenda was the conversion of their two small, very outdated bathrooms into one luxurious space. The wall between the two nearly identical (one was mint green and one was pink) bathrooms was removed and a new space plan was created.

Scott and Deb knew they wanted a natureinspired space with a modern twist that featured

a roomy shower and no tub. From there it was about exploring all the available options. Having an appreciation for a variety of different woods, and a designer who encouraged them to embrace as many species as they wanted, the couple commissioned master craftsman John Stracener to work his magic with their choices. He designed and built the cabinetry flanking the shower as well as the cantilevered vanity. The couple chose teak for the cabinetry, floors, and shower ceiling; mahogany for the pocket doors and trim; and cherry for the mirror.

Having met in a entomology class, it’s no surprise that the couple chose for the shower Eastern Home & Travel

33

a natural limestone tile that features various fossilized creatures. The two homeowners painstakingly laid out all the tiles to find the most interesting fossils and mapped a pattern so that those tiles would be installed at eye level. The result is a visual (and intellectual) treat.

While having no personal connection to Asia, the couple does appreciate the simple elegance that is reflected in Asian-inspired design.

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The finishing touches speak to this couple’s varied interests. While both are scientists, Deb enjoys gardening and Scott rides a motorcycle.

The new bathroom’s details are as varied as the interests of its owners. An oblong vessel sink combines with an Asian-inspired mirror, polished chrome mixes with oil-rubbed hardware, radiant-heat flooring and contemporary lighting are accented by a concrete-and-mica wall finish.

Every element adds a layer of visual texture while still maintaining clean, simple lines.

Once the bathroom was under way, Scott and Deb turned their attention to the other spaces in the house. Several years earlier they had installed sliding shoji screens on the living room bay window. While having no personal connection to Asia, the couple does appreciate the simple elegance that is reflected in Asian-inspired design. That appreciation, combined with the Prairie influence from the Midwest and a desire to have

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a restful bedroom, led the couple to introduce shoji’s again as their closet doors. The screens work beautifully with the simple Prairie-inspired bed and rich, red, organic cotton linens.

The couple has collected many wonderful and meaningful pieces. So while nearly every room got an injection of color, the art and furniture pieces remained the same. Those pieces are what inspired the color choices. The dining room color palette came directly from the quilt lovingly sewn by Deb’s great-grandmother. The living room colors were inspired by prairie grass and the desire to celebrate the gorgeous mahogany fireplace that Scott painstakingly rescued from layers of paint. That fireplace has become the perfect backdrop for a decorative plate from Egypt and carved animals from Africa, as well as the complete collection of Willa Cather, first edition and signed — items gathered across a lifetime.

Once the main house received its makeover, it just seemed natural to continue out into the gorgeous stone and cedar studio space. The rustic structure and its screened-in flag stone patio started as a library and office space for the previous owner. It had then become a place for the couple to store the garden tools and supplies necessary to maintain the property made lovely by Deb’s work as a master gardener.

Their designer suggested they could have the space be more multi-functional without losing their storage and by making just a few tweaks. After a good cleaning and the removal of some long lived

Having met in a entomology class, it’s no surprise that the couple chose for the shower a natural limestone tile that features various fossilized creatures.

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Eastern Home & Travel

spider webs, they added simple draperies to all the shelving that lined the walls, to hide the tools and such. They then installed a stunning bronze and glass chandelier. Found objects became art, to be hung and displayed and then with the addition of an old wooden table and benches, voila’…a lovely, rustic space to host guests for an impromptu get-together.

The new indoor/outdoor space has become such a favorite of the couple, there are now plans to build a small post and beam breezeway and sitting area that will connect the home and the studio.

Scott and Deb set out to remodel a bathroom and update their space, and the result is a warm, welcoming home where nearly every nook and cranny tells a story — about who they are, where they’ve been, and even where they might be headed next.

Re s o u r ce s

Custom carpentry JS Construction 301-758-3805 Plants and Zen garden stool Stadler Nurseries www.stadlernurseries.com Dining Room floral arrangement Rene Bonde www.blossomandbasketboutique.com 866-774-4040 Organic cotton bedding The Company Store www.thecompanystore.com 800-285-3696 Bamboo towels Gracious Home www.gracioushome.com 800-338-7809

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great reads

The Unheralded King of Preston Plains Middle When Jedah Mayberry was growing up in small-town Connecticut, he looked around his classroom and realized that nobody else looked like him. In fact, the direction of the coursework he pursued and the extracurricular activities he enjoyed funneled him into being a minority wherever he went. When it came time to leave for college, Mayberry selected a historically black college in hopes of discovering others who were more “like” him – what he discovered, instead, was that whether or not we look the same on the outside, we’re all very different on the inside.

Mayberry explores this and much more in his dazzling debut novel, The Unheralded King of Preston Plains Middle. Following the formative years of one young man’s life, Mayberry touches on topics with which both adults and adolescents can identify.

Fo r Mo r e I nf o r m a ti o n …

The Unheralded King of Preston Plains Middle can be purchased from www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut.

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Eastern Home & Travel

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men of their station in life. And they were neighbors. Their houses were situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains in such a way that their doors were in direct alignment, a sign of the owners’ physical as well as intellectual closeness.

Removed to the Mountains The Presidential Homes of Charlottesville artic l e by B arbara and K e n B e e m

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O pposit e pag e C har lott e svi l l e A l b e m ar l e C onv e ntion & V isitors B u r e a u

European capital city. They were Virginia gentlemen with homes and belongings befitting

P H OTO G R A P H Y: T his Pag e T ho m as J e ff e rson F o u ndation / Montic e l lo

They loved Paris and rubbed elbows with the French elite, enjoying the pleasures of the

m ontic e l lo

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“I have lately removed to the mountains…”

Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, along with James Madison (who lived up the road a bit), were the “Virginia Dynasty,” presidents of the United States who combined to serve for 24 consecutive years. Although there have been dozens of presidents since they led the country, and approximately two centuries have passed since they were the chief executives, the spirits of Jefferson and Monroe live on in Charlottesville, Virginia. And their stories, as well as their homes, furnishings, and personal effects, have been thoughtfully preserved and carefully exhibited.

M ONTI C E LLO

Step back to a time when our nation was young.

Spend a day at Monticello, considered an American icon and international landmark. Peter Jefferson was rewarded with a royal patent in exchange 42

Eastern Home & Travel

for surveying Virginia, and his oldest son, Thomas, knew from his youth that he would one day inherit the 5,000-acre plot. A student of many languages, 10-year-old Thomas named the land that would be his “Monticello,” his favorite Italian word meaning “sweet little mountain.” Thus began a lifelong love affair with the land and ensuing plantation.

A tour of Jefferson’s domain begins at a visitors’ center, where buses are boarded prior to making the climb up the mountain. It’s a trip that has been made by countless numbers of guests over the years. And what awaits those who make the sojourn is a sight that never ceases to please: perched high atop the mountain is the distinctive and exceptional neo-classical house of unquestionable good taste. At first glimpse, it appears smaller than it is, and indeed it began as a two-story, eight-room dwelling. With the first dome on an American house and imposing

columns, the brick structure was a constant work in progress during Jefferson’s lifetime, a reflection of its owner’s travels and continuing education. By the time of his retirement in 1809, the house was a four-level structure with 21 rooms; large enough to house Jefferson and his extended family, guests, and house slaves, as well as to provide a place to display and store the many items he accumulated during his illustrious career.

In fact, if ever a house were a direct reflection of its master, it would be Monticello. Jefferson’s fascination with all things mechanical is seen in a number of inventions, including a calendar clock that is accurate to the second, an early dumbwaiter, and revolving doors. His library room was referred to as his “sanctum sanctorum.” He eventually sold his 6,000-volume collection to the Library of Congress to replace the books that had been burned by

P H OTO G R A P H Y: C har lott e svi l l e A l b e m ar l e C onv e ntion & V isitors B u r e a u

T ho m as J e ff e rson ’ s Montic e l lo

the British. And mirroring his own place in history is a room full of portraits of important people of the time, most of whom also happened to be his friends and acquaintances. Thanks to the careful record keeping of his granddaughter Cornelia, curators have been able to inventory the house’s holdings and have chosen to display it as it was in 1811-1813.

As intriguing as a tour of the house is, though, it’s only one part of a visit to Monticello. Interpretation of the property has made it abundantly clear that it was a working, thriving plantation; a city unto itself. Although little survives of Mulberry Row, where 17 workers’ cabins once stood, visitors are able to get a sense of the variety of tasks that were performed there by enslaved, free, and indentured workers and craftsmen. Monticello’s gardens are resplendent and once again reflect the farming interests of Jefferson. And his grave marker

within the family plot includes, by way of summation, what Jefferson considered to be his lifetime’s greatest achievements: author of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the father of the University of Virginia. No mention of the third president of the United States.

ASH LA W N - HIGHLAND

Across the mountain is another presidential home, one whose air of simplicity on the outside belies what is inside. James Monroe, at his friend Jefferson’s urging, decided to move his family from the lowlands of Charlottesville to the mountains.

Jefferson had in mind the creation of “a society to our taste;” he selected the Monroe house site and proceeded to send gardeners from Monticello to start the orchards. When Monroe and his wife

A s h L a w n - H i g h la n d

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MICHIE TAVE R N

Monticello

Charlottesville Michie Tavern 64

Ash Lawn-Highland

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ment, though, he spent little time in such a familyfriendly home, what he called his “cabin castle.”

Outside, there is a smokehouse and kitchen, a plantation office, and slave quarters, demonstrating the self-sufficiency of the working plantation that Ash Lawn once was. Poor health and finances prohibited Monroe from retiring to his mountaintop retreat, and the property is now owned by the College of William and Mary, Monroe’s alma mater.

M I C HI E TAV E RN

Still feeling presidential? Hungry? Feel the urge to dance the Virginia Reel? Although it has no direct ties to any of our country’s chief executives, Michie Tavern, located in close proximity to Monticello and Ash Lawn, is a popular, convenient, and fun stop when making the Charlottesville history circuit. A tavern dating from the late 18th century, the building was moved to its current location and converted into a tourist attraction for history buffs in the 1920s by its preserver and champion, Mrs. Mark Henderson. Withstanding fluctuating times, including the Great Depression, Michie Tavern is seemingly always busy. Although the restored tavern offers interactive tours (note: don’t forget your dancing shoes) and multiple shopping opportunities, it is lunch that’s the big draw.

And no wonder. Served buffet-style on pewter plates and attended by costumed hostesses, the

midday meal features food popular during Colonial times. The menu includes barbecued pork and fried chicken, stewed tomatoes and red beets, green beans and coleslaw, as well as mashed potatoes and a full array of tasty rolls and breads. As impossible as it may seem, save room for dessert: peach cobbler or the Tavern’s sinfully delicious version of an ice cream sandwich. Listen for the happy chirping of the chimney swallows and share their joy.

“I have lately removed to the mountains,” Thomas Jefferson once wrote. Smart fellow.

n C o n tac t I n f o

The best way to visit all three properties is with a Presidents’ Pass — a discount combination ticket to Monticello, Ash Lawn-Highland, and Michie Tavern’s Tavern Museum ($37 for Adults March 15-Oct; $31 Nov-March 14, $16 for children 6-11, under 6 free). For more information and to buy tickets online, go to www.monticello.org/visit/pres_pass.html.

P H OTO G R A P H Y: C har lott e svi l l e A l b e m ar l e C onv e ntion & V isitors B u r e a u

Elizabeth moved to Highland, as the property was then called, in 1793, their first guests were James and Dolley Madison.

Today, the house retains its Virginia charm. The part of the house in which the Monroes lived, now painted white, is augmented by an ochre-colored addition that all but dwarfs the older section. Enormous boxwoods line the walks; a white oak that predates the famous occupants of the property still stands. Peacocks are among the current residents (a gift from the National Zoo, they no longer have free rein of the property as they did in the 1980s).

But it is the amazing furnishings of the house that make Ash Lawn, as it is now called, so worthwhile to tour. Not only are the many decorative pieces of extraordinary quality, condition, and design, but many of them are original to Monroe himself. With emphasis on all things French, the house is a national treasure. A sofa, game tables, and sofa table in the parlor; a Hepplewhite dining set and a mirror with a velvet-covered frame; a hand-carved mahogany bed with trundle, a baby’s crib; a newly re-acquired mahogany secretary: the furniture selected and used by the first president to live in the White House gives an intimate glimpse into the life of the man responsible for the Monroe Doctrine. To see the things he treasured is to know the man in the history books. Because of his numerous positions of service to the govern-

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Cu r i o s i t i e s

— and a solid reputation — supplying buttons to the fashion and movie industries, police and fire departments, the Masters Golf Tournament, Disney, The American Legion, and every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Add to that thousands of organizations and clubs the world over, and it’s easy to imagine the multitude of button patterns they’ve created — some 40,000 of them, some priceless — housed in the company’s vault. Ralph Lauren logo button? It’s in there. Jack Nicklaus?

He’s there too, as are Arnold Palmer, Anne Klein, Brooks Brothers, the B&O Railroad, the United Nations, Mercedes, Nissan, and Harley Davidson. The list is long and impressive. So, too, is the company’s prominence as the only U.S. metal button manufacturer to have supplied the buttons worn by every branch of our forces throughout the world.

Through the last two centuries, each time war loomed, The Waterbury Button Company stood at the ready as the primary supplier of uniform buttons for U.S. troops. As the country languished during the years of the Civil War, The Waterbury Button Company’s inventiveness in making products of shellac, which it pioneered, brought successes in many different mediums, including plastics.

They used hand presses to make buttons, checkers, and dominoes while the war raged.

Demand for buttons surged again in 1917 when America entered into World War I and in 1938 as the country readied for World War II. With extensive research, The Waterbury Button

Company found another avenue for success, this time with injection-molded plastics, producing more than 500,000 plastic lenses for gas masks worn by the U.S. Navy. In later years, wartime led to the production of a diverse range of items, including bomb fuses and various Medals of Honor.

Yet for all the business of war, The Waterbury Button Company found continued profits in the business of making its tried-and-true button products, stepping into the spotlight to produce authentic buttons for the Hollywood epic Gone with the Wind, which opened in 1939.

In 1994 Hollywood came knocking again with another blockbuster title, this time requesting button replicas for actors donning crew uniforms for the shooting of The Titanic. There was also a segment of the children’s TV show “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” that featured footage filmed at the company’s production facility to show how buttons are made.

Although there is no set tour schedule at The Waterbury Button Company, accommodations can be made, especially for smaller educational groups.

For button enthusiasts, a permanent exhibit of almost 10,000 buttons is on display at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, about four miles from the manufacturing facility in Cheshire, Connecticut. Here you can see buttons from all over the world, with many examples of 18th and 19th century button designs in brass, nickel, and gold plate.

Check out what’s in The Waterbury Button Company’s vault at www.waterburybutton.com.

All Buttoned Up artic l e by C hristin e C onard S h u lt z

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: T ric k y P roj e cts

From the red and blue military uniforms worn during the presidency of James Madison to the shamrock green Master’s jacket awarded to Tiger Woods, one Connecticut manufacturer has commanded the button industry for nearly 200 years.

In fact, The Waterbury Button Company has crafted stamped metal buttons for people in almost every walk of American life.

The company’s story begins with the War of 1812, in the middle of America’s “Manufacturing Revolution” (an era that stretched from the late colonial period to about 1830). Near the town of Waterbury, Connecticut, the combination of wartime hardship and American ingenuity sparked opportunity for a businessman named Aaron Benedict. The war had, understandably, halted the supply of buttons coming from England at a time when they were needed for soldiers’ and sailors’ uniforms. Entrepreneurial verve surfaced and, according to Waterbury corporate history, Benedict “bought up every pewter pot and pan he could find, and began making cast metal buttons for the armed forces.”

Fast-forward, past fifty years of corporate success and diversification, to another war and the meeting of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The uniforms of both generals sported Waterbury buttons. (Union forces bought direct, while the Confederates worked through British intermediaries.)

Over the years, The Waterbury Button Company has garnered an interesting history

P H OTO G R A P H Y: C r e d i t

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: C o u rt e sy of O u t of th e fir e & S cossa R e sta u rant

Abundant wild foods and game, agricultural bounty, and an ever-changing flood of seafood from the Chesapeake Bay ensures that Maryland’s Talbot County rises to culinary acclaim. Before the state’s population and economic focus shifted to the West, the Eastern Shore’s Talbot County was the epitome of Colonial style and substance. By the Civil War, Union generals were vying for postings to the region, hungering for terrapin, oysters, and goose breast. The DuPonts, most frequently identified with Delaware, also came to Talbot to hunt and dine on the myriad waterfowl. Today, driven by aggressive creativity and an insistence on quality local and seasonal ingredients, the county’s gastronomic panorama has regained regional recognition.

P H OTO G R A P H Y: R e e d H e l l m an

Softies, Beaten BiscuitS, and Haute Cuisine Dining on MAryland’s Eastern Shore artic l e by r e e d h e l l m an

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: C o u rt e sy of T i lgh m an is l and I nn

Abundant wild foods and game, agricultural bounty, and an ever-changing flood of seafood from the Chesapeake Bay ensures that Maryland’s Talbot County rises to culinary acclaim. Before the state’s population and economic focus shifted to the West, the Eastern Shore’s Talbot County was the epitome of Colonial style and substance.

By the Civil War, Union generals were vying for postings to the region, hungering for terrapin, oysters, and goose breast. The DuPonts, most frequently identified with Delaware, also came to Talbot to hunt and dine on the myriad waterfowl. Today, driven by aggressive creativity and an insistence on quality local and seasonal ingredients, the county’s gastronomic panorama has regained regional recognition.

Easton, Talbot County’s seat, sits at the landward end of a long hooked peninsula extending, almost mantis-like, into the Chesapeake Bay. For the last decade, Easton has enjoyed a gastronomic renaissance that encompasses more than crab imperial and padded oysters. “There is a momentum here and an infrastructure to support it ... It’s becoming more of a destination ... Culturally, this area is a pearl,” says Amy Haines, owner of Out of the Fire, an excellent Easton restaurant.

K i t c h e n G u y S o f t c r a b “ S A M M ICH ” (NOTE: Sammich is Baltimorese for “sandwich”) Serves 4 8 soft-shell crabs 3 eggs 1 cup breadcrumbs 1 teaspoon Old Bay or seafood seasoning 1/2 cup tartar sauce

16 slices toasted white bread 8 large tomato slices 16 lettuce leaves Oil for deep frying

In a small mixing bowl beat the eggs with 6 tablespoons of water.

Spread the breadcrumbs and Old Bay on a plate. Dip each crab first in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumbs.

Repeat twice more to ensure that each crab is well coated. Fry in deep oil preheated to 375 degrees, 3 to 5 minutes, turning once during cooking, until both sides of each crab are nicely browned. Serve as sandwiches with tomato and lettuce, between toast slices spread with tartar sauce.

Scossa, another tasty Easton find, serves fine Italian cuisine and quickly won acclaim following its opening a few years ago. “We provide service, cuisine, and ambiance that haven’t existed before in Talbot,” says proprietor Grant Friedman.

“As a culinary destination, [Easton offers] a tremendous number of opportunities for people to choose from.”

Easton is also the home of the legendary Tidewater Inn, a longtime landmark lodging recently restored to its original splendor. Stories abound of the celebrities and dignitaries — from actor Robert Mitchum to Vice President Dick Cheney — who have stayed and dined in the historic Tidewater. Restaurant Local adds to the inn’s elegance. Local patronizes 60 to 80 regional vendors to serve Maryland crabmeat year-round, locally raised shrimp, and traditional Maryland snapping turtle soup. With its Eastern Shore menu, magnificent curved staircase, and genteel ambiance, the Tidewater has regained its place as the heart of Easton.

However, it takes more than restaurants to make a culinary destination. For foodies, Talbot’s gastronomic road trip begins right at the county’s western border in Wye Mills. The Orrell family has been making traditional Maryland beaten

biscuits since 1935 — pummeling, pounding, and beating biscuit dough into a characteristic consistency. Originally, the dough was placed on a smooth wooden block or stump and beaten with an axe to trap air inside and help the unleavened dough to rise. A mechanized roller has replaced the axe and stump, but the Orrell family still shapes each biscuit by hand and churns out a half-dozen different varieties.

Just down the Ocean Highway from Wye Mills, Almost Heaven Herb ‘N’ Craft shop offers a full line of medicinal and culinary herbs, all grown organically. Along with her plants and potions, owner Fran Kisser raises Araucana chickens that lay greenish-tinged eggs superbly rich in flavor.

If you want some cheese in your omelet, stop by Chapel’s Country Creamery for some cave-aged, artisan cheddar. Owner Holly Foster lobbied the State of Maryland to inaugurate a five-year pilot program enabling her to produce whole milk cheeses, richer in flavor and taste than the more common pasteurized varieties. Chapel’s Creamery and Almost Heaven offer their produce in the local farmers markets.

From Easton, the culinary route heads farther out on the peninsula to St. Michaels. Once a fishing and boatbuilding center, St. Michaels

has evolved into a tourist’s Mecca with a plethora of shops, fine eateries, and comfortable lodgings.

Many visitors arrive by boat and the Wednesdaynight sailing races are a huge attraction. The Crab Claw, Sherwood’s Landing, Town Dock, and a host of other restaurants serve up everything from traditional crab feasts to haute cuisine. The St. Michaels Winery offers tastings of more than a dozen wines, and Flamingo Flats, a quirky specialty foods shop, stocks a wealth of hot sauces, salsas, and unique seasonings guaranteed to spice up any meal.

St. Michaels is also the entry to the Bay Hundred. In Colonial parlance, a “hundred” was the political designation for a region occupied by at least 100 free men. Today’s Bay Hundred extends from St. Michaels to the end of the peninsula at Blackwalnut Point, where the Choptank River empties into the Chesapeake. Along the way, in the fishing village of Bozman, PT Hambleton Seafood brings in catches of succulent soft-shell crabs. “Softies” are the familiar blue crabs in the process of growing. A crab outgrows its shell and molts, shedding the hard, chitinous case and the outer covering of its feet, eyestalks, and antenn‑ae. Soft, lethargic, and helpless, soft shells are also totally edible, both the juicy, rich Eastern Home & Travel

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Rockfish stuffed with p i n e n u t s a n d s u lta n a s Courtesy of the Tilghman Island Inn

6 thin rockfish fillets 3 cups baby spinach 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 tablespoons minced shallots 1/2 cup sultanas (golden raisins) 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts 1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs 1/2 cup Prosecco sparkling wine Sautee shallots until translucent, add garlic, cook until fragrant. Deglaze pan with Prosecco, reduce until syrupy. Add spinach, raisins, cream and cook until spinach is wilted and cream is reduced. Stir in bread crumbs and pine nuts. Top each fillet with stuffing. Roll and secure with a skewer, forming a roulade. Bring poaching liquid to a simmer; poach roulades until just done about 5 minutes.

Poaching Liquid 2 cups fish stock, clam juice or chicken stock.

2 cups Prosecco 2 thick lemon slices 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns Bring to a boil, simmer 10 minutes

Sauce 1 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon tomato paste Salt and pepper to taste Combine and reduce by half. Plate the poached roulades with the sauce and serve.

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meat and the outer paper-like covering. Fried, broiled, or sautéed, soft shell crabs constitute an exceptional feast.

Further down the peninsula in Tilghman, the Tilghman Island Inn borders busy Knapps Narrows with its nearly constant passage of watercraft. A day spent lounging on the waterside lawn might add years to a visitor’s life. Executive Chef David McCallum’s delightful dining room and excellent bar bring boaters to mingle with island residents, weekenders, and tourists. Casual and pet-friendly, the Inn is nonetheless elegant. Traditional Chesapeake themes receive non-traditional presentation in a lush but laid-back atmosphere.

The Oxford-Bellevue Ferry on the Tred Avon River is one of the Eastern Shore’s signature attractions. Arguably the nation’s oldest (1683) freerunning (not cable), privately owned ferry, it can shuttle up to 80 people and nine cars. The idyllic transit casts you back into 300 years of history.

But leave your vehicle behind and board as a foot passenger; Oxford is definitely a walking town.

A few miles from Oxford, Combsberry B&B cooks up a different kind of gastronomic experi-

ence. Sited at the head of Island Creek, the serene and luxurious manor house holds wine and cooking weekends. In a setting that is pure Eastern Shore, participants enjoy wine and dessert pairings, wine classes, cooking demonstrations, and sumptuous dinners.

Talbot County has achieved the critical mass of restaurants and food experiences needed to become a full-fledged foodie destination. The growing demand for regional produce has opened the way for specialty farmers, bakers, and dairies to join traditional seafood suppliers, serving an increasingly sophisticated audience. For an overnight excursion, long weekend, or full vacation, dedicated culinarians have come to know Talbot County as a multi-course feast.

P H OTO G R A P H Y: C o u rt e sy of T id e wat e r I nn

1/4 cup heavy cream or white wine

MARYLAND n C o n tac t I n f o

Out of the Fire 22 Goldsborough Street Easton, MD 21601 410-770-4777 www.outofthefire.com Scossa Restaurant 8 North Washington Street Easton, MD 21601 410-822-2202 www.scossarestaurant.com Historic Tidewater Inn 101 East Dover Street Easton, MD 21601 410-822-1300 www.tidewaterinn.com Restaurant Local 101 East Dover Street Easton, MD 21601 410-819-8088 www.restaurantlocal.com

Orrell’s Maryland Beaten Biscuits P.O. Box 7 Wye Mills, MD 21679 410-822-2065 www.beatenbiscuits.bizland.com

Talbot County

Almost Heaven Herbs & Crafts P.O. Box 325 Wye Mills, MD 21679 410-364-5068 www.ahherbncraft.com Chapel’s Country Creamery 10380 Chapel Road Easton, MD 21601 410-820-6647 www.chapelscreamery.com

Combsberry Bed and Breakfast 4837 Evergreen Road Oxford, Maryland 21654 410-226-5353 www.combsberry.net

Tilghman Island Inn 21384 Coopertown Road Tilghman Island, MD 21671 410-886-2141, 800-866-2141 www.tilghmanislandinn.com

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TASTIN G S

P H OTO G R A P H Y: © i S toc k photo. co m / vi k if

Award-Winning Sheep’s Milk Cheeses The largest sheep dairy farm in the United States lies nestled among the rolling hills and green pastures of New York’s Hudson River Valley. In that bucolic setting, the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company produces the key ingredient for its award-winning cheeses: sheep’s milk. While Europeans have enjoyed sheep’s milk products for centuries, Americans are still discovering the delicious advantages of this alternative ingredient. (Sheep’s milk contains about a third more calcium and nearly twice the protein of cow’s milk.)

Old Chatham’s Camembert-style cheeses are actually a combination of fresh, natural sheep’s milk and cow’s milk (bovine-growth-hormone-

free, of course). The formula must be a good one; their cheeses have won numerous titles, including “Best Cheese in America” in the 2001 United States Championship Cheese Contest. Their “Ewe’s Blue” Roquefort style American blue cheese, and 100 percent sheep’s milk yogurts have also garnered top honors in a variety of competitions.

Sheep’s milk gives Old Chatham’s dairy products a rich, buttery taste with what have been called by cheese experts “nutty, earthy, sometimes gamey flavors.” Look for them at specialty markets and gourmet stores, or order online at www.blacksheepcheese.com, where they promise to ship “direct to ‘ewe’.”

n C o n tac t I n f o

Old Chatham Sheepherding Company www.blacksheepcheese.com 155 Shaker Museum Rd Old Chatham, NY 12136 518-794-7733

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: Š i S toc k photo. co m / A rt e m Efi m ov

This Awe-inspiring drink is often Green and

always strong.

It’s said to have inspired the work of some of the greatest artists in the world — Degas, Manet, Wilde, and Hemingway, to name a few. Some think it caused homicidal rages, vivid hallucinations, and even drove Vincent Van Gogh to cut off his ear. You might think I am talking about love, passion, or even religion, but the alleged culprit is Absinthe.

The return of the Green Fairy:

Absinthe artic l e by La u ri e F orst e r , th e win e coach ®

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: © i S toc k photo. co m / A rt e m Efi m ov

Absinthe is a distilled spirit with a distinct taste of licorice, made from a variety of herbs including anise, fennel, and grande wormwood. Originating in Switzerland, this awe-inspiring drink is often green and always strong — measuring between 50 and 75 percent alcohol. Sometimes called “the Green Fairy” for its alleged psychedelic effects, Absinthe was even more popular than wine in the trendy cafés of Paris during the late 19th century. Never heard of Absinthe? That’s because a series of events caused it to be outlawed around the world in the early part of the 20th century. Recently scientists and officials have been able to sort out fact from fiction, making Absinthe once again available in the U.S. The ban on Absinthe was the result of a number of factors: the temperance movement, strong opposition from the struggling wine industry, and a horrific murder in 1905. Its popularity and strength made Absinthe a huge target for those looking to eradicate the use of alcohol. Jumping on the bandwagon were the winemakers of Europe whose vineyards were being destroyed by phylloxera, a tiny insect that destroys grape vines. The blight of phlloxera caused an increase in wine prices which, along with the growing popularity of Absinthe, meant a steady loss of market share for winemakers. The third strike came from Switzerland in 1905 with the news of a horrific murder; Absinthe was said to have driven a man to kill his entire family.

What was left out of the story was the fact that the man was a habitual alcoholic who had consumed two glasses of Absinthe along with mass quantities of wine and cognac. Bans on Absinthe began almost immediately.

The belief that Absinthe, or more specifically the grande wormwood used to flavor it, caused hallucinogenic effects is a myth that has continued at least until very recently. Grande wormwood, one of the herbs Absinthe is derived from, contains a chemical called thujone, which was once thought to create these erratic behaviors. Tests now show that both vintage and modern versions of Absinthe contain very little thujone. A better explanation for the trouble caused by consumption of Absinthe is its high alcohol content paired with plain old-fashioned

overindulgence. Last year the U.S. government began allowing the sale of Absinthe as long as producers adhere to a few stipulations. Even though thujone has never been proven to cause psychotropic effects, it must measure less than 10 ppm. In addition, the label cannot market the alleged mind effects of the drink and the word Absinthe must be used with other terms in a very discreet manner.

Since Absinthe is turning up in retail shops as well as trendy restaurants like Central Michel Richard in Washington, D.C., it makes sense to know the proper way to serve it. The most traditional way to serve Absinthe is to add cold water, ideally in drips, which turns the spirit from green to milky white. This is called the louche effect. The color change is a result of the herbal oils’ insolubility in water. The water is sometimes poured over a sugar cube on a slotted spoon to sweeten the drink and take the edge off its distinctively bitter finish. Use about 1 to 1.5 ounces of Absinthe and dilute with anywhere from 3 to 5 ounces of water. Specially made Absinthe fountains, like those found at Central Michel Richard, create the perfect drip for Absinthe and make the creation of this cocktail fun to watch. Ideally Absinthe is served in Pontarlier glasses, which are named after the town in the Loire Valley where the Pernod Fils, one of the most famous producers of Absinthe in the 1800s, built their factory in France. They are shaped much like a water

glass with a bulge or indentation on the bottom to measure the amount of Absinthe needed.

“Absinthe has historically served as both an aperitif and digestive. When taken as an aperitif, it goes well with herbal scented appetizers. It can be taken between dishes as a palate-cleansing cordial or even served as a sorbet (absinthe sorbet)” suggests T. A. Breaux, master distiller of Lucid Absinthe in France. He also adds, “With dessert, it goes especially well with anything flavored with coconut. And of course, in its historically purest sense, it reigns sovereign as a digestive.”

Considering the history and mythology surrounding it, no wonder Absinthe seems so mysterious and alluring. With the ban now lifted, it is easy to find Absinthe and discover firsthand what all the fuss is about. While you may not see any green fairies or pink elephants, it will be a truly unique experience.

Lucid Absinthe Superieure, France $60

Lucid’s bottle is marked with piercing cat eyes alluding to the intensity inside. Made with allnatural herbs and free of dyes or chemicals, Lucid is a true Absinthe. With a traditional green hue, it has amazing complexity with intense herbal flavors and a backbone of black licorice. Softened a bit with a sugar cube and cool water, Lucid still packs a punch. It’s great as an after-dinner drink to sip and contemplate life.

K ü b l e r Ab s i n t h e S u pe r i e u r e , Sw i t ze r l a n d $ 5 6

Crystal clear in color, Kübler, while still intense, tastes a bit more delicate than Lucid. Thelicorice flavors are more prevalent here with less of an herbal taste. Hailing from the birthplace of Absinthe, Switzerland, this clear version is considered a blanche style as opposed to its green counterparts. Kübler creates an intense milky white louche with the addition of the sugar cube and cool water. This just might give new meaning to milk and cookies!

Laurie Forster is an certified sommelier, award-winning author and radio show host. Forster is the host of The Sipping Point on WBAL 1090AM and her mobile application, The Wine Coach, was listed as one of the Top 8 Wine Apps in Wine Enthusiast. A former software sales executive, Laurie’s wine career began in Manhattan where she studied with the American Sommelier Association to obtain her certificate in Viticulture and Vinification. Laurie has since earned an Advanced Certificate with Merit from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET). She has also trained with the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley.

You can email Laurie at laurie@thewinecoach.com or visit www.thewinecoach.com to sign up for her free wine videos or to learn about her events, radio show and Free Mobile App.

Advi c e Fro m the Win e Coach Good news: Our resident wine expert, Laurie Forster, The Wine Coach®, has published a useful, fun little book called The Sipping Point: A Crash Course in Wine. Consider this colorful 128-page guide your official cheat sheet to ordering, serving, and enjoying wine like a pro. Laurie has written it in the same straightforward conversational style that characterizes her columns and seminars, so it’s an easy and enjoyable read. It’s sort of like having a good friend — who just happens to be a wine insider — clue you in to all things wine-related.

Of course, she covers how to order wine in a restaurant with confidence; that’s one of the most popular topics at her wine seminars. But she also tells readers where to find an online “living wine dictionary” that lets you hear more than

600 wine words pronounced correctly, how to handle awkward wine moments, and how to calculate the amount of red and white you’ll need for an event. There’s lots more in The Sipping Point, too, including tips for giving wine as a gift and online help locating particular wines.

The Sipping Point retails for $16.95 and you can order a copy directly from Laurie’s website: www.thewinecoach.com. While you’re there, check out her wine events, free mobile app and weekly radio show.

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MARYLAND >> WINE Within sipping & spitting distance of Baltimore, the Chesapeake Bay, national parks, beaches, mountains and more.

64 wineries 6 wine trails 700+ wines BECOME A LOCAPOUR!

Our 60+ wineries are thriving this time of year, with grapes just off the vine, fermentation under way.... It’s the perfect moment to get to know local wine.

Maryland wineries are close—close to each other and close to other exciting attractions and events. Enjoy the local cuisine at a picturesque restaurant and spend the night at one of Maryland’s charming inns.

Ask for Maryland Wine in your local wine shop, farmers’ market or visit a winery to truly appreciate the history and passion that goes into every bottle of local wine.

Scan the QR code to register for our monthly e-newletter. Be the first to know about local wine news, events & more.

See you in wine country.

Black Ankle Vineyards by Lauren Barnhart

WWW.MARYLANDWINE.COM

outdoors

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and the Spider Mum are probably best known as the standards for Homecoming corsages and boutonnieres. While the easily recognized orange, yellow, red, and purple blooms are the mainstay of almost every autumn garden display on the East Coast, they are actually native to Asia and northeastern Europe. There are countless horticultural varieties and cultivars with the most diverse species hailing from China.

In some parts of Asia the yellow or white chrysanthemum flowers of the species C. morifolium are boiled to make a sweet drink known as chrysanthemum tea and in Korea, rice wine flavored with chrysanthemum flowers is called gukhwaju.

Some Chinese cuisine features steamed leaves and

P H OTO G R A P H Y:

Every fall it happens…the weather starts to cool, crowds gather to tailgate in honor of their favorite football team, and nearly every food or fragrance that can be made of pumpkin is offered in celebration of autumn. Apple cider flows freely, home baked pies are back on the menu, and and then there are the Mums.

It seems that Mums are everywhere! Garden centers, grocery stores, florists, and even the local Girl Scouts are offering up this well known harbinger of fall.

Mums, otherwise known as Chrysanthemums, are flowering plants of the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae. Featuring 13 different bloom forms or shapes, the Pompon Mum

Martha S nid e r / B igstoc k . co m

Chrysanthemums

P H OTO G R A P H Y: l e ft: © i S toc k photo. co m / bgwa l k e r right: © i S toc k photo. co m / pow e rshot

outdoors

you may have received a small blossom as a garnish the last time you enjoyed sashimi.

In some European countries, certain shaped blossoms of chrysanthemums are symbolic of death and are used only for funerals or on graves. In Asia, some white chrysanthemums are symbolic of grief. Here in the United States, the flower is regarded as positive and cheerful.

While the turning of the leaves, and the soft, newly filtered light of the day certainly heralds fall’s arrival, there really is nothing quite like a gorgeous, bountiful display of Mums to stir the nostalgia of a crisp, cool, autumn morning.

n r e s o u r ce I n f o

National Chrysanthemum Society (NCS) www.mums.org 70th Annual National Chrysanthemum Convention and Show “Beyond the Garden Gates” Longwood Gardens Kennett Square, PA October 24-27, 2013

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Guests will feel more at ease if the essentials are readily available. Place plenty of fresh towels, bottled water, and the necessary toiletries nearby so that your guest won’t want for anything. Add the television remote and a printed channel guide to allow guests with a late-night TV habit to indulge without feeling as if they’re imposing.

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“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson The promise of an inviting, comfortable room, great food, and service that is second to none is what keeps folks flocking to high-end, boutique hotels. But what if this time it’s your home where weary travelers will come to rest their heads? Preparing for houseguests doesn’t need to be an all-encompassing stress-fest. With a little planning and a few simple tricks, your guests will feel

P H OTO G R A P H Y: D e nnis C rosby

welcomed, pampered, and comfortable.

Hospitality is in the details artic l e by M e l issa H ow e s - V it e k

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Focusing on a guest’s preferences is what makes an award-winning hotel. So if your guest is an early-rising tea drinker, be ready with a tray and the morning paper.

Remember that being a good host not only means providing a cozy place for guests to rest and relax, or anticipating their every need, but it’s also a state of mind. While a stocked fridge, a pile of dreamy towels, and a great bedside lamp helps, remember:

P H OTO G R A P H Y: D e nnis C rosby

your guests are there to spend time with you.

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Twin beds in a small, cozy room are a perfect option for kids or adults. Be sure to offer easily accessible extra pillows and blankets and everyone will feel right at home.

P H OTO G R A P H Y: top : D e nnis C rosby botto m : S ahn e East

If you have the space for a mini-kitchen, stock the fridge and cabinets with your guests’ favorite beverages and snacks. Add a coffee maker, toaster, and microwave for those who prefer a more independent stay.

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: L e ft: co u rt e sy V isit F r e d e ric k top : co u rt e sy To u ris m C o u nci l of F r e d e ric k C o u nty

small town, big spirit artic l e by Mo l ly F e l l in S p e nc e

Starting in early November, signs of the magical holiday experience of Downtown Frederick begin emerging. But it’s not until the world emerges from its turkey-induced slumber on the day after Thanksgiving — known popularly as “Black Friday,” but around Frederick as “Frosty Friday” — that the city’s true holiday spirit begins to shine brightly.

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start. They also stay open late with happy hours and drink specials for adult patrons through the evening. In between breakfast and happy hour, visitors may find themselves bumping into the Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, or Scrooge, enjoying cups of complimentary cocoa, or joining a horse-drawn carriage ride tour through the city streets. Try getting all that at the local big-box store!

“One of the highlights of the shopping season is Frosty Friday,” agrees Whitney Bingham, owner of The Muse, a marketplace for handcrafted jewelry, décor, and gifts at 9 N. Market St. “Customers often appreciate the contrast of Downtown Frederick with the

P H OTO G R A P H Y: B arb C a m pb e l l

“There is something magical about experiencing Downtown Frederick’s 50-block historic district during the holidays,” says Michelle Kershner, marketing and communication manager at The Tourism Council of Frederick County. “Streets are bustling with activity and many holiday events showcase Frederick’s rich German heritage, such as the Kris Kringle Procession.

In Downtown Frederick, visitors can expect music, entertainment, and special events throughout the holiday season.”

Frosty Friday officially kicks off the region’s activity-packed holiday season. Restaurants open earlier than usual, and offer breakfast fare not usually on menus, so shoppers can get an early

P H OTO G R A P H Y: co u rt e sy To u ris m C o u nci l of F r e d e ric k C o u nty

malls. Where you feel stressed and hustled at the malls, the experience downtown is one of family and holiday spirit.”

Like many stores, The Muse offers special holiday activities each year, such as its annual Charity Craft Party Open House. This year planned for 7-9 p.m., on Wednesday, Dec. 4, the free event features make-and-take craft projects and refreshments, with proceeds benefitting charity.

Bingham, herself a Frederick resident for more than nine years, is enthusiastic about the holiday season not only for its boon to her store’s sales, but also for the way it brings the community together.

“There is something magical about experiencing Downtown Frederick’s 50-block historic district during the holidays…”

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the lights and secure replacements for future years. Amy Riley, executive director for Celebrate Frederick, said she was “humbled” by the generosity shown. Bingham remembers that holiday season well, and said it’s a great example of the unique holiday spirit that exists here.

“The lights in the trees … make the city so beautiful. I think it’s clear that the lights are one of the most important pieces of the holidays

“Shopping for all of your holiday gifts in Downtown Frederick is a treat…”

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Frederick’s main streets are lined each year with twinkling white lights that bring an extra sparkle for weeks to a Historic District that’s already pretty special. In the year 2009, devastating winter storms destroyed many of the city’s iconic white lights, leaving the popular decorations in limbo for the 2010 holiday season. In the matter of a few weeks, a community fund-raiser earned more than $50,000 to restore

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P H OTO G R A P H Y: co u rt e sy visit fr e d e ric k

“The lights in the trees… make the city so beautiful” food we have to offer,” Norman said. “Shopping for all of your holiday gifts in Downtown Frederick is a treat — where else can you walk through a beautiful place, browse through more than 200 shops each featuring merchandise specifically selected for your enjoyment and, when you need a shopping break, you can head to a great eatery for a treat, a meal or a cocktail.”

P H OTO G R A P H Y: Top : co u rt e sy To u ris m C o u nci l of F r e d e ric k C o u nty

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in Frederick,” she said. “People sent in letters of support and their own personal memories with their donations for the tree lights.”

Kara Norman, executive director of the Downtown Frederick Partnership, said visitors often comment on the holiday lights and the magical atmosphere they create in the downtown region.

“We also get high marks from visitors on the great array of shopping options and the yummy

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H o li da y H i g hlights in Fre de rick C o u nty Aside from noshing at one of the dozens of restaurants or shopping for gifts, Downtown Frederick offers a wide variety of unique events and activities that draw visitors to the downtown throughout November and December. Some of these not-to-miss events include:

F r o s t y F r i d ay

S a n ta T r a i n s

K r i s K r i n g l e P r o c e ss i o n

Weekends in December

Dec. 13, 2013

On Frosty Friday, Downtown Frederick restaurants and stores open beginning at 9 a.m. Have an early breakfast and enjoy a day of characters, carolers and entertainment throughout the shopping district. Free hot cocoa and gift wrapping. You may see Frosty, Scrooge, the Grinch or even Ol’ Saint Nick!

Ride the train with Santa! Have your camera ready for some great shots, as Santa will visit with each family. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served in the museum after your ride. Reservations required for these popular events. Rides are 1 hour and 10 minutes. Rain, shine or snow!

Celebrate Old World holiday magic with this walking procession featuring German/English characters of yesteryear. The procession concludes at the Baker Park Band Shell for a closing ceremony and the lighting of the City Christmas Tree.

9 a.m.-9 p.m. www.downtownfrederick.org | 301-698-8118

11 a.m., 1 & 3 p.m.

12/1, 12/7-12/8, 12/14-12/15, 12/21-12/22 Walkersville Southern Railroad 34 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Walkersville www.wsrr.org | 301-898-0899

Nov. 29, 2013

M a ry l a n d R e g i o n a l B a l l e t presents “The Nutcracker Ballet” Dec. 13-15, 2013 A Frederick holiday tradition, featuring guest artists from New York City Ballet and students from Frederick School of Classical Ballet.

Friday 8 p.m.; Saturday 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m.

Weinberg Center for the Arts 20 W. Patrick St., Frederick www.weinbergcenter.org | 301-600-2828

G av e r Fa r m C h r i s t m a s H a rv e s t F e s t i va l November 29-December 23, 2013 Enjoy the beautiful scenic farm and visit with farm animals. Food concessions available with freshbaked cider donuts, pies and more. Farm Market includes trees, wreaths, produce, gifts. Cut-yourown Christmas trees.

9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Gaver Farm 5501 Detrick Road, Frederick www.gaverfarm.com | 301-865-3515

T h r e e S at u r d ay s i n D e c e m b e r in Downtown Frederick Dec. 7, 14, 21, 2013

6:30 p.m.

Downtown Frederick www.celebratefrederick.com | 301-600-2489

M u s e u ms by C a n d l e l i g h t Dec. 14, 2013 Numerous historic sites and museums offer free programs, entertainment and open houses, exploring winter traditions of yore. Self-guided and free of charge.

Holiday cheer in Downtown Frederick. Each Saturday will feature carriage rides, cocoa, music, and live entertainment. More than 80 shops, galleries, and restaurants open until 9 p.m. or later.

noon-7 p.m.

Various locations throughout Frederick www.visitfrederick.org | 301-600-4047

3-9 p.m.

Downtown Frederick, Market & Patrick streets www.downtownfrederick.org | 301-698-8118

Candlelight Tour of Historic Houses of Worship

Candlelight House Tour Dec. 7-8, 2013 This self-guided tour takes visitors inside private homes elaborately adorned with holiday décor in historic Frederick. Visitors are delighted with the architectural nuances, holiday decorations and historical significance of these magnificent homes.

Saturday, 5-9 p.m., Sunday noon-4 p.m.

Downtown Frederick, various locations www.celebratefrederick.com | 301-600-2489

Dec. 26, 2013 Self-guided walking tour of historic worship sites in Frederick’s Historic District. Several houses of worship invite the public to celebrate their heritage and holiday customs. Visitors are greeted with seasonal music, tours, and lectures. Many of these sites are linked to the Civil War. 4-9 p.m.

Historic downtown Frederick Church Street, 2nd Street & All Saints Street www.visitfrederick.org | 301-600-4005

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In our tradition of award winning chefs‌ Antrim 1844 is pleased to announce the arrival of new Executive Chef Spencer Wolff

Antrim 1844 Country House Hotel 30 Trevanion Road Taneytown, MD 21787 (410) 756-6812

www.antrim1844.com

FACTORY STORE Beautiful Gift Baskets & Mail Order Gifts! featuring...

Preserves & Jellies Apple & Pumpkin Butters No Sugar Products Sweet Cider & Fresh Apples Honey, Relishes, Pickles Old Fahioned Sodas Frederick Souvenirs Plus More !

CORPORATE GIFTS EMPLOYEE GIFTS BULK DISCOUNTS

Open Mon-Fri 8-5 Sat 9-5

938

Since 1

301-662-3261 13 South Wisner St., Frederick, MD 21701 Visit www.McCUTCHEONS.com for more information

+

NIC ZOE

Distinctive Style, Fabulous Gifts!

17 N. Market St., Frederick MD

301.668.8075

Open Mon. – Sat. 10:30-6, Sun. 12-5

www.mollysmeanderings.com

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presentations

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presentations

Nod to the Roaring 20s Sparkling silver and glistening glassware come together in a festive display perfectly set for the holiday. As we gather with family and friends to celebrate the season, why not take creative steps to help lower your stress pre-soiree?

One doesn’t need a huge collection of perfectly matched pieces to present a warm and welcoming tablescape. Here, designer Jutte Terrelle seamlessly blends silver, crystal, and Art Deco style glassware along with mirrored ornaments and metallic tassels,

to create a show stopping table setting. The nod to the 1920s brings guests back to the glamourous and free-spirited days of the Roaring 20s. Just invite some Dapper Dan’s and a few gal pals dressed in fringed frocks, flash your gams and, voila’…you’ve just set the stage for a New Year’s Eve party not soon to be forgotten!

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Your Greatest European Adventure begins at a Winery in Williamsburg!

A

European-style country hotel nestled

size beds. Guests can also enjoy a meal at one

into 300 acres of green space, Wedmore

of the property’s two restaurants, or a tour and

Place features 28 uniquely designed rooms and

tasting at the adjacent Williamsburg Winery.

suites. Each room is named and patterned after a different province of Europe and is decorated with antiques and paintings to reflect the culture and history of that province. All rooms feature wood-burning fireplaces, 10’ ceilings and king

Wedmore Place

®

www.wedmoreplace.com

58 1 0 Wess ex Hundre d, Wi l li amsburg, VA 23185 | (7 5 7 ) 9 4 1 - 0 3 1 0 | 8 6 6 W EDMOR E (9 3 3 - 6 6 7 3 ) | w w w. w e d m o r e p l a c e . c o m